PERKINS COUNTY TRACK & FIELD INVITE: Relays pace P-D boys; Rozelle shines for girls

GRANT – On a perfect day to be outdoors, the shorthanded Potter-Dix Coyotes were buoyed by a number of strong performances against a deep field of competitors at the E. Lee Todd Invitational hosted by Perkins County High School on Saturday.

The Ogallala Indians of Class B made a clean sweep of the team competition. The Ogallala boys picked up 139 points to beat out North Platte St. Patrick's (Class C), 139-123. The rest of the schools were well back with Chase County taking the third slot with 61 points. Potter-Dix finished with 42 points to wind up in seventh.

In the girls' team standings, the Lady Indians edged out Chase County (Class C), 142-136. St. Patrick's held down the third spot with 79 points while the Coyotes were sixth with 79. While the Coyotes were not a factor in the team standings, Potter-Dix coach Bob Hilpert prefers to schedule meets against larger schools to get his teams the toughest competition before districts.

The Coyotes boys' team was led by a number of strong performances including the 4x800 meter relay. With the same foursome that captured districts a season before (Jake Johnson, Sam Bogert, Cameron Purcell and Cooper Hicks), the Coyotes are now on a pace to exceed its accomplishments from 2014.

"We've never run this fast so early in the season," Hicks said. "Last year I think our best time before districts was about an 8:50. We've all talked about our goals for this year and we would really like to be a top-three team at state."

The Coyotes ran the 3,200 meters in 8:42 that matches the old school record – a mark the boys smashed at state last season by 10 seconds. The same foursome also captured a second place in the 4x400 as it finished less than a second behind winner Ogallala.

While the girls had no event winners, sophomore Alexus Rozelle earned a pair of second places in the throwing events. In the shot put, she was joined in the finals by Courtney Lewis, who finished seventh. While senior Alexandra Lurz of Ogallala won both shot and discus, Rozelle is right about where she wants to be.

"I didn't throw my farthest in the shot, but I threw 36 feet (36-6.5) and (Lurz) threw 40 and that's my goal for this year," Rozelle said. "In the discus, I threw 118 (118-01) and that's close to my goal for right now, which is 120."

The only individual winner on the day for the Coyotes was Johnson in the boys' 1,600 meters. Since Johnson was aware that Jaco Henning of Ogallala was running times roughly equal to his own, his original strategy was stick with Henning and try to put in a strong late run. Once the race started, however, Johnson resorted to what he does best – run from the lead. Johnson went out and took a big advantage and won the race by more than five seconds.

"I felt really good today so I figured I'd just go out like always," Johnson said. "I'm really happy with the time (4:52.90). I've never been able to run that fast this early in the season."

In the high jump, Anna McLaughlin carried the Potter-Dix banner solo as Regyn Hicks was kept out of the jumping events after twisting her ankle at practice on Friday. McLaughlin finished third in the high jump by clearing the bar at 4-10.

While Hicks was kept out of the hurdles, Payge Hoffman had a strong day in both the 100 and 300. Hoffman finished fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the 300. Payton Franklin qualified for the finals in the 100 also, but just missed a medal.

Other point earners for the boys included Hicks who finished fourth in the 300 hurdles. He alternates between the open 800 and 300 at each meet. He qualified for state in the 800 in 2014. In the pole vault, Coby Hicks also scored a fourth-place medal though he cleared the same height (11-6) as the runner-up vaulter.

The Coyotes next take to the track on Saturday at Alliance where the field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

PERKINS COUNTY INVITE RESULTS

BOYS

TEAM SCORES

1. Ogallala, 139; 2. St Patrick, 123; 3. Chase County, 61; 4. Perkins County, 53.5; 5. Hershey, 51; 6. Garden County, 45; 7. Potter-Dix, 42; 8. Gordon-Rushville, 22; 9. Sutherland, 21.5.

200 Meters

7. Cameron Purcell, Potter-Dix, 24.8

1,600 Meters

1. Jake Johnson, Potter-Dix, 4:52.90

300 Meter Hurdles

4. Cooper Hicks, Potter-Dix, 43.3

4x100 Meter Relay

5. Potter-Dix (Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell, Cooper Hicks), 48.10

4x400 Meter Relay

2. Potter Dix (Cooper Hicks, Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell), 3:40.10

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Potter-Dix (Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell, Cooper Hicks), 8:42.00

High Jump

8. Samuel Bogert, Potter-Dix, 5-4

Pole Vault

4. Coby Hicks, Potter-Dix, 11-6

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES

1. Ogallala, 142; 2. Chase County, 136; 3. St Patrick, 79; 4. Gordon-Rushville, 67; 5. Sutherland, 61; 6. Potter-Dix, 32; 7. Perkins County, 26; 8. Hershey, 11; 9. Garden County, 2.

1,600 Meters

9. Ryley Hicks, Potter-Dix, 6:35.1

100 Meter Hurdles

4. Payge Hoffman, Potter-Dix, 17.70

7. Payton Franklin, Potter-Dix, 18.20

300 Meter Hurdles

5. Payge Hoffman, Potter-Dix, 54.4

4x100 Meter Relay

7. Potter-Dix (Payge Hoffman, Jourdan Langley, Sara Gingerich, Presley Christensen), 58.10

4x400 Meter Relay

7. Potter-Dix (Presley Christensen, Payton Franklin, Payge Hoffman, Regyn Hicks), 4:51.50

Shot Put

2. Alexus Rozelle, Potter-Dix, 36-6.50

Discus

2. Alexus Rozelle, Potter-Dix, 118-01

High Jump

3. Anna McLaughlin, Potter-Dix, 4-10

Pole Vault

9. Ryley Hicks, Potter-Dix, 8-0

9. Payton Franklin, Potter-Dix, 8-0