Pioneers' junior high relay team earns gold at state

Track athletes compete in Gothenburg

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Raeann Massey, Lyla Pearson, Ella Bouwman and Maelie Nelson are state champions.
The Fort Calhoun junior high 3,200-meter relay team earned first Saturday in Gothenburg during the Nebraska Championship Meet, a junior high state championship event. They finished the race in 10:28.68, which was the second fastest time in meet history, according to coach Mark Bouwman. The second-place Broken Bow relay team trailed the Pioneers by nearly 4 seconds.
Nelson added an individual eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run and Dylan Keyser was fourth in the discus as nine Calhoun athletes participated. Nelson finished her two laps in 2:32.76, while the school record-holder in the event — Pearson — finished the race 16th in 2:37.62.
Keyser, meanwhile, improved on his school record with a 147-foot, 8-inch effort during the state's discus competition.
The Pioneers' Ansley Elofson and William Dennis also set new school marks in Gothenburg. Elofson finished the 200 dash in 27.41 seconds for 10th, while Dennis took 12th in the mile with a time of 4:59.93.
Massey (14th in the 1,600), Bella McLaughlin (19th in the 100 hurdles) and two more relay teams — the 400 (13th) and 1,600 (ninth) teams — also tested their skills during the Saturday event. Ari Nelson joined Bouwman, Pearson, Elofson and Maelie Nelson across the two relays.
Emma Ammon of Blair was 16th in the 100-meter hurdles, too. She finished the race in 17.72 seconds.

Pioneers set school records this spring
Prior to state, Fort Calhoun junior high track and field athletes set several more school records this spring. Blake Welchert owns the 400-meter dash mark (57.79 seconds, while Kaiden Rodriguez set the long jump record (17 feet, 6.5 inches) and Colby Bentley tops the shot put charts (37-2).
McLaughlin's best 100 hurdles time — 17.3 seconds — is the Calhoun school's best, while Maelie Nelson shares the high jump mark (4-8) with Afton Byelick.
The aforementioned 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams hold records of 53.66 and 4:25.43, too.

Fort Calhoun junior high track