Raiders dominate Bayard BCD

As Sidney's Logan Lewis posed for pictures with a large medallion around his neck following the Bayard BCD Invitational on Friday, it must have seemed a little like deja vu.

In what was a fitting end to a remarkable day for the Sidney Red Raiders--both the boys and girls earned runaway victories--Logan Lewis was was awarded the Male Athlete of the Meet award.

The boys took the title with 142 points to top runner-up Mitchell (112.5) by nearly 30 points. In the girls competition, Sidney (116 points) was the only team to break the 100-point barrier, as Bayard's final total stood at 95.

For Lewis, who was named the top male athlete for the second straight year at the BCD meet, he led Sidney with four gold medals, including three in individual events. He secured his wins in the 100 meters, 200 meters and shot put. He capped off his day by anchoring the Raiders winning 4x100 relay.

At 100 meters Lewis finished two ticks below 11 seconds in 10.98. Though he was slightly off his best in the 200 with a time of 22.72, it was more than enough to keep MItchell's Christian Perez in the rearview mirror.

Chance Anglin joined Lewis in the finals of the 100, but finished eighth. Anglin came up big in the long jump, however, with a personal best. He was also part of the 4x100.

Like it has been at every event this season, the shot put arena was again a place of high drama for Sidney fans.

With friend and teammate Jake Heeren again proving his biggest obstacle on the path to victory, Lewis let loose with his best throw. It traveled beyond the tightly mowed grass of the arena and landed 56 feet from its place of origin. So impressed was the gathered crowd that a huge roar went up in appreciation.

"That was an awesome feeling to hear all that," said Lewis of the crowd reaction.

Despite his impressive four-year athletic career, he still feels he has a few more pieces of unfinished business to take care of. Despite his obvious ambitions for districts and state, he would like to topple Sidney's 13-year-old shot put record, set by Chris Hadden.

"I have 12 throws left to make the school record of 56-03," he said.

While Lewis was erasing his previous personal best by more than a foot, Heeren was doing the same. He put the shot 53-10 to earn second place. Together the pair have made steady improvement since they finished 1-2 at the Chadron Indoor Meet in March to kick off the season. On five occasions since they have finished first and second.

Neither has failed to medal all year.

"I'm just working hard in practice and in the weight room," said Heeren.

The Raiders girls finished a meet with more than 100 points for the first time this season on the strength of a horde of medal performances. Sara VonSeggern won her third 100-meter dash in a row, Savanna Rosenbaum won another high jump and the pole vaulters hauled in three more medals.

"Winning three means I've been consistent and that's what I'm always trying to do," said Von Seggern. "If I continue to be consistent I should be able to have a good meet at districts."

VonSeggern finished the race in a personal-best time of 12.85. Additionally, she came in third at 200 meters.

Freshman Emily Mika backed up VonSeggern with a fourth-place in the 100.

Rosenbaum cleared 5-00, which was the mark that earned her a trip to state last season.

"It was a really good day for us," said Rosenbaum after her leg in the meet closing 4x400-meter relay. "I really wanted 5-02 in the high jump. Hopefully I can get that next week at districts when it really counts."

The girls 4x400 crossed three seconds faster than their previous season best in 4:13.50 to finish second behind Mitchell. Rosenbaum was joined by Preslie Allen, Abbie Fraas and Kate Brosnan in the effort. With Alli Ehler, Genessa Schilz, Fraas and Maddie Stafford the girls also picked up a silver in the 4x800.

Like they did in the conference meet in Chadron vaulters Jami Flores, Jasmine Jallen and Jolene Oliverius all medaled to score big points for Sidney. Flores, a veteran of state in the event, led the group with a vault of 8-06 to finish second. Jallen raked in the third-place points by clearing 8-00.

In the boys competition, Lucas Rosenbaum continued his success in the pole vault. He won another gold medal by clearing 13-06 and just missed his attempts at 14.

"As long as I get 13-07 at districts next week I'll be good," said Rosenbaum after his leg in the 4x400 relay. "We're second in the state in the 4x400 too so I'm thinking a lot about the relays also."

The Raiders boys were strong in all the relays. In the 4x100, Lewis and Rosenbaum teamed up with Anglin and Michael Banaszak to win in 44.47. In the 4x400 Hayden Lienemann, Banaszak and Hunter Secrest joined Rosenbaum to beat the pack in 3:28.85. The strong Mitchell team was all that stood between the Raiders 4x800 and victory. Lienemann, Brody McKnight, Jachob Wiedeburg and Logan Uhlir teamed up for that effort.

In the 800, Lienemann's hard charging stretch run left him just behind race winner Levi Avila of Mitchell.

In the girls 800, Allen had another strong race by finishing third in a personal-best time of 2:21.58. Erin Lindeman's effort in the 3,200 meters was good for runner-up to veteran Laura Flores of Kimball.

The Raiders were boosted by strong efforts in the hurdles. After not competing in the 100-meter hurdles all season, Gabbie Addleman stepped back into the event where she had shown promise in previous years. Despite the rust, she finished third.

"Coach (John) Ganser didn't want me running the hurdles up until now because I've had some injuries," said Addleman. "Since I haven't run the race competitively for a while I was surprised I ran as well as I did. I hit the time mark the coaches were expecting of me too."

Addleman competed the race in 17.23 while her coaches had hoped she would go in 17.3.

In the field events Annalise Lecher didn't allow her personal best in the discus stand for long. After setting a new mark at the conference meet a week ago she threw about three feet longer in Bayard, hitting 99-04.

The boys field events were aided by a personal-best effort from Anglin. The junior twice cleared distances over 19 feet to shatter his previous best in the long jump.

"I knew I could do 19 feet it was just a matter of doing it," said Anglin. "Yesterday in practice we moved my mark back one stride and I think that really made a difference. I felt really good to coming into the board today."

As usual the boys field events were given a boost by the efforts of Nick Conger. He finished second despite clearing the same height (6-00) as the winner.

Tucker Wintholz continued his steady improvement in the discus with a new personal best of 147-05. He was just two inches from winning the event, as Kyle Krantz of Alliance edged him with a throw of 147-07.

Standing beside Lewis during the photo-op for athletes of the meet was Bayard's Jessi Smith. She proved her versatility on the track by winning the 200, 400 and 800. Last year it was a clean Sidney sweep for Best of the Meet as Morgan Linneman joined Lewis for the post-meet photo.

District B-6 will decide which athletes with represent it at state next week. The competition will be held on Thursday at Ogallala at 9 a.m.

Team Results

Bayard BCD

Girls Team Scores

1. Sidney 116

2. Bayard 95

3. Bridgeport 72

4. Mitchell 71

5. Kimball 64

6. Alliance 47

7. Gordon-Rushville 41

8. Morrill 40

9. Chadron 39

10. Garden County 25

11. Hemingford 24

12. Crawford 23

13. Hay Springs

Boys Team Scores

1. Sidney 142

2. Mitchell 112

3. Alliance 92

4. Bridgeport 73

5. Hemingford 57

6. Kimball 48

7. Chadron 46

8. Garden County 40

9. Gordon-Rushville 27

10. Bayard 11

11. Morrill 8

12. Hay Springs 5