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Chase County’s Lady Longhorns repeated last year’s Class C track title with another one over the weekend. Team members and alternates display their new wares in front of the championship banner that hangs in Burke Stadium recognizing last year’s title. The girls include, front from left, Maddi Brown, Taylor Williams, Josie Peterson, Adelaide Maxwell, Kadyn Milner, Peyton Fiedler, Sarah Allen, Mallie McNair, Taylin McNair, back from left, Destiny Reinke, Kaley Hauxwell, Sophie Spady, Katelyn Wheeler, Jadin Bussell, Andrea Page and Allison Owings. (Johnson Publications photo)

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Adelaide Maxwell expresses her emotions after crossing the finish line for a first place finish for the Lady Longhorns in the 400 meter relay. (Johnson publications photo)

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Senior Taylin McNair celebrates after running the anchor leg on the 1600 meter relay, edging Mitchell’s Celeste Cardona at the finish line for a first place finish. (Johnson publications photo)

It’s a repeat!

■ Lady Longhorns ‘weather’ conditions in Omaha, finish strong again for state title.

    Chase County’s 1600 meter girls relay team iced a second straight Class C state championship with a photo-finish victory Saturday.
    The Lady Longhorns successfully defended their Class C title from 2016 with a stunning 25.5-point margin over second place Crofton and Ainsworth.
    They accomplished the feat without any first-place individual finishes, but more importantly, they completed the rare feat of sweeping all three relays—the 400, 1600 and 3200.
    As the girls awaited their final event, the 1600 relay, Dan Keyser of Sutherland told them they had the chance to sweep the relays—a feat he didn’t think had ever be done by a girls’ team.
    Keyser is superintendent at Sutherland and serves on the Nebraska School Activities Association Board of Control.
    As it turns out, the feat has been accomplished only once in the last 20 years, by Arnold in 2005. NSAA’s website has state meet history dating back only to 1997.
    Of the Lady Longhorns’ 65.5 points, 30 came from the gold medal relay performances.
Meet starts with
state record
    Head Coach Troy Hauxwell said the 3200 meter relay, the first event Friday, really set the tone for the whole weekend.
    Despite cold drizzly conditions, the team of freshman Mallie McNair and seniors Destiny Reinke,  Kadyn Milner and Taylin McNair set a record-breaking pace.
    When Taylin McNair crossed the finish line with a time of 9:33.5, they shattered their own school record, the state record and the state meet record.
    They came into state just under a second off the state record after running 9:37.2 at districts.
    “To start off and get the state record and meet record in the 4x8 was pretty special,” Hauxwell said.
    Mid-morning Saturday, with drizzle falling, the 400 meter relay team of sophomore Taylor Williams, Taylin McNair, senior Katelyn Wheeler, and sophomore Adelaide Maxwell executed perfect handoffs and cruised to a 49.6 finish.
    That time bested their district time of 49.9 and provided a 1.6 second margin of victory.
    That gold medal performance set up the chance for a sweep of the relays.

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