Red Raiders girls win Ogallala Invite

OGALLALA, Neb. – While there were many highlights on a day when both the Sidney High boys' and girls' track teams finished strong, it's hard to look past the boys' 4x800 meter relay team that broke a 26-year-old record.

The Red Raider track teams continued their strong early-season success Thursday as the girls finished on top of the heap and the boys came in second at the Ed Moore Invite at Ogallala High School.

The Sidney girls outpointed runner-up Chase County, 95-92, while Gothenburg was a close third with 91 points. The Sidney boys outpointed all others except host Ogallala. The Indians garnered 91 points to Sidney's 80, with Mitchell taking third with 74.

With cold and rain an issue for all of the competitors, there seemed to be little that could distract the relay team of Jachob Wiedeburg, Brody McKnight, Hayden Lienemann and Brenner Keane. They smashed the meet 4x800 relay record by six seconds in a time of 8:25.10. The mark was last set in 1990 by a team from Ogallala.

"That was a nice way to get going with those guys running so well," said Raiders head coach John Ganser. "Of course that has to be the highlight of the day. You really have to hand it to ... well all the competitors who had to keep peeling on and off their sweats while competing in that kind of weather."

While the Sidney girls could boast just three event wins, they were again powered by multiple finishes in several events. Among the gold medalists, Gabbie Addleman crossed first in the 100-meter hurdles and Kelly Von Seggern scored a win in the 100 meters.

Addleman and Von Seggern combined with Sara Von Seggern and Abby Heller to win the 4x100-meter relay by more than a second over Chase County. Sara Von Seggern boosted Sidney's speedsters with her third in the individual 100. The Von Seggern's also proved a solid 1-2 punch in the 200 with Kelly taking second and Sara fifth.

Both of Sidney's other relay teams also scored points. The group of Preslie Allen, Genessa Schilz, Heller and Savanna Rosenbaum was third in the 4x400 meter relay. A young group including Charlie Brockhaus, Mia Hernandez, Brenda Maytorena and Chantal Riggs were fourth in the 4x800.

The Raiders also doubled up in the 400 as Allen finished a close second and Schilz fifth. Allen was also runner-up in the 800. Two more point earners were entered in the high jump with Savanna Rosenbaum taking third and Heller fifth.

The long haulers for the Sidney girls fared well also with Riggs crossing the line in fourth over 1,600 meters and Erin Lindeman second in the 3,200.

The boys were boosted again by their strong relay teams which posted victories in the 4x400 and 4x800. Michael Banaszak, Lienemann, Hunter Secrest and Alex Linneman teamed to top the field in the 1,600 relay.

"That's where we should be strong because that's an area of depth for us," said Ganser.

The 4x100 team, which was comprised of Michael Muggli, Chance Anglin, Banaszak and Derek Robb scored points by finishing fourth.

Among the individual performers, Lienemann was the first to cross the finish line in the 800 meters with McKnight not far behind in fifth. Banaszak was runner-up in the 200 meters while Jake Heeren just missed a medal. Heeren scored a second place in the shot put.

In the other field events, Brian Rolls picked up points in the discus by taking the fourth-place medal while Linneman continued to be strong in the long jump. Linneman was just one inch shy of the mark set by Chadron's Jackson Dickerson in the event to finish second.

Freshman Mich Porter has found the triple jump to his liking as he scored again in sixth. Garrett Deer was a quarter of an inch from the medals in seventh.

The distance runners fared well with Wiedeburg stopping the clock third over 1,600 meters while Ryan Aurich was sixth at 3,200.

"It was a whole team effort that got the job done," Ganser said. "Every point counts especially when the team totals come down to just a few points as it did here."

The Raiders are back on the track next Thursday when they travel to Mitchell for a meet to begin at 11 a.m.