Blair High School senior Hailey Roewert earned a high jump state title Thursday during the NSAA Class B State Track and Field Championships at Omaha Burke Stadium.
The gold medal was one of five top-eight medals earned by the Bears during state competition. Fort Calhoun, meanwhile, earned one Wednesday when Afton Byelick was seventh in the pole vault.
Roewert, however, earned first in the high jump with a 5-foot, 5-inch leap, and by only missing three jumps on her way up to 5-7. She took just three jumps total to clear 4-9, 4-11 and 5-1.
After the BHS senior and second-place finisher Tessa Scheer of Grand Island Northwest missed all six of their attempts at 5-7, Bears high jump coach Darren Harsin informed Roewert of her win. She shed tears as teammates Emma Ammon and London Larsen embraced her.
Ammon, notably, cleared 5-3 in the event, securing three team points with a sixth-place finish as well.
Hayden Daggett added a fourth-place Blair finish in the 200-meter dash Thursday after earning the same result in the 400 on Wednesday. He also joined Colin McCabe, Declan McCabe and Chase Cottle for a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay. The BHS team clocked in at 3:23.23.
After Byelick’s medal-winning performance Wednesday, Seth Waters highlighted the Pioneers’ second day at state with a school record finish. He was 10th in the 800-meter run with a new top mark of 1:57.56.
Altogether, the FCHS girls earned 39th in the Class B team standings, while Blair was 13th.
In the boys’ standings, Blair took 16th. The Waverly boys and Bennington girls, meanwhile, earned the B state titles.
Unified athletes medal
Blair and Fort Calhoun Unified athletes competed Thursday at Omaha Burke Stadium, too.
The 100-meter dash duo of Riley Yanak and Keenan Wyman had the Bears’ top state finish, securing second while the shot put team of Jaden Rogge and Cornez Tucker Jr. was third.
FCHS’ top Unified result was sixth in both the boys shot put (Colton Miles and Will Maxon) and the long jump (Gavin Welchert and Mason).
NSAA STATE TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Washington County Results
CLASS B
Boys top-10 teams: Waverly 73 points, Gretna East 64, Omaha Skutt 37, Central City 37, Elkhorn North 35, Lincoln Pius X 35, Sidney 31.5, Cozad 25, Wahoo 23, Elkhorn 22. Also: 16, Blair, 16. NA, Fort Calhoun, 0.
Girls top-10 teams: Bennington 80 points, Waverly 69, Norris 58, Seward 48, Grand Island Northwest 41.5, Gretna 36.5, Elkhorn North 33, Elkhorn 30, Ogallala 29, Omaha Roncalli/Duchesne 20. Also: 13, Blair, 13. 39, Fort Calhoun, 2.
Wednesday Field Events
Girls pole vault: 7, Afton Byelick, Fort Calhoun, 10 feet, 6 inches.
Boys triple jump: 15, Gaige Bolton, Blair, 42-1.5.
Boys high jump: 10, Hayden Daggett, BHS, 6-2. 11, Chase Cottle, BHS, 6-2.
Boys shot put: 24, Dylan Keyser, FCHS, 40-10.
Wednesday Running Events
3,200-meter relay: Boys: 13, FCHS (Will Dennis, Merritt Olberding, Chris Post-Whiteowl, Seth Waters), 8:26.01.
100 hurdles: Girls: 20, Emma Ammon, BHS, 16.13 seconds.
100 dash prelims: Boys: 11, Michael Maxon, FCHS, 10.99. 18, Colin McCabe, BHS, 11.14. Girls: 21, Brynn Lundgren, BHS, 12.77.
400 dash: Boys: 4, Daggett, BHS, 49.2. 16, C.McCabe, BHS, 52.16.
3,200 run: Girls: 22, Jade Wickwire, BHS, 12:26.89.
200 dash prelims: 4, Daggett, BHS, 22.31. 24, M.Maxon, FCHS, 23.08.
Thursday Field Events
Girls high jump: 1, Hailey Roewert, BHS, 5-5. 6, Emma Ammon, BHS, 5-3. 10, Emilee Thayer-Mencke, FCHS, 5-1. NA, London Larsen, BHS, no height.
Girls triple jump: 15, Kaylee Taylor, FCHS, 35-00.75.
Boys discus: 13, Keyser, FCHS, 147. 23, Andrew Namuth, FCHS, 129-5.
Unified shot put: 3, Cornez Tucker Jr., BHS, 40-6.75, and Jaden Rogge, BHS, 35-8. 5, Elizabeth Bray, BHS, 23-3, and Jess Hineman, BHS, 23-2. 7, Samantha Thomas, FCHS, 24-10.75, and Reilly Rauterkus, FCHS, 19-11.5. 6, Colton Miles, FCHS, 40-7, and Will Maxon, FCHS, 29-10.5.
Unified long jump: 6, W.Maxon, FCHS, 12-11, and Gavin Welchert, FCHS, 19-3.
Thursday Running Events
Unified 100 dash: 2, Keenan Wyman, BHS, 11.87, and Riley Yanak, BHS, 12.52.
Unified 400 relay: 4, BHS (Wyman, Caden Finken, AJ Damme and Yanak), 50.58.
800 run: 10, Seth Waters, 1:57.56. 14, Declan McCabe, BHS, 1:58.67.
400 relay: 12, FCHS (Clay Bohnenkamp, M.Maxon, Kaiden Rodriguez, Alex Schuler), 43.7.
1,600 run: 21, Kate Wulf, BHS, 5:31.95.
300 low hurdles: 23, Taylor, FCHS, 50.96.
200 dash finals: 4, Daggett, BHS, 22.22.
1,600 relay: 3, BHS (Cottle, Daggett, C.McCabe, D.McCabe), 3:23.23.
For the full story and additional photos, check out next Tuesday’s edition of the Washington County Pilot-Tribune. Coverage will appear online at enterprisepub.com/sports that same day, but online updates like this will also be available at the end of each session this week.
