Cambridge boys lead area teams at state track meet

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Andrea Werth of Eustis-Farnam looks exhausted as she nears the finish line in the Class D girls 1,600-meter relay at the state track meet in Omaha May 19. Werth had a great performance at state, setting a school record in winning the 300-meter hurdles, plus a third place in the 400-meter dash and sixth in the 100 hurdles. She also ran the anchor leg on the third-place E-F 1,600 relay.

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Cambridge High School boys track and field team had two shining stars this season, but a strong supporting cast was just as vital for the success of the Trojans.

Cambridge sweated through the closing events at the 2012 Nebraska State High School Track and Field Championships Saturday, May 19, at Burke High School Stadium in Omaha. Kalen Farr's fifth-place points in the pole vault proved to be the difference as the Trojans claimed the Class D boys state title by just four points over Twin Loup (Sargent).

Cambridge totaled 66 points, with Twin Loup closing with a rush in the final two events to finish second with 62 points. Giltner was a distant third with 43.5 points, and Paxton placed fourth with 39 points.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Alexa Whipple of Arapahoe fires off the starting line in the Class C girls 100-meter dash prelims May 18. Whipple, a junior, finished fifth in the 100 and second in the 200, plus she ran a leg on the Araphoe third-place 400-meter relay.

The Trojans padded their lead when super sprinter Kaden Huxoll sped to the Class D gold medal in the 200-meter dash to cap a super state meet for the junior. Huxoll also won the 100 and 400 sprints, and he ran a leg on the Cambridge second-place 400-meter relay.

Cambridge did not have a relay team qualified in the 1,600 relay, the final event of the meet. The Class D pole vault ended late Saturday with Twin Loup finishing second and fourth for 13 big points. But Farr's points for fifth were bigger, as his four points added on to Huxoll's 10 points for the 200 victory gave the Trojans a 66-52 lead entering the final relay race.

Twin Loup won the relay to close the gap to four points for the final margin.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Kaden Huxoll of Cambridge sprints out of the starting blocks in the Class D boys 400-meter dash at state May 18. Huxoll swept the sprint events, claiming first places in the 100-meter dash, the 200 and 400 to go with his leg on the second-place 400 relay team to help boost the Trojans to the Class D state championship.

SENIOR MIKE SHOFF also earned a pair of gold medals for the Trojans. Shoff hit 60 feet, 11 inches in the shot put for first in Class D. That throw also gave Shoff the Gold Medal Championship as the top mark in the shot put at state regardless of class.

Shoff also won the Class D discus with a toss of 170 feet, 8 inches -- nearly 15 feet past his next closest competitor.

Eustis-Farnam led Gazette area teams in Class D, as the Knights scored 26 points to finish eighth in the final team standings. Andrea Werth claimed four state meet medals, including a first-place in the 300 hurdles in a school-record time of 46.4 seconds.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Hitchcock County's Austin Blume (middle) battles for position in the Class D boys 1,600-meter run May 19. Blume ran a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 39 seconds to place third in the 1,600, and he also breezed to a gold medal in the 800-meter run Friday with a career-best time of 1:59.623.

Arapahoe's girls had a strong state meet in the Class C division, behind a gold medal performance by Rochelle Wendland. The Warriors finished seventh in the C girls team standings with 28 points. Wendland won the high jump as she cleared 5 feet, 3 inches.

HERE IS A SUMMARY of Gazette area medalists in the Class C and Class D divisions at the 2012 Nebraska State High School Track and Field Championships held Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, at Burke High Stadium in Omaha.

CLASS C GIRLS

High jump -- 1. Rochelle Wendland, Arapahoe, 5 feet, 3 inches; 5. Kenzie May, Southwest, 5-2.

Triple jump -- 6. Kattie Sadd, Southern Valley, 35-2.

Pole vault -- 3. Sara Lennemann, Southern Valley, 9-10.

400-meter relay -- 3. Arapahoe (Alexa Whipple, Paige Jenkins, Rochelle Wendland, Carley Polston), 50.942 seconds.

100-meter high hurdles -- 8. Kristen Jussel, Chase County, 17.159 (15.707 in prelims).

100-meter dash -- 5. Alexa Whipple, Arapahoe, 12.967 (12.758 in prelims).

200-meter dash -- 2. Alexa Whipple, Arapahoe, 26.192 (26.031 in prelims).

CLASS C BOYS

Shot put -- 2. Walter Zarkowski, Dundy County-Stratton, 55-2 1/4; 3. Trev Haussler, Arapahoe, 53.8.

Discus -- 4. Walter Zarkowski, Dundy County-Stratton, 150-11.

CLASS D GIRLS

Discus -- 4. Emily Whipple, Cambridge, 120-5.

Long jump -- 6. Jordin Wasson, Cambridge, 16-4 1/4.

Triple jump -- 5. Jordin Wasson, Cambridge, 34-1 3/4.

800-meter run -- 8. Bryn Bellamy, Eustis-Farnam, 2:26.430.

400-meter relay -- 7. Hitchcock County (Ashia Love, Jacee Kershaw, Laramey Lewis, Lesley Towery), 51.719.

100-meter high hurdles -- 6. Andrea Werth, Eustis-Farnam, 16.570.

400-meter dash -- 3. Andrea Werth, Eustis-Farnam, 59.388.

300-meter low hurdles -- 1. Andrea Werth, Eustis-Farnam, 46.463.

200-meter dash -- 5. Laramey Lewis, Hitchcock County, 26.739.

1,600-meter relay -- 3. Eustis-Farnam (Andrea Werth, Bryn Bellamy, Inga Schummel, McKenna Rieker), 4:09.141.

CLASS D BOYS

Shot put -- 1. Mike Shoff, Cambridge, 60-11 1/2.

Discus -- 1. Mike Shoff, Cambridge, 170-8.

Pole vault -- 5. Kalen Farr, Cambridge, 13-6.

3,200-meter run -- 8. Rodger Farr, Medicine Valley, 10:50.824.

800-meter run -- 1. Austin Blume, Hitchcock County, 1:59.623.

400-meter relay -- 2. Cambridge (Isaac Johnson, Zane Petersen, Jordan Volk, Kaden Huxoll), 44.321.

110-meter high hurdles -- 5. Kalen Farr, Cambridge, 15.539.

100-meter dash -- 1. Kaden Huxoll, Cambridge, 11.060.

400-meter dash -- 1. Kaden Huxoll, Cambridge, 50.189.

200-meter dash -- 1. Kaden Huxoll, Cambridge, 22.623.

1,600-meter run -- 3. Austin Blume, Hitchcock County, 4:39.007.