After nearly three days of waiting, 13 Washington County Unified track and field athletes officially learned Friday they'd qualified for the NSAA State Championships at Omaha Burke Stadium.
Eight Blair Bears and five Fort Calhoun Pioneers will next compete 12:30 p.m. Thursday through the 3 p.m. Unified long jump event. They earned their spots during the May 13 district meet at Krantz Field.
Blair's Riley Yanak and Keenan Wyman will sprint the day's first race, the 100-meter dash. They're seeded third, going into the event with a combined time of 24.83 seconds.
The Bears' 400-meter relay team — Wyman, Caden Finken, AJ Damme and Yanak — is seeded fourth, too, going into the state meet with a time of 51.76.
Four Washington County shot put duos will contend for state titles as well. Jaden Rogge and Cornez Tucker Jr. of Blair are the boys event's top seed going in, clearing 82 feet, 5.75 inches with their best joint effort.
Fort Calhoun's Will Maxon and Colton Miles qualified for the event, too. Their seed distance is 73-8.25.
On the girls' side, BHS' Jess Hineman and partner Elizabeth Bray are seeded second after their district performance. They cleared 52-7.25, while the Pioneers' Reilly Rauterkus and Samantha Thomas are qualified with a combined effort of 46 feet, 2.5 inches.
Lastly, in the 3 p.m. event, Maxon and Gavin Welchert will contend in hopes of another FCHS medal. They are seeded fourth in the long jump, having leapt 32-4.25.
Notably, Yanak, Wyman, Finken, Rogge, Tucker Jr. and Maxon are all repeat qualifiers after competing at the 2024 state meet, too. Finken and Wyman earned silver medals a year ago in Omaha, while Rogge and Tucker Jr. secured bronzes.
Maxon was a fourth-place finisher at state with former Unified partner Logan Brewer, too.
