CLASS D BOYS' STATE TRACK & FIELD MEET: P-D boys shine in Class D meet

OMAHA, Neb. – If the Potter-Dix High boys' track team wasn't having enough success after ending an 11-year gold-medal drought and fighting for first place among the top Class D teams in Nebraska for two days, how about going out with a school record?

Meanwhile, the Leyton Warriors, with just a small contingent on hand to represent the boys, also managed a school record. And both Warrior qualifiers will be back to try again next season.

With 30 points, the Coyotes tied for fourth with Wausa in the Class D NSAA State Track and Field Championships at Burke Stadium in Omaha that concluded on Saturday. Giltner won the state championship with 57 points and Bertrand was runner-up with 47 with Brady third at 32.

While the Coyotes 4x800 relay foursome of Jake Johnson, Sam Bogert, Cameron Purcell and Cooper Hicks opened the meet by earning gold in school-record time, the same foursome ended the meet in similar fashion. Though they finished in sixth place, they managed to score three points coming out of the "slow heat." In the process, they again crossed the finish line in school-record time.

"We might be a little bit on the outside looking in," said Hicks before the the 1,600-meter relay finals. "But, we're all going to run our hardest and see what that gets us."

When the relay was over, and another school record secured, the four reacted much as they had after winning gold the day before. There were hugs and high fives among each other and with friends and family lined up along the fence near the finish line.

"This is a great way to end a high school career," said Johnson after securing his fourth medal of the weekend.

Besides a gold in the 3,200 relay, Johsnon also picked up a sixth-place medal in both the 800 and 1,600. His time in the mile (4:38.46) was a new personal best by about six seconds. He ran about 3:44 at state as a sophomore when he also finished in sixth.

"For the 800, I was still kind of sore from the 3,200 relay so I just went out there as hard as I could," Johnson said. "In the mile, I knew I had to play that a little smarter so I went out and made sure I didn't get boxed in and settled in with a good pace. I started picking people off late to get that sixth place."

As for the Warriors, juniors Rhett Dye and Jacob Ernest qualified for state and figure to have a good chance to return in 2016.

"Well, I finally got the school record," said Dye shortly after completing the 3,200-meter run.

Dye ran the race in 10:52.72 to topple his previous best by about 15 seconds. He had twice come close to getting the school record at the Bayard B-D-D and the District D-11 championships. In the shot put, Ernest came up about two feet short of his P.R. with a put of 45-8.75, but gained valuable experience for a run next year.

While the seniors had a strong day for Potter-Dix, the underclassmen were led by Kelsey Rozelle. He missed out on a state championship by an agonizing 3/4 inch in the long jump. He established a new career high, however, as his mark of 21-5.75 was a fraction better than he had ever jumped before.

"I beat my P.R. on my last jump in the finals," Rozelle said. "I went into the finals in second place and I dropped down to third and that kind of scared me. I knew I had to step it up, and I'm happy that I finished off with a good one."

In the high jump, Rozelle cleared 6-2 to tie his personal best and earn three more points for the Coyotes. Rozelle also qualified for state in the 100 and 200 meters.

While his older brother Cooper scored two medals at state, Coby Hicks finished just one height out of the medals in the pole vault. The junior cleared 12 feet and had a couple of close calls at the medal height of 12-6.

STATE CLASS D FINAL RESULTS

At Burke Stadium, Omaha

CLASS D BOYS – TEAM SCORES

1. Giltner, 57; 2. Bertrand, 47; 3. Brady, 32; 4. Potter-Dix, 30; 4. Wausa, 30; 6. Amherst, 29; 7. North Central, 28; 8. Parkview Christian, 25; 9. Falls City Sacred Heart, 24; 10. Mullen, 20; 11. Scribner-Snyder, 18; 11. Diller-Odell, 18; 13. Medicine Valley, 17; 14. CWC, 16; 14. McCool Junction, 16; 16. Garden County, 15; 17. Wynot, 13; 17. Osmond, 13; 19. Walthill, 12; 19. Kenesaw, 12; 19. Cody-Kilgore, 12; 22. Silver Lake, 11; 23. High Plains Community, 10; 23. Sandhills/Thedford, 10; 23. Anselmo-Merna, 10; 26. Heartland, 9; 26. Pawnee City, 9; 26. Wallace, 9; 29. Elm Creek, 8; 29. Twin Loup, 8; 29. Elkhorn Valley, 8; 29. Banner County, 8; 29. Stapleton, 8; 29. Southwest, 8; 35. Ansley-Litchfield, 7; 36. BDS, 6; 36. Randolph, 6; 38. St. Edward, 5; 38. Lewiston, 5; 38. Sutherland, 5; 41. Lyons-Decatur Northeast, 4; 41. Exeter-Milligan, 4; 41. Sterling, 4; 44. Allen, 3; 44. Loomis, 3; 44. Osceola, 3; 47. Axtell, 2; 47. Humphrey St. Francis, 2; 47. Dorchester, 2; 47. Arapahoe, 2; 47. Fullerton, 2; 52. Spalding Academy, 1; 52. Meridian, 1; 52. Stuart, 1; 52. Maywood, 1.

100 Meters

1. Austin Hegge, Wausa, 11.22; 2. Michael Knievel, Elkhorn Valley, 11.23; 3. Nicholas Preissler, Giltner, 11.24; 4. Christian Best, Elm Creek, 11.42; 5. Sawyer Kean, Falls City Sacred Heart, 11.59; 6. Breyden Eckhout, Amherst, 11.67; 7. Preston Schnitzler, Kenesaw, 26.50; 8. Trevor Carlson, Osceola, 26.99.

200 Meters

1. Austin Hegge, Wausa, 22.88; 2. Breyden Eckhout, Amherst, 23.30; 3. Nicholas Preissler, Giltner, 23.38; 4. Henry Arnold, Falls City Sacred Heart, 23.55; 5. Dayne Porter, Brady, 23.61; 6. Christian Best, Elm Creek, 24.36; 7. Trevor Carlson, Osceola, 45.60; 8. Preston Schnitzler, Kenesaw, 47.56.

400 Meters

1. Ryan Smith, Garden County, 51.33; 2. Troy Lusk, Brady, 52.11; 3. Nicholas Preissler, Giltner, 52.84; 4. Jonah Micek, St. Edward, 52.86; 5. Casey Lamle, Cody-Kilgore, 53.17; 6. Austin Schnitzler, Kenesaw, 53.21; 7. Pedro Gutierrez, Arapahoe, 54.00; 8. Trevor Scott, Ansley-Litchfield, 55.16.

800 Meters

1. Cole Kennedy, Bertrand, 2:01.62; 2. Casey Lamle, Cody-Kilgore, 2:02.31; 3. Ty Hadwiger, Amherst, 2:02.65; 4. Holden Christen, Lewiston, 2:03.74; 5. Colin Lambertson, Anselmo-Merna, 2:04.10; 6. Jake Johnson, Potter-Dix, 2:04.18; 7. Seth Wetovick, Fullerton, 2:04.60; 8. Cameron Moes, Osmond, 2:05.68.

1,600 Meters

1. Colin Erickson, North Central, 4:31.45; 2. Cole Kennedy, Bertrand, 4:32.77; 3. Orion Lamotte, Walthill, 4:37.01; 4. Tanner Clough, Wallace, 4:37.38; 5. Rodger Farr, Medicine Valley, 4:37.48; 6. Jake Johnson, Potter-Dix, 4:38.46; 7. Cameron Moes, Osmond, 4:39.28; 8. Jacob Bauer, Spalding Academy, 4:40.48.

3,200 Meters

1. Cameron Moes, Osmond, 9:54.91; 2. Cole Kennedy, Bertrand, 10:00.22; 3. Rodger Farr, Medicine Valley, 10:01.03; 4. Colin Erickson, North Central, 10:07.30; 5. Tanner Clough, Wallace, 10:09.64; 6. Alex Menninga, Pawnee City, 10:13.16; 7. Damien Baumgart, HSF, 10:17.60; 8. Bryan Gerlach, Maywood, 10:29.84.

110-Meter Hurdles

1. Jared Hastings, Giltner, 15.19; 2. Lance Moore, Mullen, 15.27; 3. Trevor Polivka, Parkview Christian, 15.34; 4. Tyson Dahlgrin, Banner County, 15.46; 5. Seyler Monroe, Silver Lake, 15.62; 6. Zachary Clark, Loomis, 16.22; 7. Tyrell Younger, Bertran,d 16.32; 8. Matthew Neiman, Brady, 16.51.

300-Meter Hurdles

1. Jared Hastings, Giltner, 40.30; 2. Lance Moore, Mullen, 40.69; 3. Seyler Monroe, Silver Lake, 40.98; 4. Tyrell Younger, Bertrand, 41.02; 5. Trevor Polivka, Parkview Christian, 41.78; 6. Tyson Dahlgrin, Banner County, 41.83; 7. Chase Barthel, Medicine Valley, 43.78; 8. Cody Lundholm, Meridian, 44.91.

4x100-Meter Relay

1. Giltner, 44.55; 2. Falls City Sacred Heart, 44.58; 3. Brady, 44.87; 4. Sandhills/Thedford, 45.46; 5. High Plains Community, 45.58; 6. Southwest, 45.62; 7. Randolph, 45.82; 8. Mullen, 45.98.

4x400-Meter Relay

1. Brady, 3:31.85; 2. Diller-Odell, 3:34.45; 3. BDS, 3:34.61; 4. North Central, 3:34.91; 5. Bertrand, 3:35.62; 6. Potter-Dix (Cooper Hicks, Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell), 3:35.73; 7. Mullen 3:36.12; 8. Lyons-Decatur Northeast, 3:36.21.

4x800-Meter Relay

1. Potter-Dix (Jake Johnson, Samuel Bogert, Cameron Purcell, Cooper Hicks), 8:21.92; 2. North Central, 8:27.23; 3. Anselmo-Merna, 8:32.16; 4. Medicine Valley, 8:32.23; 5. Sterling, 8:34.92; 6. Allen, 8:36.28; 7. CEC, 8:40.98; 8. Exeter-Milligan, 8:42.65.

Shot Put

1. Jayle Hinkle, CEC, 52-7.75; 2. Bruce Schulenberg, S-S, 51-9.5; 3. Zachery Edwards, Kenesaw, 51-1.5; 4. Corey Hoelck, Giltner, 51.25; 5. Dylan Loberg, Randolph, 50-6.5; 6. Levi Destefano, Brady, 50-4; 7. Matthew Pekarek, High Plains, 49-1.5; 8. Britt McIntosh, Mullen, 48-10.75.

Discus

1. Bruce Schulenberg, Scribner-Snyder, 147-6; 2. Brayden Davis, Twin Loup, 146-2; 3. Clayton Branek, Pawnee City, 144-11; 4. Dustin Bleidt, Garden County, 144-10; 5. Jayle Hinkle, CWC, 140-4; 6. Austin Lange, Wynot, 139-3; 7. Cody Nickel, Axtell, 139-2; 8. Landon Rohde, Ansley-Litchfield, 137-3.

High Jump

1. Stetson Meyer, Diller-Odell, 6-5; 2. Laramie Fowler, Stapleton, 6-5; 3. Nosa Iyagbaye, Parkview Christian, 6-4; 4. Derek Greenlee, Southwest, 6-4; 5. Jared Hastings, Giltner, 6-4; 6. Kelsey Rozelle, Potter-Dix, 6-2; 7. Corey Bird, Dorchester, 6-0; 8. Chase Broders, Stuart, 6-0.

Pole Vault

1. Tyrell Younger, Bertrand, 14-8; 2. Chance Chrisman, McCool Junction, 14-4; 3. Benjamin Driewer, Heartland, 13-8; 4. Michael Hoblyn-Shoemaker, Ansley-Litchfield, 13-4; 5. Trey Engel, High Plains, 13-0; 6. Dustin Axline, Exeter-Milligan, 13-0; 7. Blake Scott, Sutherland, 12-6; 8. Garrett Elfeldt, Sutherland, 12-6.

Long Jump

1. Cody Stratman, Wynot, 21-6.5; 2. Kelsey Rozelle, Potter-Dix, 21-5.75; 3. Austin Hegge, Wausa, 21-0; 4. Justin Lee, Sandhills/Thedford, 20-10.75; 5 .Trevor Polivka, Parkview Christian, 20-1.5; 6. Jordan Heinrichs, Heartland, 20-1.5; 7. Breyden Eckhout, Amherst, 19-11; 8. Austin Malone, Falls City Sacred Heart, 19-10.

Triple Jump

1. Breydon Eckhout, Amherst, 43-0; 2. Robert Sanner, McCool Junction, 42-2; 3. Austin Malone, FCSH, 41-11; 4. Trevor Polivka, PCS, 41-9.5; 5. Austin Hegge, Wausa, 41-8.25; 6. Jon Christiansen, LDNE, 41-8; 7. Robert Rongisch, Sutherland, 41-6.25; 8. Seyler Monroe, Silver Lake, 40-11.5.