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Runner-up team finish for McCook boys at state track meet
OMAHA, Neb. -- There was probably a lot of "what ifs" circulating around the McCook boys track and field school vans on the trip back from the Nebraska State High School Track and Field Championships May 19.
The Bison boys finished second in the final Class B team standings with 41 points. West Nebraska rival Scottsbluff won the team title with 48 points, and York was third with 37.
McCook senior Matt Chitwood was unable to compete in several events as he was still suffering from a painful hip injury suffered a few weeks ago. Chitwood was one of the Class B state leaders in the long jump and pole vault all season long. But he was hampered in districts although he qualified for state in both events.
Chitwood did try to compete in the long jump at the state meet Saturday at Omaha Burke HIgh School stadium. He was eighth after the preliminary round with a best of 20 feet, 8 1/4 inches. He passed on his final three jumps and finished eighth.
Chitwood had jumped 23 feet earlier this season -- which would have won the event by nearly a foot. The senior also had cleared 14 feet in the pole vault.
If Chitwood was healthy and could have matched that height at state, he would have gave the Bison three of the four top medals in that event.
Chitwood did not compete in the vault at state.
Do the math, and if Chitwood would have been healthy, there's a big possibility that the McCook boys would have easily beaten Scottsbluff for the Class B team championship.
"Things would have been a lot different if we would have had Matt," said Bison head coach Tom Sughroue. "But you can't live in the past. One part of sports in injury. It's unfortunate. He did gut it out and get one point for us (in the long jump), which is a lot better than I thought he might."
THERE WERE PLENTY of strong efforts for the Bison boys at state, and Coach Sughroue was all smiles before the team received its runner-up trophy Saturday evening.
"I'm very pleased with our kids today. It was a great a effort," he said. "I applaud our kids. It's very easy as a coach to watch. You get nervous, but the effort is all the kids. You train the kids, they do what we ask them to do. When it comes right down to it, it's their effort. So hats off to them, it was a valiant effort, coming out (at state) knowing they didn't have Matt, and we end up second as a team."
One big effort came from Austen Sis, who was way back on the charts in the discus entering state. But Sis hit a personal-best throw of 152 feet, 1 inch to place sixth.
AUSTIN CHERRY had a big weekend. Cherry came close to breaking the McCook school record in the 800-meter run. The record of 1 minute, 55.38 seconds is held by Austin's brother, Josh Cherry, set at the 2006 Class B state meet. Austin ran neck-in-neck with Anton Rice of Omaha Gross Catholic. Rice held off Cherry on the home stretch, winning in 1:53.725. Cherry was second with a personal-best time of 1:55.413 -- about 13-hundredths behind big brother.
Cherry also finished seventh in the 400-meter dash finals at 51.126 seconds.
McCook got big points in the field events. In addition to Sis in the discus, the Bison went 2-3 in the pole vault, with Kyle Stewart goines 14 feet even and Tyson Karr just behind at 13-8. Jake Schlager hit a season-best 22 feet, 1 inch to place second in the long jump -- less than an inch behind champion Alexander Gonsalves of Auburn.
Connor Palic also had a big day in the triple jump. Palic came close to his PR, and he placed fourth with a leap of 43 feet, 7 inches.
Trevor Pate also hit a personal-best in the 800 at 2:01.222, but he came up three spots and less than a second short of a medal. The Bison 1,600 relay quartet of Cherry, Cody Wudtke, Pate and Jacob Riemann also just missed a medal when they ran ninth at 3:29.554.