Commentary: What to watch at the B-6 district track meet

Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Brett Burton/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School junior Jillian Bryant and her teammates on the Bison girls track team will be working to earn spots at the state track meet.

At the B-6 district meet Thursday -- hosted by McCook for the first time ever -- there will be several Class B state track and field leaders in town.

It appears the day will be full of photo finishes and close marks, so every event should be exciting for fans to watch.

Look for there to be a very good battle in the girls discus. McCook's Kim Miller and the Gothenburg duo of Michele Faust and Kiley Peterson will compete for the district crown.

Brett Burton/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School's John Swanhorst will compete in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at the Class B-6 district track meet Thursday at McCook.

These three are 4-5-6 in Class B and less than three feet separate their best marks.

I encourage spectators to make their way to the girls‚ discus ring at 10:30 a.m. to see some great competition. Possibly Kim Miller will improve her school record mark of 129 feet.

The boys shot put should interest fans with Cozad's impressive trio. Cozad's three shot putters hold the top three spots in the district and should pick up some big points for their team.

If the opportunity arises to watch Luke Pinkelman, I would encourage anyone to do so, because he leads the entire state in the shot put with a heave of 60 feet‚ 2 inches.

On the track, McCook senior Katherine Morell leads the district in the 100 and 200 meters, so look for her to pick up some points for the Bison girls as she runs on her home track.

McCook's Brendan Liess will also be a factor in the 100 and 200 meters. The 100 will be an exhilarating race to watch as Liess, Jakob Covey (Alliance), and Travis Lindhorst (Gering) all have times of 11 seconds flat coming into the district meet.

The girls 400-meter dash will be very competitive, with Jessica Purdy of Valentine, and Katelyn Moore of Chadron running. They are ranked 2-3 in Class B with sub-60 times.

The McCook boys 1600-meter relay team will be fun to watch as they chase the school record.

Mason Pohl, who is tied for second on the top 10 performances at MHS will be participating in the pole vault.

According to Bison coach John Gumb, McCook's biggest challenge will be with Alliance in the hurdles and the distance races.

Finally, the 400-meter relay will display three of the top five teams in Class B of the boys‚ division.

McCook leads the class followed by Chadron and Alliance. If McCook can get some quality points in this race, look for it to be a dogfight with Alliance in the team standings when the final scores are calculated.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: