Editorial

On the fast track at state

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Read these words at normal speed. Not too fast, not too slow. As you do, think about young athletes racing down the track ... doing their best to capture state honors in track and field events.

What we're showing -- by calling attention to the quick passage of time -- is the kind of high-speed action which takes place at the Nebraska High School Track and Field Championships. In as little as 10 to 12 seconds, track and field competitors can complete a 100-yard dash, race down the runway in the long jump, or spin around for a mighty heave in the shot put.

Once again, the drama of the state meet is about to unfold. After years of preparation ... and months of hard practice and intense competition ... 90 of Southwest Nebraska's most dedicated individual athletes are heading to Omaha for the all-class state track and field meet at Omaha Burke Stadium.

This area has been fortunate through the years to have had some of the most outstanding track and field performers in the state.

That tradition continues this year. Going into the state meet, the McCook 1600-meter relay team has the best time in the state: a blazing 3 minutes, 21 seconds and nine-tenths. That figures out to just a fraction over 50 seconds for each of the four 400-meter legs ran by Craig Fritz, Anthony Purvis, Derek Ruppert and Brendan Liess. The McCook relay team's performance is quite an accomplishment, especially when you consider that their time is better than that of the Omaha and Lincoln schools with much larger enrollments.

It is also fitting that the 1600-meter relay is the final event at the state meet on Saturday, as it will bring area athletes' participation in the 2005 championsips to an exciting close.

McCook also will be featured early in the day on Saturday, as the Bison's 400-meter relay team will compete at 10:45 a.m. Going into the state meet, the McCook 400 relay team has the fastest time in Class B and the third best time in the state. It should be quite a race at state, however, as York's 400-meter relay team is only a tenth of a second behind McCook's best time. Purvis, Ruppert and Liess also run on the 400 relay team, along with Jeff Klug. Their best time is 43 seconds flat, a time that figures out to less than 11 seconds per 100 per man.

Among Southwest Nebraska's other outstanding entrants in the state meet will be Kyle Custer of Cambridge, the state Class D leader in the 800, 1600 and 3200-meter runs; Katherine Morell of McCook, who is among the state's all-class leaders in the 200-meter dash; and Kaci Nickerson of Cambridge, the state Class D leader in the pole vault.

Time's a-wastin'. It takes more than a minute to read this column's words. In that amount of time, the athletes at state can easily finish a 400-meter leg in a relay race. The state meet is much anticipated ... but the action takes place in a flash. We wish area athletes the best as they compete against the best in Nebraska at the high school track and field championships.

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