Blair junior Nolan Slominski made his last lap around the Krantz Field track Thursday evening and took a seat on the infield grass, catching his breath.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Bear earned his team's lone event win during its annual Mike Lehl Invite. He finished his 400-meter sprint in 51.78 seconds, helping coach Bryan Soukup's boys lineup to a seventh-place finish. The Blair girls, meanwhile, took sixth as the Omaha Skutt boys and Elkhorn North girls won team titles.
“I just put my all into it,” Slominski said of his gold medal performance.
The BHS standout bested second-place Christian Young of Elkhorn North by 0.81 seconds before also competing in the 800 run and 1,600 relay.
“It's really hard to rebound after the 400 and go straight into the (800),” Slominski explained. “The 400 really kills your leg muscles a lot.”
Still, the Bear was third in the 800 with a time of 2:03.42 before the fourth-place efforts of his 1-mile relay team. Caleb Funk, Ted Lueders, Toby Ray and he finished out the meet in 3:37.04.
In addition to Slominski's event win, Blair seniors Makayla Baughman and Erika Roehrs claimed individual silver medals.
“My field events have been really coming together,” Baughman said after earning second in the shot put with a throw covering 36 feet. “It's been really nice because I really do work hard on them.”
The Benedictine College (Kan.) basketball recruit topped her personal best in the shot put by about a foot. Her fourth-place discus attempt — 115 feet — was also a season long.
“Every meet I've been getting a little bit better,” Baughman said after also taking fifth in the 400 dash.
Roehrs, meanwhile, ran the 300-meter hurdles race motivated by her recent results in Schuyler. The soon-to-be BHS graduate finished Thursday's event second in 47.76 seconds, not far behind top competition from Bennington's Kate Langford.
“It definitely wasn't what I was hoping for, but, I think, still getting the 47 time was pretty good,” Roehrs said. “Something I should be proud of.”
The Bear's 1,600 relay team was one of three to earn a top-3 finish Thursday, too. Baughman, Reece Ewoldt, Schuyler Roewert and she clocked in at 4:12.01, while the 3,200 relay squad was second in 10:12.14. Sophia Baedke, Ewoldt, Lainey Bilau and Kaitlynn Amandus ran the latter race.
The Blair boys' 400 relay team — Zac Keeling, Zach Lindau, Nate Teager and Ben Holcomb — also had a bronze-medal effort as did Ethan Belsky in the high jump. The sprinters finished in 46.23 seconds, while Belsky cleared 5 feet, 11 inches.
At the end of the meet, Roehrs was already thinking about her next hurdles race in Bennington for the Eastern Midlands Conference meet.
“We'll definitely keep the momentum going,” she said.
That event starts 1:30 p.m. today on the Badgers' home turf.
MIKE LEHL INVITE
Thursday at Krantz Field, BHS
BOYS
Team standings: Omaha Skutt 119, Elkhorn 86, Elkhorn North 71, Aurora 65, Seward 49, Bennington 46, Blair 44, Plattsmouth 21, Elkhorn Mount Michael 14, Omaha Roncalli.
BHS Top-6 Finishers
100-meter dash: 6, Zach Lindau, 11.62 seconds.
400 dash: 1, Nolan Slominski, 51.78.
800 run: 3, Slominski, 2:03.42.
1,600 run: 4, Calin O'Grady, 4:42.78.
3,200 run: 5, Dawson Fricke, 10:14.19.
400 relay: 3, BHS (Zac Keeling, Lindau, Nate Teager, Ben Holcomb), 46.23.
1,600 relay: 4, BHS (Caleb Funk, Slominski, Ted Lueders, Toby Ray), 3:37.04.
3,200 relay: 4, BHS (O'Grady, Lueders, Keeling, Teager), 8:45.92.
300 hurdles: 6, Toby Ray, 44.07.
High jump: 3, Ethan Belsky, 5 feet, 11 inches.
GIRLS
Team standings: Elkhorn North 123.5, Bennington 99, Seward 83, Skutt, 66, Elkhorn 52, Blair 43, Aurora 31, Roncalli 21.5, Plattsmouth 8.
BHS Top-6 Finishers
100-meter dash: 6, Brynn Lundgren, 13.16 seconds.
400 dash: 5, Makayla Baughman, 1:01.87.
1,600 relay: 3, BHS (Baughman, Reece Ewoldt, Erika Roehrs, Schuyler Roewert), 4:12.01.
3,200 relay: 2, BHS (Sophia Baedke, Ewoldt, Lainey Bilau, Kaitlynn Amandus), 10:12.14.
300 hurdles: 2, Roehrs, 47.76.
Triple jump: 6, Roewert, 31 feet, 6 inches.
Pole vault: 4, Sam Cemer, 9-7. 6, Greta Galbraith, 8-7.
Discus: 4, Baughman, 115.
Shot put: 2, Baughman, 36.
