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Bison tracksters first, second at Broken Bow
BROKEN BOW -- The McCook High School boys and girls track teams placed first and second, respectively, at the Broken Bow Invitational Monday.
The meet was postponed from last week because of weather reasons.
The Bison boys rolled to a 57-point victory over Gothenburg, 161-104, to capture the division title. Broken Bow and Cozad tied for third with 93 points, followed by Ord with 43.5, Holdrege 29.5 and Broken Bow junior varsity 2.
This is the third year in a row the McCook boys have won the Broken Bow title.
The McCook girls scored 107 points, just missing first-place Holdrege by 10 points. Broken Bow was a close third with 102 points, followed by Gothenburg 97.5, Cozad 57, Ord 38.5 and Broken Bow JV 0.
McCook senior Josh Cherry won the 400-meter and 800-meter races with times of 50.6 seconds and 2 minutes, 7.3 seconds.
Other first-place finishers for the Bison boys were Mitch Green, 100-meter dash, 11.2; Nate Berry, 200, 23.5; and the 4x800-meter relay team of Jon Bryant, Andy Lambing, Chance Unger and freshman Jimmy Barron, 8:44.
The 4x800 relay team won its race by 18 seconds over second-place Ord.
Second-place finishers for the McCook boys were Swanhorst, 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, 15.5 and 42.5; Brett Burton, triple jump, 20-5 1/2; Cory Gaston, triple jump, 39-9; David Swisher, pole vault, 12-6; Sam Frazier, discus, 156-2; 4x100 relay of Green, Nate Berry, Matt Berry and Dillon Goltl, 45.4; and 4x400 relay of Cherry, Bryant, Swanhorst and Goltl, 3:34.7.
Placing third for the Bison boys were Nate Berry, 100, 11.3; Andy Lambing, 800, 2:11.7; Jimmy Barron, 1600, 5:08.5; and Green, triple jump, 39-3.
Fourth-place finishers were Ryan Hardin, 110 hurdles, 16.9; Chance Unger, 800, 2:11.8; J.D. Stone, shot put, 47-9 1/4; and Andrew Reitz, pole vault, 11-6.
Placing fifth were Gaston, 300 hurdles, 44.0; Chad Stull, high jump, 5-6; and Andy Smith, pole vault, 11-6.
Placing sixth was Hardin, 300 hurdles, 44.9.
Frazier's throw of 156-2 in the discus was a career best. Junior Brady Hess narrowly missed making the discus finals with his throw of 127-2.
"The sport of track and field is, most of the time, more about making progress than it is about winning," said McCook boys track coach John Gumb. "Hopefully if you can progress enough, it will eventually lead to wins in the meets where you most want this to happen. It seems like you are forever taking two steps forward and one step back.
"On a day in which the temperature struggled to get out of the 30 degree range, I think it can be said that we did make some progress in certain areas. We were fortunate enough to produce 12 season-best marks in winning the Broken Bow Invitational.
"The most impressive mark of the day for the Bison boys was in the open 400 meters. Josh Cherry opened a lot of eyes as he toured the oval in a time of 50.6 seconds -- an incredible time for those weather conditions.
"He easily outdistanced Gothenburg's Alex Paul, who was a state meet finalist in the event last year. Cherry also cruised to victory in his specialty -- the 800 meters -- in a time of 2:07.3 and anchored the second-place 1600-meter relay team to victory."
Nate Berry's win in the 200-meter dash earned him the Kent McCloughan Award that is given to the winner in the event. This is the fifth year in a row a McCook runner has won the McCloughan Award.
The Bison boys 4x100 relay team's second-place finish marked the first loss in three years for the 4x100 relay.
"It was not due necessarily to a poor performance by the boys as much as it was an error in my judgment with gauging the exchange distances," Gumb said. "Cozad had four very solid sprinters and it will take excellent baton passes for us to be able to beat them.
"We live and learn, and this is one of those steps backward that inevitably happens to all good teams."
Both of Hardin's efforts were career-best performances by the sophomore.
Gumb said that he was proud of the three freshmen who competed on the varsity squad at Broken Bow -- Barron, Smith and Stull.
H McCook girls -- Kelsee Meissner paced the McCook girls with a first-place effort in the shot put.
She posted a mark of 38 feet, 11 inches, and moved into fourth place on the MHS Top 10 Charts.
The McCook girls won the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 52.6 and the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:22.4.
The 4x100 relay featured Kali Lyons, Austin Wilson, Erica Clapp and Whitney Korgan.
The 4x400 relay team featured Lyons, Tara Powell, Adrianna Hagan and Joanna Bryant.
Placing second for the Bison girls were Wilson, 100, 13.1; Korgan, 200, 27.7; Danae McCorkle, pole vault, 9-0; and Ashlee Huffman, discus, 117-7.
Third-place finishers for the McCook girls were Powell, 800, 2:42; Lyons, long jump, 15-3 1/2; and Hagan, triple jump, 31-9.
Placing fourth were Bryant, 800, 2:43.8; Emily Geschwentner, 3200, 14:51.3; Clapp, long jump, 14-11 1/4; and Marissa Wallace, discus, 108-0.
Fifth-place finishers for the Bison girls were Bruant, 400, 1:06.9; McCorkle, 100 hurdles, 16.9; and Natalie Sis, 300 hurdles, 53.8.
Placing sixth were Hagan, long jump, 14-5; and Sydney Jumps, shot put, 34-4.
"On a day that was better suited for penguins than for athletes, the McCook High School girls came together as a team and performed with a great deal of determination in a second-place performance to Holdrege," said McCook girls track coach Steve Clapp.
"A number of PR's (personal records) were equaled or bettered in not so ideal conditions. As a team, we were excited about the aspect of team performance. We had some top notch efforts from top to bottom in the placing scale."
The McCook Bison junior varsity boys and girls teams are scheduled to compete at the Medicine Valley Invite Friday on the MHS track.
The McCook varsity boys and girls teams are slated to compete at the Gothenburg Dutch Zorn Invitational Saturday.
Both the Medicine Valley and Gothenburg meets start at 10 a.m.