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Cambridge boys cruise to state title, led by Kyle Custer's four gold medals
Bison boys are
state runnersup
for second
straight year
OMAHA -- Cambridge High School senior Kyle Custer brought home four first-place medals, and the Cambridge boys track team cruised to the Class D state track title with 61 points Saturday.
In addition to the Trojan boys' success, Cambridge senior Kaci Nickerson won the Class D girls pole vault.
The North Dakota signee cleared 9 feet, 10 inches and had fewer misses than Arnold's Renee Porter, Bertrand's Anna Ebmeier and Arnold's Kalen Prentice, who placed 2-3-4 with the same height.
The Nebraska State High School Track and Field Championships finished up Saturday in front of a big crowd at Omaha Burke Stadium.
Custer and Grant Moore placed 1-4 in the Class D boys 800-meter run with times of 1:58.2 and 2:01.67.
Due to Custer's win in the 3200-meter run Friday night and the 3200-meter relay team's gold medal earlier Friday, the Trojans had scored 34 points by mid-Saturday morning.
The Trojans didn't add any points with a seventh-place finish in the Class D boys 400-meter relay. The foursome of Tyler Keyser, Anthony Lytle, Moore and Lance Shifflett posted a time of 45.49 seconds.
Cambridge tacked on 1 point when Lytle finished sixth in the Class D boys 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.51 seconds.
High Plains Community took a 36-35 lead over the Trojans after 12 events when High Plains' Levi Lindburg won the long jump.
But Custer helped the Trojans take the lead back for good when he won the Class D boys 1600-meter run. He posted a time of 4:32.76 and claimed his fourth gold medal.
Cambridge's Tyler Keyser added a third-place finish in the Class D boys 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.725.
The icing on the state title cake for the Trojans was a first-place finish in the Class D boys 1600-meter relay with a time of 3:28.8.
On the girls side of Class D, Cambridge's Lisa Minnick and Andi Langley placed 2-5 in the shot put with efforts of 39-10 and 39-1.
With the 10 points scored by Minnick and Langley in the shot put, the Cambridge girls team moved up to seventh place in the final standings with 24 points.
Class B:
The McCook boys 400- and 1600-meter relay teams sprinted to first-place medals in Class B and the Bison boys team finished second in Class B with 52 points.
The Bison, who placed second for the second straight year, were edged out for the state title by Grand Island Northwest, which scored 56 points.
"We thought we had one of our best state meets ever," said McCook boys coach John Gumb. "Fifty-two points is the most points we've scored without winning. We're real satisified.
"Most of our point-getters are coming back next year. Ten of the 12 qualifiers we took scored points and the other two (John Swanhorst and Jeremy Young, who did not qualfy for the finals in the hurdles) ran their hearts out."
The McCook boys 400-meter relay team of Brendan Liess, Tony Purvis, Jeff Klug and Derek Ruppert captured the first-place medal in Class B with a time of 42.82 seconds. York's foursome finished second with a time of 43.02 seconds.
The Bison 400 relay also claimed the All-Class overall silver medal behind Class A winner Millard North.
The 1600-meter relay team of Craig Fritz, Purvis, Ruppert and Liess finished first with a time of 3:22.41.
Liess placed second in the Class B boys 200-meter dash with a time of 22.68 seconds and was fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.82 seconds.
McCook sophomore Josh Cherry netted the Bison boys a third-place finish in the Class B boys 800-meter run. He posted a time of 2:01.19.
Cherry added another third-place finish in the Class B boys 1600 with a time of 4:33.67. Teammate Shawn McMurtrey finished eighth with a time of 4:39.21.
McCook's Mason Pohl tied for third place in the Class B boys pole vault. He cleared 14 feet. Pohl also tied for fourth in the All-Class overall standings in the event.
In the Class B boys 400-meter dash, Chase County-Imperial's Matthew May finished third with a time of 49.95 seconds. McCook's Craig Fritz was eighth with a time of 51.36 seconds.
In Class B girls:
* McCook senior Katherine Morell placed sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.02 seconds, eighth in the 200 with a time of 27.78 and 15th in the triple jump with a mark of 32 feet.
* McCook's Kim Miller placed 10th in the Class B girls shot put with an effort of 38-3.
* Chase County's Sybil Carman finished fifth in the Class B girls triple jump with a mark of 35-2 and picked up 2 points for the Longhorns.
* Chase County's Cara Kunnemann finished 16th in the Class B girls 1600-meter run with a time of 5:42.55.
* Chase County's Celeste Pankonin cleared 5 feet in the Class B girls high jump, but did not place.
The McCook and Chase County girls each scored 2 points and tied for 33rd place in Class B.
"The McCook girls ended up the meet with two sixth-place medals," said McCook girls coach Steve Clapp. "Ashlee Huffman picked up a sixth-place medal in the discus at 118 feet, a great performance by a sophomore.
"Kim Miller missed qualifying in the discus by four inches and ended up with a top 10 finish in the shot put. Kim ended up with a top 10 finish with a 38-3 throw.
"The throwing crew had a very good year as they continually improved as the year progressed.
"Katherine Morell picked up a sixth-place medal in the 100-meter dash and a top eight finish in the 200. Katherine completed her high school career by qualifing 12 times in individual and relay events.
"The 4x100 relay of Erica Clapp, Morel, Brianna Ward, and Austin Wilson did not place in the top six but ran a good race with a 51.9 electronic time.
"Freshmen Sarah Craw had a great day in the pole vault. She did not place but she did improve to 9-6 and takes over fhe freshman pole vault record. With three seasons left, Sarah will continue to improve and should have a great career in the vault.
"The girls' coaching staff is looking forward to next year as we only graduate three seniors off this year's team and we will pick up some quality freshmen and returning athletes that should make us very solid next year."
Class C:
* Southern Valley's 400-meter relay team of Alyssa Steele, Hennessey Hogeland, Allison Hunt and Cassie Gustafson placed eighth with a time of 51.56.
* Southwest High School's Burton Burton placed ninth in the Class C boys 1600-meter run with a time of 4:42.44.
* Southern Valley's Alyssa Steele and Southwest's Savannah Noyes placed 8-10 in the Class C girls triple jump with marks of 34-8 and 34-4 1/2.
* Hitchcock County's Kelly Bernt placed 19th in the Class C girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:36.97.
Class D:
* The Medicine Valley girls 400-meter relay team of Heather Wills, Kyle-Lyle Hughes, Kesha Heinzle and Krysta Thompson placed second with a time of 52.43.
Wills won the long jump Friday night (see Page 11 for more information).
* Eustis-Farnam's Tyler Kugler placed second in the Class D boys 400-meter dash with a time of 50.55 seconds and was second in the 200 with a time of 23.69.
* Dundy County's Annette Case finished third in the Class D girls 200-meter dash with a time of 27.25 seconds, fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute, 85 seconds and was seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.16 seconds.
* Medicine Valley's Drew Lindvall placed fifth with a time of 41.49 seconds.
* Dundy County's Brooke Olson finished sixth in the Class D girls 100-meter high hurdles with a time of 16.51 seconds.
* Medicine Valley's 1600-meter relay team placed seventh with a time of 4:21.62.
* Medicine Valley's Christine Fisher tied for eighth in the Class D girls pole vault when she cleared 8 feet.
* Dundy County's Amanda Buehner finished 16th in the Class D girls 1600-meter run with a time of 5:56.77.
* Wills placed eighth in the Class D girls triple jump with a mark of 34-2 1/4.
* Medicine Valley's Shaun Merrigan and Wauneta-Palisade's placed 19-21 in the Class D boys 1600 with times of 5:01.59 and 5:06.32.
* Eustis-Farnam's Teran Alderman finished 23rd in the Class D girls 800-meter run with a time of 2:43.69.
In the Class D boys team standings, Eustis-Farnam tied for ninth with 16 points.
Dundy County tied for 20th with 8, Maywood tied for 35th with 4 and Medicine Valley tied for 40th with 2.
In the Class D girls team standings, Medicine Valley's girls placed 10th with 18 points.