Wahoo High School moved up the start time of its home track and field meet Friday and the athletes outraced the storms.
The Blair boys, meanwhile, finished ahead of the whole field. The Bears scored 134 team points, besting the host Warriors by 25.
The Arlington boys took fifth and the Fort Calhoun Pioneers were seventh, too.
On the girls' side, BHS was second to Seward by 16 points. The Eagles took fourth and FCHS was seventh.
Washington County's track coaches were happy to have gotten the meet in before Mother Nature could spoil it.
“Glad we moved it up a couple of hours,” AHS' Tyler Spitser said.
“Yes, glad we missed the weather,” Mandy Taylor of Fort Calhoun added.
Blair wins 12 events
Washington County boys won every Wahoo Invitational running event Friday with Bears earning seven of the nine gold medals.
Braden McGill added a victory in the discus (143 feet, 11 inches) and the BHS girls team claimed four event wins to round out a strong showing.
“Kids competed very well today,” Blair coach Bryan Soukup said. “It's been a challenging stretch with three meets in eight days, but both the boys and girls teams have responded well in all three meets. A lot of (personal records) again today as both teams continue to impress our coaching staff.”
Sprinters Ethan Baessler and Reese Beemer again swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes as they have previously this season. Baessler won the boys' races in 10.78 and 23.28 seconds, while Beemer won the girls' in 12.26 and 26.38, respectively.
The Bears' Nolan Slominski added gold-medal efforts in the 400 dash (50.87 seconds) and the 800 run (2:00.75) as Dawson Fricke claimed the 3,200 in 10:24.58.
Blair won three relay events, too, starting with the girls' 3,200-meter relay. Reece Ewoldt, Hailey Amandus, Lainey Bilau and Kate Wulf won that race in 10:21.81.
The Bears' 400-meter relay win, meanwhile, came on the boys' side. Colin McCabe, Baessler, Ben Holcomb and Zac Keeling raced to a 44.78-second time, while the victorious 1,600 relay boys — Ted Lueders, Keeling, Hayden Daggett and Baessler — won in 3:38.45.
In addition to McGill's field event victory, BHS junior Greta Galbraith won the pole vault by half a foot. She cleared 9-6.
Altogether, Blair's track and field athletes scored more team points than any other school in attendance Friday.
“Each athlete's performance is key to team success,” Soukup said. “Whether it's winning the event or placing second-to-sixth and scoring points for the overall cause. Every point matters.”
The coach was proud of all of his Bears in Wahoo, though — placers and non-placers.
“Athletes have really done a great job feeding off of each other's success,” he said. “The support our athletes have for each other is what I enjoy seeing the most at each meet, and really is one of the greatest parts of our program.”
Eagles face Class B competition
Arlington's track and field athletes combined for 119 team points and six event wins in Wahoo.
“I thought our kids competed really well,” coach Spitser said. “This was our first meet with Class B schools and our kids did a great job competing with the bigger schools.”
Eagles Keelianne Green, Nolan May, Kaden Foust and Hailey O'Daniel were the most successful, winning individual events. Green, a senior Concordia University recruit, won the 1,600-meter run in 5:32.72 and the long jump with a 17-foot, 1-inch leap.
May, meanwhile, claimed the 1,600 run in 4:43.3. He edged Slominski, Blair's two-event winner, by just 0.13.
Foust's win in the boys' long jump came by 2 inches. He cleared 21 feet, while O'Daniel raced to a 800-meter run gold medal in 2:25.12 — 6 seconds better than second-place Blair Bear, Amandus.
Arlington's 3,200-meter relay team earned top honors, too. May joined Luke Hammang, Kevin Flesner and Dallin Franzluebbers to win the race in 8:27.31.
Taylor Arp and Cadie Robinson added second-place showings in the discus and shot put, too. Jacob Beans was third in the boys' shot.
All-in-all, Spitser's team had a good day in Wahoo.
“I will tally them up when we get home, but it felt like just about everyone that competed today had a season best mark if not an all-time best,” he said.
FCHS scores 63 team points
The Fort Calhoun track and field team fell short of an event win Friday in Wahoo, but the Pioneers still produced 63 combined team points.
“Our kids showed some grit today and continued to push,” coach Taylor said. “It's been a long week for us and today was a day that will only make us stronger in the weeks to come.”
FCHS' Michael Maxon and Bella McLaughlin stood out with their performances in Wahoo. Maxon was fourth in the long jump with a top-10 effort in school history — 20 feet, 3 inches.
McLaughlin, meanwhile, took fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.27 seconds — another top-10 Calhoun effort. She was the only Washington County athlete to place in the event, a rare occurrence Friday.
In addition to their efforts, the Pioneers' Ely Olberding and Dala Drowne claimed silver medals to lead the way. Olberding was second in the 3,200 run with a time of 10:36.57.
Drowne, however, secured her second-place finish in a field event. The senior cleared 5 feet in the high jump.
Kaylee Taylor, a sophomore, was third in the long jump, too, as the Pioneers earned a pair of seventh-place team finishes before storms rolled in overhead.
WAHOO INVITATIONAL
Friday at Wahoo High School
BOYS
Team results: Blair 134, Wahoo 109, Wahoo Neumann 73, Seward 56, Arlington 53, Douglas County West 43, Fort Calhoun 29, Omaha Roncalli 20, Raymond Central 5, Omaha Skutt 4, Omaha Concordia 1.
Top 6 Washington County Results
100-meter dash: 1, Ethan Baessler, Blair, 10.78 seconds. 3, Zac Keeling, B, 11.43. 5, Kaden Foust, Arlington, 11.52.
200 dash: 1, Baessler, B, 23.28.
400 dash: 1, Nolan Slominski, B, 50.87. 3, Caleb Funk, B, 51.95. 4, Foust, A, 53.49.
800 run: 1, Slominski, B, 2:00.75. 5, Kevin Flesner, A, 2:07.29.
1,600 run: 1, Nolan May, A, 4:43.3. 2, Slominski, B, 4:43.43. 4, Dawson Fricke, B, 4:48.23. 5, Ely Olberding, Fort Calhoun, 4:49.83.
3,200 run: 1, Fricke, B, 10:24.58. 2, Olberding, FC, 10:36.57. 4, Ted Lueders, B, 10:56.99. 5, Lance Olberding, FC, 10:58.5.
400 relay: 1, BHS (Colin McCabe, Baessler, Ben Holcomb, Keeling), 44.78. 4, FCHS (AJ Duros, Preston Johnson, Michael Maxon, Clay Bohnenkamp), 45.68.
1,600 relay: 1, BHS (Lueders, Keeling, Hayden Daggett, Baessler), 3:38.45. 2, AHS (Foust, Flesner, Trent Koger, Dallin Franzluebbers), 3:39.72.
3,200 relay: 1, AHS (Franzluebbers, Flesner, Luke Hammang, May), 8:27.31. 3, FCHS (Lance Olberding, Will Dennis, Eddie Lautrup, Ely Olberding), 8:52.17. 4, BHS (Fricke, Chase Cottle, Declan McCabe, Nate Teager), 8:57.41.
110 hurdles: 5, Holcomb, B, 16.61.
Long jump: 1, Foust, A, 21 feet. 4, Maxon, FC, 20-3.
Triple jump: 6, Shelton Anderson, B, 39-11.5.
High jump: 3, Daggett, B, 5-10. 6, Cottle, B, 5-8.
Pole vault: 6, TJ Demilt, FC, 9-6.
Discus: 1, Braden McGill, B, 143-11. 5, Dylan Keyser, FC, 131-9. 6, Kyle Quinn, A, 126-6.
Shot put: 2, McGill, B, 49-3.75. 3, Jacob Beans, A, 48-4.25. 4, Seagan Packett-Trisdale, B, 47-3.
GIRLS
Team results: Seward 108, Blair 92, Neumann 78, Arlington 66, Roncalli 48, DC West 41, Fort Calhoun 34, Wahoo 29, Raymond Central 22, Concordia 9.
Top 6 Washington County Results
100-meter dash: 1, Reese Beemer, Blair, 12.26 seconds.
200 dash: 1, Beemer, B, 26.38.
400 dash: 4, Dala Drowne, Fort Calhoun, 1:05.07. 5, Schuyler Roewert, B, 1:06.1. 6, Whitney Wollberg, Arlington, 1:06.45.
800 run: 1, Hailey O'Daniel, A, 2:25.12. 2, Hailey Amandus, B, 2:31.12. 4, Reece Ewoldt, B, 2:33.71.
1,600 run: 1, Keelianne Green, A, 5:32.72.
3,200 run: 4, Allie Czapla, B, 13:02.11.
400 relay: 2, BHS (Jacy Schueth, Beemer, Greta Galbraith, Audie Keeling), 52.99.
1,600 relay: 2, BHS (Amandus, Ewoldt, Roewert, Kate Wulf), 4:25.79. 4, FCHS (Kaylee Taylor, Bella McLaughlin, Ella Bouwman, Drowne), 4:31.74. 5, AHS (Wollberg, Macy Wolf, Kelise Krivohlavek, O'Daniel), 4:33.04.
3,200 relay: 1, BHS (Ewoldt, Amandus, Lainey Bilau, Kate Wulf), 10:21.81. 2, AHS (O'Daniel, Wollberg, Wolf, Green), 10:26.01.
100 hurdles: 4, McLaughlin, FC, 17.27.
300 hurdles: 2, Roewert, B, 50.38.
Long jump: 1, Green, A, 17 feet, 1 inch. 3, Taylor, FC, 15-3.5. 5, O'Daniel, A, 15-1.75. 6, Angel Nelson, FC, 15-1.5.
Triple jump: 2, Emma Ammon, B, 31-4. 4, Bouwman, FC, 30-6.5. 5, Ari Nelson, FC, 30-5.5. 6, Wolf, A, 30-5.
High jump: 2, Drowne, FC, 5. 5, Ammon, B, 4-10. 6, Bria Bench, FC, 4-10.
Pole vault: 1, Galbraith, B, 9-6. 6, Wollberg, A, 8.
Discus: 2, Taylor Arp, A, 123-9.5. 4, Jaydin Allen, A, 104-7.5. 6, Cadie Robinson, A, 100-4.
Shot put: 2, Robinson, A, 39-1.
