Bison girls 3rd, boys 4th at Holdrege track meet

Monday, May 3, 2004

McCook tracksters

post several

personal marks

HOLDREGE -- The McCook High School girls track team survived the cold, damp weather to score 79 points at the Holdrege Invitational Friday and finished third.

The McCook boys slipped to a fourth-place effort with 82.33 points.

Lexington swept the team titles, with the girls scoring 168 points and the boys 112.

York was second in the girls team standings with 83 points.

Grand Island Northwest was fourth with 75, followed by Minden with 63, Holdrege 45 and Kearney's junior varsity with 5.

GINW was second in the boys standings with 98, followed by Holdrege 88.33. York was fifth with 67, followed by Minden 49 and Kearney JV 26.33.

"The girls competed with a lot of heart, but weather conditions did not allow for a lot of improvement, which is essential as we move towards district competition," said McCook girls track coach Steve Clapp.

McCook senior Lisa Friehe won the discus with a mark of 116 feet, 7 inches. Teammate Kayla Wilson was third with a personal record of 106-3 and Ashley Huffman was fifth with a 106 foot effort.

Sunee Haney cleared 10 feet in the pole vault and placed second. Sara Montey was fifth and tied her PR when she cleared 8 feet.

The 4x100-meter relay of Haney, Maggie Jones, Michelle Gaunt and Katherine Morell placed second with PR time of 51.6 seconds.

The 4x800 relay of Rebecca Rawlings, Jessica Harris, Julia Lyons and Megan Ecker was third with a time of 11:10.5

The 4x400 relay of Jones, Ecker, Gaunt and Jillian Bryant was fourth at 4:23.3.

Morell placed second in the triple jump (32-9 1/4), third in the 200 (PR of 26.1) and fifth in the 100 (tied PR at 12.7).

Gaunt was third in the long jump (15-8 1/4) and Kim Miller was third in the shot put (35-5).

Amanda Bennett tied for fourth (4-8) and Courtney Moore was sixth (4-6) in the high jump.

Melissa Ankersen was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (tied PR at 17.1).

"The throwing crew under assistant coach George Briggs has been a consistent area for us in all meets," Clapp said.

"This is the first meet of the season for this particular combination in the 4x100. With better weather, this group should continue to improve."

The Bison boys team was short-handed because of some injuries and illnesses, said coach John Gumb.

McCook's Shawn McMurtrey claimed two first-place gold medals with victories in the 1600 (4:42) and 3200 (10:00).

"Shawn McMurtrey simply ran away from the field to win both the 1600 and 3200 runs," Gumb said. "His time of 10:00 (in the 3200) was a personal best for him and puts him in the second position in Class B in that event so far this year.

"Shawn continues to improve each week and has been a very consistent performer for us all season long."

Teammate Andrew Yeager was third in the 3200 (10:13.3) and fourth in the 1600 (4:48.1).

Brendan Liess won the 100-meter dash (11.1) was second in the 200 (22.4).

"Brandan Liess had another outstanding meet for the Bison." Gumb said. "Although he tasted defeat in the 200 meters for the first time this season, he still ran a personal best of 22.4 seconds to finish second.

"Brendan won the 100 meters in a close race as the first five finishers were all timed at 11.1 seconds."

Kyle Bedore was fifth in the 100 (also at 11.1). Derek Ruppert was third in the 400 (52.5) and fourth in the 200 (22.7).

The Bison 400-meter relay team of Liess, Bedore, Jeff Klug and Derek Ruppert finished first with a time of 43.8 seconds.

"Jeff Klug did an outstanding job filling in for Trent Lyons, who did not make the trip due to illness," Gumb said.

Freshman hurdler John Swanhorst broke two freshman records in the 110-meter hurdes (16.4) and 300 hurdles (42.4). He placed fifth in the 300 hurdles and did not place in the 110 hurdles.

Sophomore Ryan Bedore cleared 13 feet in the pole vault for a personal best. He did not place in the top six for a medal.

"Ryan is really starting to catch on in this event," Gumb said. "Last year as a freshman he only cleared 9 feet, so he is showing incredible progress this year."

Senior Tyler Hughes ran two relay legs for the Bison. The 4x400 relay placed third (3:35.3) and the 4x800 relay was fifth (9:06.1).

"He earned a couple medals for his efforts," Gumb said. "He ran the 4x800 relay for the very first time and ended up having our fastest split.

"Tyler has worked hard for us over the years and has always been willing to do whatever we ask of him for the good of the team."

Carl Fritz placed fifth in the triple jump (41-4 1/2), Ross Jones tied for sixth in the high jump (5-6) and Richard Smock was sixth in the discus (136-3).

The McCook ninth and 10th graders will compete at the North Platte Freshman/Sophomore Meet Tuesday.

A small group of Bison tracksters will compete in the Best of the West Meet Tuesday at Scottsbluff.

The Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference Meet is 2 p.m. Friday at Hastings.

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