Led by Mallie McNair who won the gold, three Lady Longhorns finished in the medals in the SPVA meet’s 400 meter run. As they head down the stretch, Sophie Spady, left, is en route to the silver medal while Ragan Nickless, right, finished sixth. (Johnson Publications photo)
Brooklyn Christensen gets a good lift in the pole vault Friday morning. She went on to take fourth place with an 8’6” effort. (Johnson Publications photo)
Distance runners Lindsey Mendenhall, left, and Kayla Schilke just missed the medals with a seventh and eighth place finish in the 3200 meter run. (Johnson Publications photo)
Lady Longhorns maintain hold on SPVA track title
It wasn’t just a near perfect weather day for track on Friday in Sidney.
It was also the day Chase County’s Lady Longhorns kept hold of the SPVA Conference track title, winning it for the fifth straight year. After finishing second behind St. Pat’s in 2013, the Lady Longhorns have captured the SPVA title since 2014.
But, Coach Troy Hauxwell was a bit antsy heading into Friday’s running events, not knowing if they could make up the points lost by some of his injured athletes in the field events.
With both Macy Coleman and Ashley Bubak out with injuries, Chase County scored no points in the triple or long jump. North Platte St. Pat’s, meanwhile, was racking up field event points.
It helped though, Hauxwell said, he could count on Allison Owings, who continues to dominate in the shot and discus winning two golds again, as well as Peyton Fielder, who won the pole vault. Other important points came from Andrea Page, second in discus; Brooklyn Christensen, fourth in pole vault; and Jozie Schilke, sixth in high jump.
That’s in addition to several others who finished second through sixth in the field events.
In the end, strong running on the track then pushed Chase County to the title by a 32-point margin over St. Pat’s.
Coach Hauxwell said it’s always good to keep a streak of wins going.
“Winning SPVA is great for the girls. We have a younger crew this year compared to last and continuing a tradition is always good,” he said.
St. Pat’s offered some very good competition Friday, Hauxwell said, and overall, noted the SPVA has a lot of good senior athletes this year.
But, Chase County had some nice performances and some surprises during the day, one of which came in the 800.
While Mallie McNair won the 800 meter gold by 10 seconds, Kora Weiss passed two runners from St. Pat’s to claim fourth.
In the 400, McNair earned another gold, but important points also came from Sophie Spady and Ragan Nickless, who were second and sixth.
“Anytime you score multiple points in the running events, that sure helps,” Hauxwell said.
Adelaide Maxwell won the 200 and earned silver in the 100, on a day she wasn’t 100 percent, he added. Kamrie Dillan, who’s dealing with some hip issues, took fifth in both sprints. Distance runners Madison Brown and Kaley Hauxwell took second and fourth in the 1600 and 3200.
Fielder also won the high hurdles, and took silver in the 300 hurdles, while Alexis Richmond took sixth in both, adding a couple more points.
All three relays won gold, while St. Pat’s finished third in all three.
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