Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Some real bright spots by the Kimball High Track Team in a strong showing at the Chadron State College High School Indoor Track and Field Meet held this past Saturday. At the meet that attracted 16 schools, 450 athletes, and 750 entries, the Longhorns reaped some honors.
Coach Gene Mohr was expecting strong showings from his team in the field events and they did not disappoint him. In the boys pole vault Trent Rutledge won with a vault of 12'8" and Justin Mohr was 6th at 10'2." In the triple jump Jaden Mohr captured the gold medal with a winning distance of 40'11.5" with Jon Withrow 4th at 37'4.5." Ethan Land tied for 2nd in the boys high jump at 5'8" with Tyler Magninie tied for 5th at 5'6." The sister act of Hannah and Madison Biesecker went 4th and 5th respectively in the girls long jump with marks of 15'0" and 14'10.5." Jessica Hanks wound up 4th in the shotput at 30'8." The Horns best effort on the indoor track was Ryan Muneio's 3rd place in the 400 meters with a time of 55.7.
Kimball took a limited number of athletes as it was prom night and the coaches wanted to get the students home early so they could get ready to partake in a fun night. It was also the first time ever for all the Kimball tracksters to compete in an indoor track facility. A good first time showing for certain!
In other non-placing performances, Madison Biesecker ran 8th in the 55 meter dash in 8.13, Colton Stull was 11th in 7.03, and Jon Withrow 18th in 7.21. There were 51 girls and 70 boys entered in this event. Kimball had two freshman entries in the boy's 1600 meters that attracted 23 runners with Kaden Adrian running 9th in 5:42.62, and Jaden Mohr 16th in 6:04.33. Justin Mohr ran 9th in the 55 meter hurdles in 9:53, with Trent Rutledge 10th in 9:65.
Damien Rutledge was 12th in the shotput at 39'7." Ali Hunsaker was in a tie for 9th in the girls vault at 6'2." Tyler Harroun was 24th in the boys shot at 34'2." Colton Stull was 1 inch and 1 place out of a medal in the long jump with a best leap on the day of 18'9," and Jaden Mohr was 14th in the vault at 9'2."
The format on the day was all schools could enter as many athletes in any event that they wished. "It got to be a bit too much in my opinion," said coach Mohr. "Overall, I was quite happy with the way our kids performed. Now we are anxious to see how we perform outdoors at our own Kimball Invite this Saturday."
There are seven schools already entered for the Kimball invite this Saturday with a start time of 9 a.m. Always strong class B Mitchell will battle for top team honors but strong Class C schools, including Kimball, Hemingford, and Pine Bluffs will also be in the hunt for top honors. Class D entries with very good track programs are Potter Dix, Banner County, and Minatare, and they will also push for honors. The weatherman is predicting a day in the low 70s so hopefully their prediction will prove out.