Local schools brave weather, tough opponents at Bayard meet

BAYARD, Neb. – Twenty track and field teams from Wyoming and Nebraska braved temperatures that ranged from the upper 30s to the low 50s accompanied by an occasional steady snowfall to compete in the Bayard C-D Invite on Thursday.

Three area high schools schools – Creek Valley, Leyton and Potter-Dix – joined in the competition that was led in most events by the Nebraska Class C schools. Bridgeport took the overall boys title with 73 points with Pine Bluffs, Wyo., (58) second and Hemingford third. With 47 points, Potter-Dix was the highest finishing Class D school, taking fifth overall.

On the girls side, host Bayard scored 64 points to win the meet with Bridgeport (56) a close second and Burns, Wyo. third with 54. Potter-Dix was again the highest scoring Nebraska Class D school with 38 points. Leyton finished in 12th with 18 to edge Creek Valley (11.5) in 13th.

Potter-Dix

"This is a tough meet because there are 20 teams, but the good thing is that all the teams from our district are here so that will help us gauge how we approach the rest of the season," said Coyotes head coach Bob Hilpert. "Our goal today was to do well against the Class D schools and I think we did pretty well."

The Coyotes boys put their stamp on the meet early with a winning effort in the 4x800 meter relay. The Potter-Dix team, which included Jake Johnson, Sam Bogert, Cameron Purcell and Cooper Hicks, finished with a comfortable margin over runner up Burns.

"We were just one tenth (of a second) off the meet record and, for this early in the season, that's really good," Johnson said. "We medaled at state last season while breaking the school record, so we have to believe we can medal again and maybe even win state this year."

The Coyotes also finished second in the 4x400 with the same foursome. The girls scored points in the 4x400 also by taking fifth. That quartet included Hope Shepard, Payge Hoffman, Presley Christensen and Regyn Hicks.

The girls efforts were led by a number of strong performances including Alexus Rozelle, who won the shot put and was a close second in the discus. Cortney Lewis added punch to the shot by earning a sixth-place medal.

Outside the relays, the Potter-Dix boys were aided by strong performances in the 800 with Johnson and Hicks finishing in second and third. Both qualified for the event at state last season. Johnson also ran the 400 and picked up a point for his sixth-place finish.

In the field events, Kelsey Rozelle cleared 5 feet, 10 inches in the high jump to finish in a tie for third with ex-Coyotes teammate Tyler Magninie – now of Kimball. Rozelle also picked up points in the long jump (5th) and 100 meters (6th).

The Coyote girls were boosted in the field by their strong finish in the pole vault. Payton Franklin and Ryley Hicks tied for second.

Creek Valley

Though hampered by some nagging injuries – in addition to the loss of senior Hannah Blackwelder for the year – the Storm was led by strong performances in the field events. Payje Misegadis and Natalie Christofferson both cleared 7-6 in the pole vault to finish fourth and fifth, Misegadis earned the fourth spot by virtue of least number of misses.

"The pole vault went OK. It was nice to have a lot of people cheering me on including my coaches," Christofferson said. "I'm happy that it was my best vault this year. I was able to get over the bar at eight feet too, but I couldn't clear because I was having trouble getting my pole down the way I wanted. That's what I'll be working on for next time."

Creek Valley also had good success from their high jumpers with another 4-5 finish. Jessie Straber cleared 4-10 with Stefanie Mitchell close behind at 4-8. Straber just missed out on a medal in the triple jump.

"I was pleased with how the day went." said Storm head coach Bill Wilber. "A lot of people bettered what they did last week and that's what we're trying to do. I'm just hoping to get everybody back and healthy. Of course, with Hannah not coming back that is going to hurt us."

With Blackwelder's hip issues keeping her on the sidelines and out of the shot put, her younger sister, Allie, picked up the torch nicely while finishing just out of the medals.

Leyton

The Warriors' Kaitlyn Berner was happy to cut back from the mile she ran last week at Sidney to her more favored distance of 800 meters – an event at which she qualified for state last season.

Berner's return to the 800 produced a silver medal to go along with her runner-up finish in the triple jump. She did not participate in the long jump because of her relay's, though she's a three-time state qualifier.

On the boys' side, Cody McKay's sixth in the triple jump was all the Warriors could put up on the scoreboard though they were buoyed by several personal best performances.

"Teghan Osborne ran a personal best in the 400 and we also had a number of people make the finals like Zach Hellie in the discus and Jake Ernest in the shot," said the Warriors boys coach Glen Lipska. "Hopefully we can keep that going and keep improving each week."

Taylor Berner also made the finals of the 100-meter hurdles. She finished fourth in the preliminary round. Shaela Jenkins, twice a state qualifier in the 100 hurdles, just missed the finals while fighting hip issues that frustrated her last season as well.

Creek Valley will host Leyton and a large group of other schools in their tri-state meet next Friday in Chappell at 9 a.m. Potter-Dix will wait until Saturday, April 11 before returning to the track at Grant at 9 a.m..