Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Kimball senior Zach Wagner hits the finish line ahead of the field in winning the 800-meter yard run at the George Calvert/WTC Track Invitational at Mitchell this past week. His winning time of 2:13.18 qualified him for the Best of the West Meet this past Tuesday evening.
Brady Kilgore had another outstanding day at Mitchell this past week in the combined George Calvert Invitational Track Meet and the Western Trails Conference Track Meet, and was voted Most Valuable Male Athlete by the participating coaches. Kilgore was once again a 3 event winner sweeping the hurdle events with times of 15.10 in the 110 meter highs and 42.63 in the 300 meter hurdles, plus winning the high jump at 5'10" and running 4th in the 400 with his time of 55.97.
All athletes were competing in very strong winds all day which played a big part in times and performances. Kilgore was well below his usual height in the high jump and was disappointed he didn't clear the bar at 6'1" after winning the event at 5'10", which would have been a new George Calvert meet record. Once again, the wind may have been a factor.
Mitchell won the mens division with their team score of 147.5 points with Kimball runnerup with 100 points even. Bridgeport scored 78.5, Hemingford 71, Morrill 70.5, Minatare 21, Bayard 18. Gordon-Rushville 16, and Potter-Dix 2.5.
The Longhorns had several highlights on the day other than Kilgore's wins. Zach Wagner won the 800 with his personal best time of 2:13.18, was 3rd in the triple jump at 38'3", and ran a leg on the 4 x 800 relay that placed 4th with their time of 9:24.93. Other team members were Thomas Lenzen, Thomas Muldoon, and Sam Cajero.
Tommy Lenzen also had a very good day running 2nd in the 1600 meter run in 5:20.44 and 2nd in the 3200 in 11:06.52 along with his relay work. Thomas Muldoon also had a solid performance as the young freshman ran 5th in the 1600 in 5:49.56, 6th in the 800 in 2:25.34, and helped out on the relay team.
Christian Allen-Van Pelt ran 5th in the 300 hurdles in 47.35 and 6th in the long jump at 17'4" was also a high light on the day. He was just out of the money in the triple jump finishing 8th at 36'6". Kimball has good triple jumpers and Beau Hanks had a gold metal tucked away until the final jump in the event where Benevides of Bridgeport slipped past him to win the event at 38'9" and Beau had to settle for the silver and 2nd place at 38'5".
Coach Gene Mohr, who was very pleased with the performance of his boys in finishing runnerup in the team standings, said "Our scoring in the weights and throws was big today and got us past Bridgeport". Corey Travis finished 2nd in the shotput at 40'4" and 5th in the discus at 109'11". Luis Portillo was 3rd in the discus at 112'3", and Beau Hanks was close to placing, finishing 8th at 102'9".
Potter-Dix placed 6th in the 4 x 100 relay with the team of Terell Gray, Brandon Mendoza, Niko Koon, and Donnie Moench running a time of 50.69, and Moench tied for 5th in the high jump at 4'10".
Kimball finished 4th in the Women's division scoring 61 points. Mitchell won the female team title with 142 points followed by Bayard with 84, Morrill 71, Kimball 61, Hemingford 59.5, Gordon-Rushville 58, Bridgeport 48, Potter-Dix 2.5, Minatare 1.
A solid day in the jumps for the Kimball girls with Megan Spicer taking the gold in the long jump with her best leap of 15'1". Katie Heeg was 2nd in the triple jump at 31'0" with Spicer 3rd at 30'7" and Jenna Greenwood 5th at 30'1". Greenwood was 5th in the high jump at 4'4" and Tianna Stierwalt was 6th at 4'2". Raven Johnson took 2nd in the pole vault at 8'0".
On the track, Chantel Malson ran 2nd in the 1600 in 6:20.60, was 3rd in the 800 in 2:44.92, and 6th in the 100 meter dash in 13.50. A pair of frosh gave Kimball point in the 100 meter hurdles with Maddison Merryfield running 5th in 18.0 and Katie Heeg 6th in 18.10.
In the throws, another frosh, Amy Birkhofer, was 5th in the shotput at 29'9". Carli Wurdeman was 4th in the discus at 87'4". Potter-Dix got a 5th place from their 4 x 100 relay team of Cierra George, December Wright, Fedalina Schuessler, and McKynna Deeds running a time of 58.11. Wright tied for 6th in the pole vault at 7'0".
Kimball saw several of their athletes earn all conference honors as the top 3 individuals and winning relay team members all are named WTC All Conference.
The Longhorns have 3 boys who competed in the Best of the West Track Classic held this past Tuesday, and then turn their attention to the SPVA Meet being held in Sutherland tomorrow (Friday) with a start time of 11 a.m.
