Blair High School seniors Ethan Baessler and Reece Ewoldt captured gold-medal wins Tuesday during the highly-competitive Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) Championships at Lincoln Northwest.
Days after winning their home invite, the Bears' boys team took sixth out of eight teams on the Falcons' track. Coach Bryan Soukup's girls, meanwhile, were fifth overall.
The Norris boys and Bennington girls, however, notched EMC titles. They scored 158 and 115 team points, respectively, finishing ahead of BHS by 114 and 59.
No one finished ahead of Baessler in the 100-meter dash, though. The future South Dakota Coyote sprinted to the finish line in 10.85 seconds, while also taking second in the 200 dash behind Waverly's Braxton Smith and third in the 400 relay alongside Ben Holcomb, Hayden Daggett and Colin McCabe. For the second-straight meet, the four-man team set a new Blair record with a one-lap time of 43.15. Baessler's 200 time — 21.48 — broke his own school mark, too.
Ewoldt has set three event records this season, but won the 1,600 run Tuesday in Lincoln with a time of 5:08.7. She bested second-place Kendall Zavala of Norris by nearly 7 seconds.
The future University of Nebraska-Kearney Loper took fourth in the 800 run, too, while BHS' Reese Beemer — a soon-to-be South Dakota State sprinter — was second in the 100 dash in 12.81 seconds. She added a third-place result in the 200 sprint as Greta Galbraith earned another silver medal for Blair in the pole vault. The latter senior cleared a bar set at 10 feet, 8 inches, finishing behind only Mya Hibbard of Elkhorn North.
The Bears' Emma Ammon notched a third-place showing in the high jump just ahead of fourth-place Hailey Roewert, another of Coach Soukup's standouts.
On the boys' side, Daggett was third in the individual 400 dash, too, while McCabe was fourth. Declan McCabe, Holcomb and Braden McGill also added top-six individual finishes for team points. Ali Wheeler, Mia McClain and Haylie Jensen did the same for the Blair girls.
The Bears' most-important meet to date is next. They contend for state qualifications Tuesday during the Class B-4 District Meet at Albion Boone Central. First field event attempts start at 11 a.m., according to the Cardinals' activities calendar.
EMC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tuesday at Lincoln Northwest
BOYS
Team standings: Norris 158 team points, Waverly 120, Bennington 57, Hastings 57, Elkhorn 46, Blair 44, Elkhorn North 43, Lincoln Northwest 1.
Top-6 Blair Results
100-meter dash: 1, Ethan Baessler, 10.85 seconds.
200 dash: 2, Baessler, 21.48.
400 dash: 3, Hayden Daggett, 51.1. 4, Colin McCabe, 51.15.
800 run: 5, Declan McCabe, 2:00.43.
400 relay: 3, BHS (Ben Holcomb, Baessler, Daggett, C.McCabe), 43.15.
1,600 relay: 6, BHS (Caleb Funk, Daggett, C.McCabe, Baessler), 3:33.37.
High jump: 6, Daggett, 5 feet, 11 inches.
300 hurdles: 5, Holcomb, 42.69.
Discus: 5, Braden McGill, 136-4.
Shot put: 5, McGill, 45-10.
GIRLS
Team standings: Bennington 115, Norris 102, Waverly 92, Elkhorn North 76, Blair 56, Elkhorn 36, Hastings 28, Lincoln Northwest 22.
Top-6 Blair Results
100-meter dash: 2, Reese Beemer, 12.81 seconds.
200 dash: 3, Beemer, 26.32.
800 run: 4, Reece Ewoldt, 2:17.9.
1,600 run: 1, Ewoldt, 5:08.7.
400 relay: 5, BHS (Jacy Schueth, Beemer, Audie Keeling, Brynn Lundgren), 51.67.
3,200 relay: 5, BHS (Allie Czapla, Kate Wulf, Lainey Bilau, Ryleigh Schroeter), 10:26.06.
100 hurdles: 6, Emma Ammon, 17.16.
300 hurdles: 6, Haylie Jensen, 51.48.
Long jump: 6, Ammon, 16 feet, 10.5 inches.
High jump: 3, Ammon, 5-1. 4, Hailey Roewert, 5-1.
Pole vault: 2, Greta Galbraith, 10-8. 5, Ali Wheeler, 8-2. 6, Mia McClain, 7-8.
