Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball's Jaden Withrow proved once again he is the Best of the Best, at the Best in the West, in the worst of the worst! For the third consecutive year, Withrow brought home the gold medal from the Best in the West track meet, held at the Scottsbluff Bearcat Stadium on, perhaps, the worst evening ever, weather wise, proving he is the Best of the Best in the triple jump event. His winning jump this year, in the terrible cold, wet and windy conditions was 43 feet and ¾ inches. In his final year of eligibility, the Longhorn senior also finished fifth in the long jump at 20'5.5".
All of Kimball's Best in the West qualifiers performed well. Sophomore Brady Kilgore ran second in the 110 meter high hurdles with a time of 15.85 chasing Marcus Fernandez of Chadron to the finish line in a photo finish with the winning time clocked in 15.76. Kilgore also took sixth in the high jump at 5'9" and ran just out of money in the 300 hurdles, finishing seventh.
Kyle Spicer ran sixth in the 100 meter dash in a field of outstanding sprinters that finished in a near blanket attack on the finish line with the winning time by Christian Perez of Mitchell, who was named Outstanding Male Performer of the meet, was 11.2 and Spicer's sixth place time was 44.51. An awesome race to behold!
Hannah Biesecker was Kimball's lone female entry and she came through in fine fashion, taking second in the long jump at 6 feet on half inch, a mere two and one half inches behind the winning jump of 16'3" by Jessica Harvey, the Outstanding Female Performer of the meet from Morrill. Biesecker is becoming bery consistent in getting out in the 16 feet area and still has her sights set on achieving the 17 foot mark.
Other non-placing performances by Kimball athletes selected for the Best in the west saw Jaden Mohr clear 11'6" and go out at 12 feet, short of his last week's best vault of 12'6", leaving him in seventh place, but still a good mark on this terrible afternoon, weather wise. Kimball's 4 x 100 relay also ran seventh but was right in the hunt. Overall, considering the weather, coach Gene Mohr was pleased with the performances of his athletes.
"I thought our kids did well on a really nasty evening. I saw a lot of wrecks out there," he said with a chuckle.
Potter-Dix also had some good results with Alexus Rozelle winning the discus with a throw of 118'2" and taking second in the shot put at 39'4.5" putting her on the top three medal stand twice, just like last year. Trinity Langley finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 32'10.25", and Tyrus Gawith was third in the pole vault at 12'6" for a career best for the Coyote senior.
Banner Coutny High's MaKenna Dahlgrin ended up fourth in the girl's shot put with her heave of 36'1". Now, after all of the weather postponements and cancellations, out area tracksters will hope to get in some final competition before the district meets to be held next week.