The NSAA State Track and Field Championships weighed on Blair sophomore Ethan Baessler's mind.
“I got very nervous,” the sprinter admitted Thursday at Omaha Burke Stadium. “Thinking about it all week, all weekend. The whole month.”
As his running career started, the first-year track athlete wanted to qualify for state in Class B. He came out of the gates with a fast 100-meter dash time at the beginning of the season, but was forced out of action almost immediately with a hip injury.
On Wednesday and Thursday, though, Baessler was on the state stage and delivered. He qualified for the 100 finals first and earned a bronze medal second. His top-8 finish was one of five for coach Bryan Soukup's Bears, who finished 16th in the boys' standings and 27th in the girls as Sidney and Elkhorn North earned titles, respectively.
Baessler's third-place finish was one of two for BHS in individual events. Nolan Slominski notched a sixth-place effort in the 800 run with a time of 1:59.44, while the team's top sprinter stopped the clock in just 10.99 seconds.
Baessler didn't know that time immediately after the race, though. He just knew he came through, finishing behind only state champion Grant Schere of Waverly (10.77) and Bennington's Dylan Mostek (10.89).
“It felt like a good time,” the sophomore said.
Like Baessler and Slominski, three of Blair's state relay teams delivered medals during the state meet.
The girls' 3,200 squad was the first to do it Wednesday, finishing its race fourth in 9:47.69. Makayla Baughman, Reece Ewoldt, Sophia Baedke and Kaitlynn Amandus were apart of the successful lineup.
“It's nice that I'm able to finish my last year in high school at state, finishing strong with my teammates,” said Amandus, a recently-graduated senior.
Shortly thereafter, the BHS boys' 3,200 relay squad of Slominski, Calin O'Grady, Ted Lueders and Caleb Funk earned third in 8:07.02.
“Especially coming in ranked seventh, it feels really good,” Lueders said. He was one of two Bears left standing after the race as the team gave everything it had to come away with a bronze medal.
“It's weird,” Lueders said. “Just the atmosphere at state really brings the best out of you.”
The Bears' final medal-earning effort came Thursday during the state meet's last event. Baughman and Ewoldt joined up with Schuyler Roewert and Hailey Amandus to finish seventh in 4:06.68.
Blair's state track successes didn't just come in the form of medals, though. Senior Erika Roehrs, who just missed qualifying for the 300-meter hurdle finals in ninth, watched as Grand Island Northwest broke the 400-meter relay state record she set with her BHS teammates in 2021.
“Dang,” she said as 48.12 seconds popped up on a temporary video screen on the south end of the stadium.
Roehrs didn't let that sully the efforts of the 16th-place 400 relay squad she was apart of Thursday. She ran the race with three new teammates and they made it to Omaha Burke Stadium — the setting that made the Bears' top individual finisher nervous.
“We still qualified for state,” Roehrs said. “I think that's just, like, huge. It could have been really heartbreaking to just go from last year to not even qualify for state this year, but we really beat the odds.”
Ultimately, she was proud.
“It's just a blessing to be able to come and race here,” Baessler said, echoing his teammates sentiment after his first go-around on the NSAA's chosen track.
