Raider Track Fourth At Ed Moore Invite

Mike Motz, Sidney Sun-Telegraph

Sidney's Red Raider Track & Field team traveled to Ogallala High School Saturday to compete at the annual Ed Moore Invitational Meet. The Red Raider teams both finished in fourth place, with 79 points for the girl's varsity and 55 points for the boy's varsity. Chase County was the big winner on the day, with their girl's team piling up 111 points to runner-up Cozad's 96, and the Chase County boy's team edging runner-up Gothenberg 119 to 112.

Sidney's teams did have many big moments, led by junior standout Karsyn Leeling breaking her own Sidney High School record, and tying the Nebraska State Class B Girls High Jump record, clearing 5' 10". Leeling previously set the schoool record as a freshman in 2021 when she cleared 5' 8.25". Leeling also won the Long Jump with a 17' 0.5" leap and the Triple Jump with a distance of 34' 3.25". It was her second straight meet winning gold in these three events early in the season. Leeling is focused on beating the current all-class State Record of 5'11", set by Melody Porter of Bellevue West in 1987.

For the boy's team, junior Isak Doty won the 100 Meters with a time of 11.28 and freshman Lance Holly finished seventh with a time of 11.71. Isak Doty also won the 400 Meters with a time of 51.32, a personal record. The 4x100 Meter Relay team of Lance Holly, Isak Doty, Landon Riddle and Luke Holly took first place, with a time of 44.00. In other finishes, senior Koleman Kaiser finished fifth in the Discus with a distance of 102'1", senior Jacob Dowse cleared 6'0" to win the High Jump, with senior, and Doane commit, Cam Leeling placing second clearing 5'10" and winning the Long Jump with a distance of 20' 10.5". Sophomore Landon Riddle placed fourth with a distance of 19' 10". Sophomore Kanon Palmer took third in Pole Vault, clearing 10" 6" and junior Luke Uhlir placed fifth also clearing 10' 6". Senior Austin Roelle placed fourth in Triple Jump with a distance of 39' 2.75".

On the girl's side, junior Payton Schrotberger placed third in the 100 Meters with a time of 13.23 and senior Gabrielle Fortner placed sixth at 13.42. Junior Talissa Tanquary continued her strong season start winning the 400 Meters at 1:04.37, the 800 Meters at 2:33.28 and was part of the winning 4x400 Meter Relay Team. Freshman Katie Dowse placed fourth in the 400 Meters and senior Rheo Dykstra placed fourth in the 3200 Meters at 14:28.24. Junior Chloe Ahrens continued her dominance in the Hurdles, winning the 100 Meters with a time of 15.72, followed by sophomores Carli Black and Ashlynn Weinbender in second and third place, respectively, with times of 17.58 and 17.68. Ahrens also won the 300 meter Hurdles with a season-best time of 48.87, followed in fourth place by Carli Black at 53.79. The 4x400 Meter Relay team of Ahrens, Talissa Tanquary, Gabrielle Fortner and Katie Dowse placed first with a time of 4:20.82. Sophomore Jordan DeNovellis placed fourth in the Discus with a distance of 88' 3" to round out the scoring for Sidney.

Sidney's junior varsity squads were also able to turn out a few outstanding performances. Sophmore Landon Riddle and junior Vernon Graham placed first and second in both the 100 Meters and 200 Meters, freshman Ben Monheiser placed second in the 400 meters, sophomore Dillon Cagle placed second in the 800 Meters and fourth in the 1600 Meters and the 4x100 Meter Relay team placed first. Freshman Alek Doty won the High Jump and sophomore Benjamin Borchard placed third, Zech Roggasch won the Pole Vault and sophomore Dru Weimer came in second place and senior Brayden Weinbender placed second in the Long Jump.

For the girl's junior varsity, sophomore Kayla Westby won the 100 Meters, freshman Kennedy Hobson, Rhemy Hicks and Jaylee Nienhuser placed first through third in the 100 Meter Hurdles, and the 4x100 Meter Relay team finished first. Sophomore Katie Raffleson placed third in Discus, and freshman Lia Capriotta won both the High Jump and Pole Vault. Freshman Cali Haas placed third in Long Jump and freshman Rylee Runge placed second in Triple Jump.

The Varsity team was next scheduled to compete at the Mitchell Invite on Thursday, April 6.