Bison hosting Class B-6 district track for 1st time

Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Brett Burton/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School junior Brendan Liess, front, shown here competing at the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference track meet Friday at Kearney, will be force to reckon with at the Nebraska Class B-6 district meet Thursday at McCook.

Years ago when McCook High School was making their plans on resurfacing the track, no one knew that six years later they would be hosting the first Class B district track meet in school history.

Thursday, McCook will be hosting the B-6 district track meet for approximately 800 athletes, 11 schools and 22 teams.

"This is our time to shine," McCook High School Activities Director Rick Haney said. "This will be a big day for McCook."

Haney has worked hard improving the track facility throughout the years.

"Last year, we moved the fence, giving us a campus affect. Then we took the next step by putting the stadium in," he said.

After putting in the bleachers, McCook was now capable of holding district track, and applied for the meet.

"Once we got the stadium in, we applied, and given the timing and circumstances of everything, we were awarded the district track meet, and we feel very good about it," Haney said.

Haney is confident the meet will run smoothly with a surplus of helpers and volunteers for this event.

"We have over 120 workers, staff, community volunteers and others helping with the meet. We are very excited to be putting it on, and it will be run right," he said.

With 11 boys and girls teams coming to town, some very good athletes will be putting out their best.

"There will be some fun athletes to watch from McCook and other communities. They will be competing for the state track meet, so I am sure there will be some very good performances," Haney said.

With 800 athletes in town, along with hundreds of spectators, McCook should expect to be rewarded economically.

"The event will last the whole day, so spectators and athletes will be here to eat and possibly spend the night in motels at McCook," Haney said.

Having the district meet in McCook will also be a change for the coaches. Not having to travel very far is one of the positives.

"Not having to travel will be very nice. We have had years where we have stayed overnight or left at four in the morning, so anytime the kids can sleep in their own beds it is an advantage," McCook girls' head coach Steve Clapp said.

Participating on the track that athletes are on every day seems to be an advantage for boys' head coach John Gumb.

"You are a little more comfortable in familiar surroundings instead of going somewhere different, which will be nice," he said.

Since McCook will be at home, coaches place fewer restrictions on their athletes.

"When we go out of town, we have more of a regimen. When we have our meets at home, they have some more freedom to come and go so they are hard to keep track of. I believe the positives far outweigh the negatives," Gumb said.

The coaches are very confident in doing well at home and look forward to seeing their teams perform well.

"I think with 11 teams competing, there will be some very good athletes that might beat up on each other. So this will give us a very good chance at placing in the top third at the district meet," Clapp said.

"It should be a tight race between us and Alliance. They have a great team this year and we will go head to head with them in a lot of events," Gumb said.

"The distance races and the hurdles will be very important for us to get the better of them, because that is where we both have about equal ability.'

After the meet has come and gone, McCook looks to possibly hold another meet in the future.

"I hope at some point it rotates back, but this year it is our turn," Haney said.

B-6 District Track

Meet Info

Date: Thursday, May 12

Location: McCook High School Track

Field Events: 10:30 a.m.

Track Events: 12:30 p.m.

Teams: Alliance, Chadron, Chase County, Cozad, Gering, Gordon-Rushville, Gothenburg, McCook, Ogallala, Sidney, and Valentine.

Weather prediction for Thursday: 47 degrees at 10:30 a.m. Mostly cloudy. Wind 17 mph from NNW.

Order of events

10:30 a.m. boys shot put, followed by girls shot put, girls discus; followed by boys discus, boys pole vault, girls pole vault, boys and girls long jump, boys and girls triple jump, girls high jump and boys high jump.

12:30 p.m. 3200 meter relay finals

1 p.m. 100-110 meter high hurdle prelims

1:30 p.m. 100 meter dash prelims

1:50 p.m. 400 meter dash finals

2:20 p.m. 3200 meter run finals

2:50 p.m. 200 meter dash prelims

BREAK

4:15 p.m. 100-110 meter hurdle finals

4:25 p.m. 100 meter dash finals

4:50 p.m. 800 meter run finals

5:10 p.m. 300 meter hurdle finals

5:25 p.m. 200 meter dash finals

5:55 p.m. 1600 meter run finals

6:15 p.m. 400 meter relay finals

6:30 p.m. 1600 meter relay finals

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