The tall wooden light poles swayed in the wind all morning, afternoon and evening Thursday as the Arlington High School track and field team produced eight state qualifiers during the Class C District 2 Meet.
Field events were contested under cloudy skies at Oakland City Park before the sun came out for foot races around the track. The whipping wind, however, remained consistent throughout.
Next, though, coach Kyle Buckingham's Eagles — Hayley Arp, Dallin Franzluebbers, Kelise Krivohlavek, Rylie Kyllo, Corinne May, Hailey O'Daniel, Kolby Tighe and Whitney Wollberg — will compete Friday and Saturday during the NSAA Class C State Championships at Omaha Burke Stadium.
“It's going to be good,” Tighe said.
The senior was apart of AHS' state runner-up boys finish last season and is looking forward to another chance to compete in Omaha this week.
“We had a fantastic run last year,” he said. “We'll try to replicate that as much as we can with the qualifiers we do have.”
Arp, Kyllo and Wollberg earned last Thursday's first qualifications in field events. While Arp, a sophomore, claimed first in the district shot put event with a 37-foot, 7.25-inch effort, both Wollberg and Kyllo had to find breaks between strong gusts of wind to finish first and second in the pole vault, respectively.
“It was definitely a mental game,” Wollberg said. “When the wind is like that, you have to be strong.”
She earned a 400-meter dash qualification in Oakland, too. Franzluebbers did the same, but also won the 200 dash in 22.74 seconds.
Like in the field events, May, O'Daniel and Tighe were up against the wind during distance races at the district meet. O'Daniel — a 2024 state champion in the 1,600 run — won the 800 and 1,600 runs in 2:23.49 and 5:34.36, respectively, while May secured a 1,600 qualification by her time.
Tighe, meanwhile, finished second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs, spending half of each distance running against Mother Nature's resistance.
“It adds another layer of strategy to an already complicated race,” he said of the wind.
Thankfully, the Eagle had teammates to ask for advice from.
“They kind of warned me about the general spots that you've got to push,” Tighe explained. “It's just like running up a hill. You've got to know when to push, when to put the pedal to the metal, and skip through the hard parts as fast as you can.”
In addition to their individual qualifications, May, O'Daniel and Wollberg qualified for state in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays with Krivohlavek, too. The three seniors and freshman — May — won the 2-mile team race in 9:57.84.
The Arlington 1,600 relay lineup, however, will cap the Class C state meet at 5:55 p.m. Saturday on the Burke Stadium oval.
“Training together through four years has been super fun,” Wollberg said. “So, to have our last race together will be super exciting.”
She can't imagine a better close to her prep track and field career.
Wollberg said it's, “The perfect way to go out.”
CLASS C DISTRICT 2 MEET
Thursday at Oakland City Park, Oakland
BOYS
Team standing: Wahoo Neumann 110 points, Yutan 99, Oakland-Craig 76, Fremont Bergan 60, Tekamah-Herman 52, Arlington 40, North Bend Central 33, West Point GACC 22, Logan View 18, Omaha Brownell-Talbot 17.
Top-6 Arlington Finishers (top-2 individuals qualify for state)
200-meter dash: 1, Dallin Franzluebbers, 22.74 seconds.
400 dash: 2, Franzluebbers, 50.99.
1,600 run: 2, Kolby Tighe, 4:48.37.
3,200 run: 2, Tighe, 10:43.94. 6, Ethan Hilgenkamp, 11:58.84.
3,200 relay: 4, AHS (Ashton Vollmer, Gus Burns, Landon Shada, Hilgenkamp), 9:24.81.
Shot put: 6, Zane Gerrish, 45-8.5.
GIRLS
Team standing: Yutan 117 points, Neumann 115, Arlington 81, North Bend Central 77.5, Tekamah-Herman 43, Oakland-Craig 28, Bergan 25, Logan View 18, Brownell-Talbot 17, GACC 5.5.
Top-6 Arlington Finishers
400-meter dash: 3, Whitney Wollberg, 1:01.87.
800 run: 1, Hailey O'Daniel, 2:23.49.
1,600 run: 1, O'Daniel, 5:34.36. 4, Corinne May, 5:46.4.
1,600 relay: 3, AHS (Wollberg, Kelise Krivohlavek, May, O'Daniel), 4:18.64.
3,200 relay: 1, AHS (Wollberg, Krivohlavek, May, O'Daniel), 9:57.84.
Pole vault: 1, Wollberg, 9-4. 2, Rylie Kyllo, 8-10.
Shot put: 1, Hayley Arp, 37-7.25.
Discus: 3, Hayley Arp, 112-7. 5, Britt Nielsen, 108-8.
