Cambridge boys take gold; Bison third in 3200 relay

Grant Moore of Cambridge distances himself from the pack as second-place Loomis hands off far behind. Moore ran the third leg for the Trojans as they set the state record during Friday's 3200-meter final. (J Parker Adair/McCook Daily Gazette)

OMAHA -- The Cambridge High School boys 3200-meter relay team blew away the field en route to a Class D state title Friday at Omaha Burke Stadium.

The Trojan foursome of Brett Cribelli, Michael McHale, Grant Moore and Kyle Custer blistered the field with a time of 8:05.3. The Trojans' foursome set a state and meet record. Elwood has the old meet and state time of 8:09.6.

The McCook High School 3200-meter relay team of Shawn McMurtrey, Austin Fagot, Cody Martin and Josh Cherry finished third in the Class B 3200-meter relay with a time of 8:15.3.

The McCook boys also qualified their 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. They will both compete on Saturday. McCook has the fastest time in Class B in both races, according to the Omaha World Herald.

More than 90 athletes from Southwest Nebraska are competing at the Nebraska State High School Track and Field Championships, which kicked off Friday morning with Classes A and C, and Classes B and D competed Friday afternoon in front of packed houses during the morning and afternoon sessions.

The only results available from Classes B and D at press time Friday were the 3200-meter relays.

The top six relay teams and individuals earned medals and team points.

McCook and Chase County-Imperial athletes competed in Class B. Class C area representatives were Southern Valley, Southwest and Hitchcock County.

Area schools with athletes competing in Class D were Arapahoe, Dundy County, Eustis-Farnam, Wauneta-Palisade, Cambridge, Maywood, Hayes Center and Medicine Valley.

The Saturday marathon session starts at 8:30 a.m.

In Class C Friday, no area athletes scored points:

* Southwest High School's Burton Burton placed ninth in the Class C boys 3200-meter run finals with a time of 10:31.31.

* The Southern Valley girls 3200-meter relay team of Trishia Harper, Jordan Sechtem, Hennessey Hogeland and Janae Perkins placed 14th in the finals with a time of 10:31.97.

* Hitchcock County's Laken Cook cleared 8 feet in the Class C girls pole vault finals and was tied with five other girls at that height. She did not place.

* Hitchcock County's Katherine Voss finished 17th in the Class C girls long jump finals with a mark of 14 feet, 11 1/2 inches.

Area Class D results from Friday:

* The Medicine Valley girls 3200-meter relay team of Mary Wills, Kyle-Lynn Hughes, Sara Mullen and Kesha Heinzle placed 15th with a time of 11:02.21.

* The Dundy County boys 3200-meter relay team of Shawn Bernard, Andrew McVey, Jeremy Boon and Kylor Neville placed 11th with a time of 8:51.8.