Berner, Harris claim wins at Chappell

Although the host Creek Valley track team was missing a large contingent of its team, the show went on as scheduled at the Creek Valley Tri-State Invitational in Chappell on Friday.

Among the locals, the Leyton girls put on the strongest performance, racking up 99 points to finish an overall third. A pair of Class C schools, Kimball and Bridgeport, ran ahead of the pack with 149.5 points and 113 points respectively. Burns, Wyo. (91.75) and Bayard (63) also finished among the top five.

The depleted Creek Valley squad still brought home 13 points.

A pair of teams had to share top honors among the boys teams as Burns and Bridgeport each finished with 123 points. Paxton (94.3), Kimball (91.4) and Sedgwick County (52.5) completed the top five. Creek Valley and Leyton each tied with 9 points.

After competing at Sutherland the pervious week with a large portion of the team absent due to the prom, Creek Valley faced a similar issue this time around. On Friday many of the Storm athletes were absent after qualifying for a Future Farmers of America event in Grand Island.

While Creek Valley worked with a skeleton squad, Leyton's girls went out and accumulated points early and often.

Kaitlyn Berner and Jessica Houk helped jump start Leyton in the sand pits while Kassandra Harris won her second consecutive discus competition.

After breaking the 34-feet barrier in the triple jump last week to establish a personal best, Berner passed another milestone in the event in Chappell. She topped the field by nearly three feet as she landed beyond 35 feet (35-07) for the first time in her career.

It's actually the third straight meet Berner has set a new personal mark.

"It feels good to get another personal best, but now I think they want to slow me down a little," said Berner. "The coaches want me to be at my best for districts, so I may skip some events."

Berner also took gold in the long jump while Houk proved strong in the event as well. Berner won after leaping 15-04 to edge Bayard's Miah Vera by two inches. Houk was the third place finisher.

Despite their podiums, the two Warriors were less than enthusiastic about their long jumps.

"I think the run-up track psyches us out a little," said Houk as Berner nodded in agreement. "It is so narrow and spongy it makes it hard to get a good start."

Added Berner: "We had a good day placement wise but not distance wise."

Houk contributed more points to the Leyton till when she finished the 100 meters in bronze position.

Meanwhile, Harris again proved best with the flying saucer in her hand. Dani McKay backed up the Harris win with a sixth.

While Harris was the easy winner, the self-described perfectionist is still looking for a lot more.

"I was ripping it too soon. I was forcing it," said Harris. "I'm trying too hard to throw a certain distance instead of just throwing it the way I know I can."

While Harris hit a mark of 111-03, her personal best is more than 118 feet. Since the start of the season she's had her eye on the school record of 120 feet.

Other Warriors who helped drive the the point total included Katy Ernest, who picked up a fourth place in the 800 meters. She finished just outside the top six in the shot put.

Shaela Jenkins, Taylor Berner and Abbe Draper finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in the 100-meter hurdles. Jenkins is a veteran of state in the event.

Draper scored more points for Leyton with her fourth in the 300-meter hurdles and sixth in the high jump.

For the shorthanded Creek Valley girls their best potential finish resulted in a disqualification. Stefanie Mitchell cleared 5-02 in the high jump. Unfortunately, she was wearing a stud in one ear ,which is forbidden.

"It was a small earring and I couldn't remove it so I put a piece of tape over it," Mitchell said.

Nevertheless, clearing her season's best mark is a confidence booster, she pointed out.

Despite the team's lack of numbers, Hannah Blackwelder and Natalie Christopherson gave the home-town Creek Valley crowd something to cheer about. Blackwelder hit a mark of 33-06.50 in the shot put, earning fourth-place points. Christopherson also took a fourth after clearing 7 feet in the pole vault.

Mason Low gave the Chappell faithful plenty of reason to to get excited, as well. He medaled twice in throwing events. His toss of 121-02 in the discus throw earned him fifth place. Low did one better in the shot put when his personal best (42-05) was strong enough for fourth.

"I've been working all season on my technique," said Low. "I'm not one of those huge guys that can just muscle it out there. I have to make sure my technique is sound or I won't have the results I'm looking for."

As he aims to make state in both events, Low said he hopes to improve to 45 feet in the shot put and 130 in the discus.

For the Leyton boys, Seth Schuessler scored for the Warriors with his sixth-place finish in the 400 meters. The Warriors strongest relay team was their 4x800. The group of Jeff Deal, Blake Draper, Jacob Frerichs and Aaron Schrotberger crossed in fourth.

Creek Valley and Leyton will meet again at the same venue on Tuesday when Creek Valley holds the Storm Invite. The twilight meet is expected to get underway at 2:30 p.m.