Best of the Midwest challenges Longhorn girls

    Two different meets had two different goals for the Chase County girls’ track team last week.
    The Longhorns took on some of the region’s best May 2 at the Best of the Midwest of Sutherland.
    While bigger schools like McCook and North Platte don’t always come to the meet, Head Coach Troy Hauxwell said it was good this year for CCS to face athletes from those schools.
    Athletes can only compete in three events at the all-class, invite-only event.
    Hauxwell said the meet goes fast because it only has finals and coaches need to be careful with athletes that do multiple events. It’s important to be careful with athletes’ confidence level and health.
    Some athletes, like Ali McNair in the pole vault this year, didn’t learn until they were on the way to Sutherland that they’d be competing.
    Bryn McNair placed first in the high jump and 400-meter dash. Hauxwell said McNair was hoping for a little more competition, but  the lineups can change quickly as athletes lock in their events.
    Athletes are typically stronger in the sprints as they get older, Hauxwell said, but freshmen Riley Rusher was third and Hayley Rusher was fifth in the 200-meter dash.
    Freshmen Miranda Spady and Ashlyn Heermann placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 800.
    Kaylie Lotspeich placed third in the discus with a season’s best and eighth in the shot put.
    Other athletes placing included Landree McNair, fifth, high jump, and eighth, 1,600; Ali McNair, seventh, pole vault; Ella Colson, eighth, 100; Peyton Owens, sixth, 100-meter hurdles and eighth, 300-meter hurdles; and in the triple jump, Ava McNair fifth and Katelyn Stamm seventh.
    Owens, Olivia Spady, R. Rusher and B. McNair claimed first and lowered their season’s best by eight seconds in the 1,600-meter relay to 4:05.69.
    Hauxwell was happy with the result, saying the Longhorns over the years haven’t run this time often outside of the state meet. This year’s team moved into fifth on the all time CCS list.
    The 400-meter relay, H. Rusher, Colson, Ali McNair and R. Rusher, placed fourth, lowering their season best by one second to 51.44. Getting the relatively young group on the podium in Sutherland was good, Hauxwell said.

    The 3,200-meter relay team, O. Spady, M. Spady, L. McNair and Heermann, finished second to McCook. The Longhorns knocked 17 seconds off their season’s best time, then turned around and erased another three seconds Friday at the Dundy County Stratton Twilight. Their 10:02.71 is seventh fastest all time for the Longhorns.
    Friday’s twilight has been typically used to get a lot of athletes another competition date.
    This year Hauxwell said some varsity athletes used the meet as a training day.
    How athletes are feeling, both mentally and physically, can dictate what events they do as they prepare for the district meet.
    The Longhorns were dominant in the team standings, outscoring second place Perkins County 274-69.
    CCS placed three in the top six in 10 events.
    First place finishes went to R. Rusher in the 200; B. McNair in the 400, 800 and high jump; Tessa Smith in the 3,200; Lotspeich in the discus, Ali McNair in the pole vault and Stamm in the triple jump.
Up next
    Only one meet stands between CCS and the state track meet, Thursday’s C9 district meet at Perkins County. Joining the Longhorns and the hosts in Grant will be Bayard, Bridgeport, Gordon-Rushville, Hemingford, Kimball, Mitchell and Morrill.
    The meet will begin with boys’ pole vault at 9:45 a.m. followed 15 minutes later by boys’ discus and long jump, as well as girls’ high jump, shot put and triple jump.
    The first session of track events will begin at 11:30 a.m., 3,200-meter relay, prelims of the 100-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash. Finals for the 400-meter dash and 3,200-meter run will happen before the session ends with the 200 prelims.
    Girls’ pole vault kicks off the afternoon field events at 2 p.m. The remaining field events, boys high jump, triple jump and shot put plus girls’ discus, pole vault and long jump, start at 2:15 p.m.
    The remaining running events will begin at 3:45 p.m.
Best of the Midwest
100 Meters—1. Mae Siegel, 12.64, NPSP; 8. Ella Colson, 13.49, CCS.
200 Meters—1. Siegel, 26.05, NPSP; 3. Riley Rusher, 26.50, CCS; 5. Hayley Rusher, 27.32, CCS.
400 Meters—1. Bryn McNair, 58.79, CCS.
800 Meters—1. Story Rasby, 2:18.22, Sutherland; 5. Miranda Spady, 2:31.23, CCS; 6. Ashlyn Heermann, 2:35.89, CCS.
1600 Meters—1. Emma Cappel, 5:25.27, McCook; 8. Landree McNair, 6:03.95, CCS.
100m Hurdles—1. Aubrey O’Hare, 15.34, Gothenburg; 8. Peyton Owens, 17.53, CCS.
300m Hurdles—1. Karyn Burkholder, 44.85, Cozad; 6. Owens, 48.63, CCS.
4x100 Relay—1. Gothenburg, 50.32; 4. CCS (H. Rusher, Colson, Ali McNair, R. Rusher), 51.44
4x400 Relay—1. CCS (Owens, Olivia Spady, R. Rusher, B. McNair), 4:05.69.
4x800 Relay—1. McCook, 9:52.97; 2. CCS (O. Spady, Ashlyn Heermann, L. McNair, M. Spady), 10:05.19.
Shot Put—1. Kori Rippen, 37’10.5, McCook; 8. Kaylie Lotspeich, 33’3, CCS.
Discus—1. Madison Smith, 148’10, Gothenburg; 3. Kaylie Lotspeich, 123’9, CCS.
High Jump—1. B. McNair, 5’4, CCS; 5. L. McNair, 4’10, CCS.
Pole Vault—1. Ambie Custard, 10’3, McCook; 7. Ali McNair, 9’3, CCS.
Triple Jump—1. Siegel, 37’6.5, NPSP; 5. Ava McNair, 32’8.25, CCS; 7. Katelyn Stamm, 32’4.75, CCS.
Dundy County Stratton Twilight
Girls team scores—1. Chase County, 274; 2. Perkins County, 69; 3. Maywood-Hayes Center, 65; 4. Atwood-Rawlins Co, 64; 5. Wauneta-Palisade, 58.5; 6. Dundy County Stratton, 55.5; 7. Cheylin, 24.
Individual results
100 Meters—1. Michaela Rippe, 13.36, Atwood-Rawlins Co; 4. Ella Colson, 13.95, CCS; 5. Ali McNair, 13.96, CCS; 6. Hayley Rusher, 13.99, CCS;
200 Meters—1. Riley Rusher, 27.52, CCS; 3. Adelle Eskew, 28.18, CCS; 4. H. Rusher, 28.19, CCS.
400 Meters—1. Bryn McNair, 59.41, CCS; 4. Dylan Heermann, 1:06.47, CCS; 5. Hailey Markee, 1:08.05, CCS.
800 Meters—1. Bryn McNair, 2:23.17, CCS; 3. Miranda Spady, 2:37.71, CCS; 4. Ashlyn Heermann, 2:38.17, CCS.
1600 Meters—1. Ashlin Broz, 5:42.28, MHC; 2. Landree McNair, 6:03.03, CCS; 3. Tessa Smith, 6:20.85, CCS; 5. McKenzie Vogt, 6:40.76, CCS.
3200 Meters—1. Smith, 14:00.13, CCS; 2. Vogt, 14:56.71, CCS; 6. Paige Nickless, 17:38.79, CCS.
100m Hurdles—1. Ava Reese, 16.63, PCS; 2. Tristan Nordhausen, 17.11, CCS; 3. Joee Clevenger, 17.21, CCS; 4. Peyton Owens, 17.74, CCS.
300m Hurdles—1. Kailee Potts, 48.38, PCS; 2. Owens, 49.46, CCS; 4. Clevenger, 51.49, CCS; 5. Nordhausen, 52.04, CCS.
4x100 Relay—1. CCS (H. Rusher, Colson, Ali McNair, R. Rusher), 53.17.
4x400 Relay—1. CCS (Owens, Olivia Spady, R. Rusher, B. McNair), 4:15.94.
4x800 Relay—1. CCS (O. Spady, M. Spady, L. McNair, A. Heermann), 10:02.71.
Shot Put—1. Abby Micek, 39-10.00, Atwood-Rawlins Co; 3. Kaylie Lotspeich, 34-00.50, CCS; 6. Kylee Wiest, 32-02.50, CCS.
Discus—1. Kaylie Lotspeich, 123-06, CCS; 5. Brooke Schilke, 96-08, CCS.
High Jump—1. B. McNair, 5-04.00, CCS; 4. L. McNair, 4-10.00, CCS.
Pole Vault—1. Ali McNair, 9-06.00, CCS; 2. M. Spady, 7-06.00, CCS.
Long Jump—1. Michaela Rippe, 16-01.00, Atwood-Rawlins Co; 2. Eskew, 15-05.00, CCS; 3. Katelyn Stamm, 14-10.00, CCS; 5. Ava McNair, 13-11.00, CCS.
Triple Jump—1. Stamm, 33-04.50, CCS; 2. Ava McNair, 31-08.50, CCS; 5. Liz Reeves, 31-02.50, CCS.