Bison boys track team wins fourth consecutive invite title

HOLDREGE -- McCook's boys track team took the win in the Holdrege Invite Friday.

This is the fourth consecutive invitational title the Bison boys have won this season.

The Bison girls finished third in the team standings behind Grand Island Northwest and York.

The Bison boys came away with five individual medals and one relay win.

"We performed extremely well on a cold and drizzly day," said Bison boys track coach John Gumb.

"Eleven of our athletes recorded season's best performances on the type of day that those kinds of things really shouldn't happen. Our depth is what really told the tale in this meet as we placed two or more athletes in eight of the 14 individual events."

Brendan Liess won the 400 meter dash in 50.2 seconds, becoming one of the top performances of the day.

"This time stands third in the Class B and fifth in the State overall regardless of class," said Gumb. "It also ranks Liess third on the all-time top ten charts in McCook."

Tony Puvis was a triple medal winner for the second week. Purvis won the 100, 200 meter dashes and the 400 meter relay with teammates Liess, Jeff Klug and Nate Berry.

John Swanhorst also took home the gold in the 300 intermediate hurdles and Sam Frazier won the discus. David Swisher had a career best in the pole vault.

Swisher's vault was 13-10 and puts him among the leaders in the event in Class B and is now tied for the eighth position on the all-time top ten charts.

Ryan Ankersen ran his season best time of 4:42.4 in the 1600 and took fourth. Ankersen now ranks seventh on the all-time top ten charts.

"Ryan seems to be progressing nicely this season and has a legitimate shot at qualifying for the State Meet later this month in Omaha if he can shave a few more seconds off of his time," said Gumb.

Gumb said he will take eight athletes to the "Best of the Midwest" track meet in Sutherland on Tuesday and the freshmen and sophomores will compete in the 9/10 invitational in North Platte.

The entire varsity team will be at the GNAC Conference meet in North Platte on Friday.

Kim Miller took home a gold for the Bison girls and placed a new school record of 40 feet, 1/2 inch, breaking her own MHS record in the shot put.

"The highlight of the meet was once again in the throwing events as Miller became McCook's and coach Briggs' first 40 foot shot putter," said Bison girls coach Steve Clapp.

Miller also finished second in the discus.

Allison Smith followed Miller in second with a personal record of 39-1- and Brittany Hagan had her personal best at 35-10 3/4 and took third in her first varsity performance.

Hagan stepped in after Kayla Wilson took ill.

The girls 4x800 relay team of Rebecca Rawlins, Tara Powell, Courtney Carter and Joanna Bryant finished second.

The McCook girls had both their ups and downs, but overall competed well in the invite and learning to compete in adverse weather conditions may ultimately help the girls as they compete in the next couple weeks," said Clapp.

"We also picked up exceptional PR's from freshman Tara Powell in the 1600, Shelby Woitaszewski in the 100 high hurdles and Shalynn Holliday in the triple jump.

Boys results

Team scores -- McCook, 156; York, 128; Grand Island Northwest, 84; Holdrege, 67; Lexington, 45; Kearney JV, 33.

100 -- 1. Tony Purvis, MC, 11.3; 2. Brendan Liess, MC, 11.4; 4. Nate Berry, MC, 11.5.

200 -- 1. Tony Purvis, MC, 23.0; 6. Dillon Goltl, MC, 24.6.

400 -- 2. Brandon Kotschwar, MC, 50.2; 3. Darren Berry, MC, 53.4.

110 high hurdles -- 2. Brandon Kotschwar, MC, 16.0; 5. John Swanhorst, MC, 16.8; 6. Cory Gaston, MC, 16.9.

300 meter hurdles -- 1. John Swanhorst, MC, 42.0; 2. Brandon Kotschwar, MC, 42.7; 4. Cory Gaston, MC, 43.0.

800 -- 6. Cody Martin, MC, 2:08.1.

1600 -- 2. Josh Cherry, MC, 4:39.5; 4. Ryan Ankerson, MC, 4:42.4.

Long jump -- 3. Tyrone Sellers, MC, 18-11.5; 6. Brett Burton, MC, 18-4.

Triple jump -- 3. Micah Kamla, MC, 41-1.5.

4x400 relay -- 1. Grand Island NW, 3:30.4; 2. McCook, 3:31.6; 3. Lexington, 3:33.9.

4x800 relay -- 1. York, 8:11.7; 2. Lexington, 8:18.7; 3. McCook, 8:34.1.

4x100 relay -- 1. McCook, 43.6; 2. York, 45.1; 3. Holdrege, 45.9.

High jump -- 6T. Tyrone Sellers, MC, 5-6.

Pole vault -- 2. David Swisher, MC, 13-10; 5. Ryan Bedore, MC, 12-6.

Shot put -- 3. JD Stone, MC, 46-11.

Discus -- 1. Sam Frazier, MC, 137-10.

Girls Results

Team scores -- Grand Island Northwest, 147; York, 121; McCook, 96; Holdrege, 78; Lexington, 71; Kearney JV, 11.

100 -- 3. Austin Wilson, MC, 13.4.

200 -- 6. Kali Lyons, MC, 29.

400 -- 5. Jillian Bryant, MC, 1:05.1.

100 meter hurdles -- 5. Shelby Woitaszewski, MC, 17.2.

800 -- 3. Rebecca Rawlings, MC, 2:37.3.

1600 -- 3. Tara Powell, MC, 5:43.4.

Long jump -- 6. Kali Lyons, MC, 14-2.5.

Triple jump -- 4. Shalyn Holliday, MC, 30-9.

High jump -- 4. Allison Smith, MC, 4-8.

Pole vault -- 4. Sarah Craw, MC, 9-1.

Shot put -- 1. Kim Miller, MC, 40-0.5; 2. Allison Smith, MC, 39-1; 3. Brittney Hagan, MC, 35-10.75.

Discus -- 2. Kim Miller, MC, 110-3; 2. Ashlee Huffman, MC, 108-7; 4. Marissa Wallace, MC, 103-10.

4x00 relay -- 1. York, 52.2; 2. Grand Island NW, 52.4; 3. Holdrege, 52.5; 4. McCook, 53.2.

4x400 relay -- 1. Grand Island NW, 4:16; 2. Holdrege, 4:19.2; 3. McCook, 4:22.2.

4x800 relay -- 1. Grand Island NW, 10:03.8; 2. McCook, 10:26.9.