Laura Flores gold medal winner at Bayard B-C-D Track Invite

There were many highlights for the Kimball High Track Team at the Bayard B-C-D Track and Field Invite this past Friday but none more meaningful that the win by Laura Flores in the girls' 3200 meter run. The hard working senior broke the tape ahead of the field with a time of 12:51.24 for Kimball's only gold medal of the day and had to be a huge confidence boost for the Lady Longhorn distance ace heading into today's Class C District and state qualifying meet back at Bayard. Miss Flores also teamed up with Ali Hunsaker, Madison Biesecker, and Jannell Fiehtner to run 4th in the 4 x 400 relay with a time of 4:21.61.

Coach Gene Mohr and his staff adjusted their entries at the big Bayard Invite limiting events for their athletes as they concentrated more on what they might do at this week's District meet. Ali Hunsaker ran her top two individual events however finishing 2nd in the 200 meter dash and chasing meet MVP Jessi Smith of Bayard to the tape with Smith winning in 26.37 and Hunsaker timed in 27.52. The talented young sophomore also ran 4th in the 400 in 62.12.

Madison Biesecker ran 3rd in the 300 hurdles with a time of 51.25, well off the school record time of 48.26 she ran last week, and was disappointed to say the least but the top two times were also off their previous best and the important thing is she was still able to run in the top three of a talented group. Coach Mohr and his staff consoled her and informed her that this week is the week she needs to come back strong.

A good day for Jessica Hanks as she placed in both weight events placing 4th with a season best shove in the shotput of 32'8 1/2", and a 3rd in the discus at 101'6". Mikayla Fiehtner tied for 6th in the high jump at 4'6" and qualified for the finals in the 100 meter hurdles but suffered an injury warming up for the finals when she hit a hurdle and injured her foot preventing her from competing. At the time of this writing, it was still uncertain if she would be able to compete at today's district meet or not. Kimball's 4 x 100 relay team of Kelly Green, Madison Biesecker, Brooke Hager, and Shelby Vogel ran 5th in 53.36, well off their season best, and the 4 x 800 relay team of Myriah Tyan, Ivana Valle, Kailey Dickerson, and Olivia Ryschon ran 6th in 12:43.17.

Another highlight for the girls was Shelby Vogel's 3rd place in the triple jump with a best jump of 33'3", just an inch and a half off her personal best, and school record jump of 33'4 1/2" set a week ago.

The triple jump has been an event the Kimball tracksters have had success in this spring and freshman Jaden Withrow really came through at the Bayard meet finishing just a couple inches out of first place with his all time personal best leap of 41'11 1/4" and he came through under pressure. After scratching on his first two jumps in the prelims, he hit a good jump of 41'4" to get him into the finals and then improved on that! This shatters the previous best Kimball High freshman mark of 40'2" held by Brock Wentz set back in 1975. His previous best ever was 40'4 1/2". The Horns also got 4th place points from brother Jon Withrow who got out 39'5 and 3/4".

The jumps have been good for Kimball as Colton Stull was 5th in the long jump at 18'10", Ethan Land tied for 6th in the high jump at 5'6", and Trent Rutledge had a career best day in the pole vault clearing 12'0" for 4th place. Tyrus Gawith was 6th at 11'0". To say the future is bright in these events is an understatement as Gawith is a freshman, Rutledge and Land sophomores, and Stull a junior. Not only that, but the Horns have been without junior Justin Mohr who is also a solid vaulter along with a steady point getter in the hurdles. Justin has been out for a couple of weeks with pneumonia and ended up in the hospital to recover. He could be back tomorrow to vault but doctors said no running. Stull also got Kimball points in the 100 meter dash finishing 5th in 11.73. Ryan Muneio had a personal best day in the 400 taking 4th place in 53.51, and freshman Brandon Barker ran a personal best by 15 seconds/according to coach Jim Reeves, finishing 6th in the 1600 in 5:11.76 and the smooth running freshman appears to have a great future in the sport. In fact, the Kimball boys are loaded with promising young track athletes.

A tough day for all of Kimball's relay teams as the boys' 4 x 100 team of Jake Reader, Angel Flores, Jon Withrow, and Colton Stull ran 5th in 46.43, close to their season best. The 4 x 400 relay team of Reader, Flores, Withrow, and Muneio also ran 5th in 3:42.26.

Kimball is right back to Bayard today (Thursday) for the C-ll District meet with coaches and athletes hoping to qualify for the upcoming state meet at Omaha Burke Stadium being held May 23-24. Schools involved today are Bayard, Bridgeport, Chase County, Dundy County-Stratton, Gordon-Rushville, Hemingford, Kimball, and Perkins County. Start time is 8:30 am.

BAYARD B-C-D MALE TEAM SCORES:

Sidney 142, Mitchell 112.5, Alliance 92, Bridgeport 73, Hemingford 57, Kimball 48.5, Chadron 46, Garden County 40, Gordon-Rushville 27.5, Bayard 11, Morrill 8.5, Hay Springs 5.

MOST VALUABLE MALE ATHLETE ... Logan Lewis-Sidney

100 Logan Lewis-Sidney 10.98

110 hurdles Trevor Kamerzell-Alliance 14.79

4 x 800 relay Mitchell 8:28.56

high jump Quentin Baxter-Bridgeport 6'0"

pole vault Lucas Rosenbaum-Sidney 13'6"

long jump Jaime Gonzales-Bridgeport 21'10"

triple jump Adam Schlotthauer-Mitchell 42'2 1/2" shotput Logan Lewis-Sidney 56'0"

discus Kyle Krantz-Alliance 147'7 1/2"

200 Logan Lewis-Sidney 22.72

400 Ethan Skinner-Hemingford 51.56 800 Levi Avila-Mitchell 2:00.31

1600 Chase Watson-Mitchell 4:49.37 3200 Phillip Duncan-Chadron 10:42.82

300 hurdles codi Laursen-Hemingford 42.07 4 x 100 relay Sidney 44.47

4 x 400 relay Sidney 3:28.79

BAYARD B-C-D TEAM SCORES:

Sidney 116, Bayard 95, Bridgeport 72, Mitchell 71, Kimball 64 Alliance 47, Gordon-Rushville 41, Morrill 40, Chadron 39, Garden County 25, Hemingford 24, Crawford 23, Hay Springs 1.

MOST VALUABLE FEMALE ATHLETE ... Jessi Smith-Bayard

200 Jessi Smith-Bayard 26.37

400 Jessi Smith-Bayard 58.50

800 Jessi Smith-Bayard 2:16.63 (record)

1600 Celeste Cardona-Mitchell 5:17.89

3200 Laura Flores-Kimball 12:51.24

300 hurdles Rylee Trout-Alliance 49.32

4 x 100 relay Bayard 51.67

4 x 400 relay Mitchell 4:06.80

100 Sarah VonSeggern-Sidney 12.85

100 hurdles Chellani Parriott-Bayard 16.38

4 x 800 relay Mitchell 10:09.29

high jump Savanna Rosenbaum-Sidney 5'0"

pole vault Megan Stuart-Bayard 9'6"

long jump Miah Vera-Bayard 15'8 1/2"

triple jump Miah Vera-Bayard 34'9 and 3/4"

shotput Aimee Hass-Bridgeport 36'2 1/2"

discus Aimee Hass-Bridgeport 111'7"