Trophies and stuffed toy Bulldogs adorned a table set up just beyond Concordia University's finish line Thursday in Seward.
Sheltered from the weather that canceled Washington County baseball games and a soccer match, the Blair and Fort Calhoun track and field teams opened their season indoors during the Bulldog Challenge. They competed for top times and distances, but also for the waiting prizes in the Sandhill Division meet.
Coach Bryan Soukup's Bears earned themselves a trophy and a bulldog, too. The BHS boys were first and the girls fifth, while the Pioneers took 14th and 12th, respectively.
Bears earn opening day wins
Blair capped its season-opening competition with one more event win Thursday night.
In a unique, co-ed 800-meter relay around the indoor track, Reese Beemer, Zac Keeling, Audie Keeling and Ethan Baessler claimed first place in 1:44.59. They posed for a photo in the aftermath with Concordia Track & Field T-shirts and one of the aforementioned bulldogs with its stuffed, pink tongue hanging out of its mouth.
Both Beemer and Baessler won individual events during the Seward meet, too, as did the Bears' Nolan Slominski and Dawson Fricke. While Beemer, a junior, won the 60-meter dash in eight seconds to lead the BHS girls, the others led their boys squad to a seven-point team win over second-place Aurora.
Slominski, a senior, won the 800 run with a meet-record time of 2:00.75 He was also a part of the Bears' meet-record-setting 3,200 relay team with Keeling, Ted Lueders and Declan McCabe. They finished in 8:42.71.
Fricke, meanwhile, won the individual 3,200 in 10:13.67. The senior was fifth in the 1-mile run, too.
Baessler raced considerably less distance, but won the 60 dash in 7.09 seconds. The junior was second in the 200-meter dash as well.
In addition to the event winners, Blair's 1,600-meter relay team took second in 3:45.74. Lueders, Hayden Daggett, Nate Teager and Slominski filled out the lineup.
Individually, Shelton Anderson added a third-place effort in the triple jump. He was just ahead of fourth-place Ben Holcomb.
On the girls' side, BHS' Allie Czapla, Emma Ammon and Greta Galbraith added their own third-place efforts. Czapla claimed bronze in the 3,200 run, clocking in at 13:19.81, while Ammon — a freshman — tied for third in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches.
Galbraith, meanwhile, cleared 9 feet in the pole vault for her third-place showing.
The team of Reece Ewoldt, Ryleigh Schroeter, Lainey Bilau and Hailey Amandus added a silver medal for the Bears, too. The finished their first 3,200 relay laps of the season together in 10:55.01.
4 Pioneers earn medals
The Fort Calhoun track and field roster opened its season Thursday with four athletes combining for 13 team points. The Pioneer girls claimed nine with three top-six individual finishes during the Bulldog Challenge, while senior Ely Olberding delivered every FCHS boys point in one race — the 3,200-meter run. He clocked in at 10:42.66 for fourth.
Angel Nelson, meanwhile, claimed her team's top finish overall. The senior leaper was third in the long jump, clearing 15 feet, 6.25 inches with her best attempt.
Calhoun's Bria Bench added two team points herself for coach Mandy Taylor's squad. The junior — who also finished seventh in the high jump — was fifth in the 3,200 run, crossing the finish line in 13:40.46.
Kaylee Taylor was sixth in the triple jump, too. The Pioneer covered 31-2 on her best effort.
Additionally, three more FCHS athletes claimed non-scoring, top-eight finishes Thursday in Seward. Matthew Kelly was seventh in the 60-meter hurdles (9.72 seconds), while Travis Skelton finished the 2-mile run in 11:57.59 for eighth. Senior Wyatt Appel was seventh in the high jump as well.
Though she finished 15th overall, Fort Calhoun senior Grace Genoways made her mark Thursday in the pole vault. The Pioneer's 7-foot effort is the school's new best as it competes in the girls event for the first time in its recorded history.
TJ DeMilt, meanwhile, was 12th in the boys' pole vault with a 9-foot showing.
BULLDOG CHALLENGE — SANDHILL DIVISION
Thursday at Concordia University, Seward
BOYS
Team standings: Blair 72, Aurora 65, Wahoo 62, Lexington 50, Adams Central 34, Milford 29, Ashland-Greenwood 25, Boys Town 24, Seward 22, West Point-Beemer 21, Fairbury 11, York 10, Omaha Concordia 5, Fort Calhoun 4
Top 8 county finishers
60-meter dash: 1, Ethan Baessler, Blair, 7.09 seconds.
200 dash: 2, Baessler, B, 23.38.
400 dash: 6, Zac Keeling, B, 55.81.
800 run: 1, Nolan Slominski, B, 2:00.75 (meet record).
1,600 run: 5, Dawson Fricke, B, 4:52.14.
3,200 run: 1, Fricke, B, 10:13.67. 4, Ely Olberding, Fort Calhoun, 10:42.66. 8, Travis Skelton, FC, 11:57.59.
1,600 relay: 2, Blair (Ted Lueders, Hayden Daggett, Nate Teager, Slominski), 3:45.74.
3,200 relay: 1, Blair (Keeling, Lueders, Declan McCabe, Slominski), 8:42.71 (meet record).
60-meter hurdles: 7, Matthew Kelly, FC, 9.72.
Long jump: 8, Baessler, B, 19 feet, 6.25 inches.
Triple jump: 3, Shelton Anderson, B, 40-6. 4, Ben Holcomb, B, 40-2.25.
High jump: 5, Hayden Daggett, B, 5-10. 7, Wyatt Appel, FC, 5-8.
Shot put: 6, Seagan Packett-Trisdale, B, 44-9.
GIRLS
Team standings: Aurora 78, Seward 55, Fairbury 52, West Point-Beemer 43, Blair 38, York 36, Milford 33, Adams Central 27, Concordia 24, Lexington 17, Ashland 12, Fort Calhoun 9, Omaha Buena Vista 8, Wahoo 2
Top 8 county finishers
60-meter dash: 1, Reese Beemer, Blair, 8 seconds.
800 run: 5, Kate Wulf, B, 2:45.6.
1,600 run: 6, Ryleigh Schroeter, B, 6:14.43. 8, Allie Czapla, B, 6:26.64.
3,200 run: 3, Czapla, B, 13:19.81. 5, Bria Bench, Fort Calhoun, 13:40.46. 6, Nadia Davey, B, 14:07.83.
1,600 relay: 7, Blair (Reece Ewoldt, Jade Wickwire, Schuyler Roewert, Hailey Amandus), 4:39.83.
3,200 relay: 2, Blair (Ewoldt, Schroeter, Lainey Bilau, Amandus), 10:55.01.
Long jump: 3, Angel Nelson, FC, 15 feet, 6.25 inches.
Triple jump: 6, Kaylee Taylor, FC, 31-2.
High jump: 3, Emma Ammon, B, 4-10. 7, Bench, FC, 4-10.
Pole vault: 3, Greta Galbraith, B, 9.
BOYS & GIRLS
Mixed 800 relay: 1, Blair (Beemer, Keeling, Audie Keeling, Baessler), 1:44.59.
