Bison boys track 2nd at UNK indoor meet, McCook girls place 7th

KEARNEY -- The McCook High School boys track team opened the season with a second-place finish at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Indoor Meet, and the McCook girls placed seventh.

The high school invite took place at Cushing Fieldhouse.

The Bison boys scored a school-record 84 points, just missing first-place Gothenburg by 4 points. The McCook girls scored 20 points.

"I thought this was our best ever performance at the UNK Indoor -- since I've been here at any rate," said McCook boys track coach John Gumb. "We entered kids in only a little more than half the events and still came up 4 points short of winning the meet. "The 84 points was an all-time high for us, and we left a lot of points at home due to injury, sickness and other commitments."

McCook's Jeff Klug was a double winner. He won the 55-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 6.79 and 24.08 seconds. Derek Ruppert and Alex Beam placed 2-6 in the 55 with times of 6.9 and 7 seconds. McCook's Jeremy Young and John Swanhorst finished 1-2 in the 55-meter high hurdles with times of 8.25 and 8.37 seconds.

Swanhorst also anchored the first-place 1600-meter relay team to a time of 3:40.94. He teamed up with Ruppert, Rico Quezada and Craig Fritz.

Shawn McMurtrey won the 3200 with a time of 9:58.84. Ryan Ankersen just missed a medal with his seventh-place time of 10:57.39.

Mason Pohl and Ryan Bedore placed 1-3 in the pole vault. Pohl cleared 13 feet and Bedore 12 feet. Cody Martin placed sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:18.44. Zach Volquardsen was seventh in the shot put at 43-3.

Senior Katherine Morell led the Bison girls track team with a second-place effort in the 55-meter dash (7.81) and was fourth in the triple jump (32-9). Amy Beckenhauer and Brianna Ward were 5-6 in the 200 with times of 29.89 and 29.91. Kelsey Schoup was fifth in the 3000-meter run with a time of 14:16.73.

Also placing sixth for the Bison girls were Erica Clapp, triple jump (31-0); Sarah Craw, pole vault (7-0); and Kim Miller, shot put (35-4).

"The UNK meet was a good opening meet for the girls," said McCook girls coach Steve Clapp. "The competition was excellent and we were able to let a large number of girls compete -- many in their first high school track and field meet.

"Of our returning girls, we had a number of good early season marks as well as improvements over this time a year ago. Our coaching staff was pleased with our efforts for the first meet this year."

Next up the Bison teams is a dual with North Platte at 4 p.m. next Thursday at North Platte.