Contributor: The Nerd
Our first record of the year?
We posted on our socials on Saturday that Reece Grosserode of Pius had triple jumped 49-08 at the Doane indoor meet, topping his Class A State record of 49-00.5 from the 2022 State meet. In our posts, we purposely didn't didn't call it a State record because we weren't sure if an indoor mark would actually qualify as a State record.
We've since learned that the Class A long jump record of 25-00.25 was set in March 2005 by Robert Rands of Bellevue East at an indoor meet at the Dakota Dome, per this World Herald article. Barring some technicality, this precedent would appear to mean that this is our first record of the season. It likely won't be the last.
Results from last Friday and Saturday suggest that at least four other Class A records could be threatened this year. All of these marks came from Friday's College of St. Mary indoor meet:
Stella Miner, who already holds the Class A 800 record, blazed to a 4:51 1600, just shy of the 4:49.2 record set in 2003 by Elizabeth Lange of Pius. Considering the the tight turns of a 200-meter track and that it's two months until State, Lange's record is under threat but not just from Miner. Class A 2023 XC champ Claire White of Westside ran a 4:56.48 mile (converts to a 4:54.76) at the UNL meet on February 16.
The Class A girls 4x800 record of 9:12.70 was set by Lincoln East in 2018. Miner ran a 2:09 two weeks ago at New Balance Nationals, White ran 2:16 on Friday at CSM while teammate Olivia Elbert ran 2:19.82 in the same race. If they can find a fourth girl at Westside who can run a 2:25, they have a chance at that record.
The Class A boys 1600 record of 4:09.84 was set by Westside's Milo Greder in 2017. Millard West's Jack Witte ran a 4:15.74 on Friday at CSM and Fremont's Juan Gonzalez ran a converted 4:17 in February. Juan started off his official HS season with a 1:56.98 800 at Concordia.
The All-Class girls long jump record is 20-02.75 set by LaQue Moen-Davis of Omaha North in 2010. Zaidah Lightener of Papio South jumped 19-04.75 on Saturday at CSM; she also jumped 19-01.75 over the winter.
We'll dig into other record possibilities in future Nerdsletters but Karsyn Leeling of Sidney and Kerstyn Chapek of Bishop Neumann come to mind immediately.
Do you have an athlete capable of a State record?
While Grosserode's leap on Saturday didn't require a wind reading because it was an indoor meet, wind measurements are absolutely a requirement for performances to be considered for State records in five events. Here's the recap we first posted in our 4/11/23 Nerdsletter:
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A gauge called an anemometer is used to measure the advantage that the wind provides to a runner's velocity. A certified manual-start anemometer can cost as much as $350, and most timing companies have access to them. For State-record purposes, wind readings are required for the 100, 200, 100/110 hurdles, long jump and triple jump. In races the anemometer is to be set 50 meters from the finish line, 1.22 meters off the ground and no more than 2 meters from the running surface. For the two jumps, the anemometer is set 20 meters from the board, 1.22 meters off the ground and no more than 2 meters from the runway. The anemometer is used to measure the average athlete velocity displacement for a certain amount of time - for the 100/110, it's the entirety of the race, for the 200 it's essentially the straightaway, and for the jumps it's when the athlete is sprinting and jumping.
Wind readings are rounded to the nearest tenth, so a meter/second reading of 2.04 would be rounded down to 2.0. When you see race results, a wind reading of +2.5 or 2.5 reflects a tailwind while a reading of -2.5 reflects a headwind. If there is no wind reading (or 'NWI') next to a mark, that means a wind reading wasn't taken. If the average wind reading is 2.0 or lower, the performance is 'wind legal.' If the average is 2.1 or above, it's not wind legal and isn't eligible for a State record.
Is the wind reading synonymous with the wind miles-per-hour we see on weather apps? Google has links to several calculators, and the one I referenced says that 2.0 meters/second is equivalent to a wind speed of 4.5 miles per hour. However, because the anemometer captures a very brief span of time - generally 15 seconds or less - there might be a lull in wind velocity that would allow for a wind-legal mark on a day that featured gusts of 25 mph. The presence of nearby buildings or hills can also amplify or block winds.
Wind also plays a key part in the pole vault. Last spring I asked Jason Berry, a Concordia jumps coach, whether pole vaulters have higher jumps indoor or outdoor. He responded that crosswinds typically reduce pole vault performance, but a reasonable tailwind can lead to higher jumps at outdoor meets. However, the pole vault isn't subject to wind readings.
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So if you're a coach of a great athlete, what's the moral of this story? Coordinate with meet hosts to ensure that either the timing company or someone else is responsible for taking and recording anemometer readings. Your school may have to pay for the anemometer, but that's a small price to pay when a record is on the line.
Expect more indoor records in the years to come
While indoor meets are typically only held the first two weeks of the official high school season, the marks at those meets are becoming more competitive. Why? Because high school athletes have more opportunities to start their season earlier. This year a Nebraska athlete could have competed in five indoor meets in January and February without ever leaving the state, and at least one college has opened its indoor facility to the public for indoor training.
What the Nerd can do for you
Here's our normal publishing cycle each week:
Each weekend we ask our Facebook and Twitter followers to tell us where and when their track teams are competing the following week. We build the schedule at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/trackresults.
Our volunteer Nerds use that schedule to decide which meets they'll attend during the week.
Meet photos are posted to our Facebook page two to seven days after the meet. About once a week we update our website at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/2022 to summarize which albums are posted.
On Tuesday or Wednesday we'll post a few of our favorite photos on our Instagram account.
Each Wednesday, except during vacations, we'll try to post a Nerdsletter.
Every few days we try to update the results page at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/trackresults for links to meet results. When we're missing results, we'll ask for help on our social media accounts.
If you have a story idea, saw a great performance or find an error/omission on our website, feel free to DM us on our social media accounts or e-mail us at jayslagle@hotmail.com. We're all volunteers and we definitely make mistakes.
Photos
If you follow us on Facebook, you know that meet photos are kind of our thing. With almost 20 volunteer photographers in the Nerd family, we'll post tens of thousands of free photos on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums over the next nine weeks. Here's a sample of what we've posted since last week:
Nationally awesome
Over the past two weeks the Nerd team had the chance to attend the NAIA, D3 and D1 national championships in media roles. It was truly remarkable to see so many Nebraska collegians (and Nebraska natives) competing so well on a national stage. I'm not even going to try to compile a list of All Americans because I know I'll overlook someone, but here's a list of national champions from Nebraska:
Wes Ferguson, UNK, Fremont High, 800 meters, 1:48.13. This marks Wes' 2nd indoor 800 title to go along with his two outdoor titles.
Robert Atwater, Midland, Detroit (MI), long jump, 24-08.25. Robert also placed well in the NAIA heptathlon and three other individual events.
Concordia women's 4x800 squad of Kylahn Freiburg (Nampa, ID), Jenna Esch (Hastings St. Cecilia), Rylee Haecker (Raymond Central) and Julie McIntyre (Chicago), 9:06.48.
Zach Zohner, Concordia, Battle Creek HS, pole vault, 17-02.75. He finished 2nd in this event in 2023.
This year the Concordia women had the highest team finish of any Nebraska team at the four national meets, finishing 3rd at the NAIA meet.
Quick laps
In March 2023 Berlyn Schutz entered her senior track season with a high school best of 5:10.73 in the 1600. Four weeks ago she finished 3rd at the Big 10 championships with a 4:37.37. Here's a message for athletes: persevere.
Coach Ramsey of the Brocaw Blazers let me know that his camp is one month earlier than normal in order to give everyone the best opportunity to get their base training started correctly for cross country season. Here are the details: Smarter Training for Faster Running Camp, June 16-23, 2024, Pueblo, CO, WEBSITE: https://ccrunningcamps.org/
If you're looking for a summer XC camp closer to home, you should have plenty of good options. I'll compile a list later in the season.
In a few weeks we'll start building our results database by class. If you're aware of specific schools that have changed classifications, please e-mail us at jayslagle@hotmail.com so we can build those changes into the database.
We will not be publishing season previews for each event. Work obligations and attending two indoor national championships left Nerd Senior with too little time to tackle that huge project.
Track dad Chris Scott gave us a heads up that four Nebraskans were recently listed in Track and Field News as a top-20 returner in high school. They include Jaiya Patillo (Bellevue, #13 400 meters, #13 freshman), Karsyn Leeling (Sidney, high jump, #10 senior), Kat Beachler (Millard North, shot put, #20 senior), and Sophia Scott (Omaha Burke, javelin, #2 sophomore)
Impressive marks this week
One of the most important things we do is attempt to track down the results for every Nebraska track meet held during the season. We link those results on our website at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/trackresults. While we were updating those links we wrote down a few results in each non-relay event that we thought were impressive. Keep in mind this isn't a top-10 list or an exhaustive list.
Girls
60 - Zee Johnson (ONorth 7.72), Katie Shafer (Papio South 7.79), Kerstyn Chapek (Bishop Neumann 7.81), Alonna Depalma (Waverly 7.89), Emma Harb (GINW 7.97), Savannah Horne (Centennial 7.98), Ellie Shanahan (Roncalli 7.99), Reese Beemer (Blair 7.99), Na-Kiya Robinson (Westside 8.08), Alyssa Onnen (Kny Cath 8.17), Taylor McIntyre (Central Valley 8.22)
60H - Aizlynn Krafka (GINW 9.10), Fiona Thorne (LSE freshman 9.26), Amerae Krafka (GINW 9.31), Taylor Schuster (LSW 9.44), Nyasia Thomas (ONorth 9.45), Morgan Glaser (PLV 9.50), Jadah Laughlin (AG 9.60), Kendyl Flaming (Wallace 9.65), Addison Darnell (Auburn 9.67)
200 - Elizabeth Wemhoff (Columbus 25.55), Kerstyn Chapek (Bishop Neumann 25.74), Nonic Oelling (LSW 26.24), Ellie Shanahan (Roncalli 26.71), Olivia Behlen (Bennington 26.74), Savannah Horne (Centennial 26.74), Landri Gates (Norris 27.03), Tre'sor Porter (MNorth freshman 27.27), Rubi Hill (ONW 27.31)
400 - Alexis Hiatt (Bennington 59.01), Sydney Stodden (Elkhorn North 59.89), Kerstyn Chapek (Bishop Neumann 1:01.09), Karlie Villwok (Elkhorn 1:01.42), Kate Langford (Bennington 1:01.70), Vivian Dalton (Pius 1:01.71), Theresa Berger (Skutt 1:01.80), Alexa Duweling (LSE 1:01.81), Ciara Williams (PLV 1:01.83)
800 - Claire White (Westside 2:16), Emma Steffensen (Waverly 2:17), Ellie Thomas (Norris 2:18), Olivia Elbert (Westside 2:19), Kaitlyn Swartz (Papio South 2:21), Ella Ford (Elkhorn North 2:22), Sophia Reynolds (Hastings freshman 2:22), Lilly Kenning (Milford 2:23), Story Rasby (Sutherland 2:29)
1600 - Stella Miner (Westside 4:51), Reece Ewoldt (Blair 5:12), Kassidy Stuckey (York 5:12), Lilly Kenning (Milford 5:16), Kendall Zavala (Norris 5:16), Hope Riedel (LNS 5:20), Tessa Greisen (Seward 5:21), Kara Muller (BellWest 5:22), Lindee Henning (Ogallala 5:28)
3200 - Kaitlyn Swartz (Papio South 11:04), Atlee Wallman (Norris 11:36), Kara Muller (Bell West 11:38), Kate Ebmeier (Mwest 11:39), Chloe Hemmer (Fremont 11:46)
SP - Kat Beachler (MNorth 45-11), Madison Rink (LSW 41-08.5), Elle Heckenlively (Gretna 41-02), Megan Anderson (WPB 40-04.75), Alexa Jacobsen (Kearney 40-00), Maddie Schneider (GICC 39-11.25), Bailey Theis (Dorchester 39-09.75)
Discus - Madison Smith (Gothenburg 140-05), Erinn Briggs (Col LV 131-06), Audrey Wilcoxsen (Gretna 127-04), Greeley Cargill (Cozad 122-07), Maddie Schneider (GICC 122-01), Ashley Dierks (Bennington 122-00)
LJ - Zaidah Lightener (Papio South 19-04.75), Imani Skanes (ONW 18-06), Landri Gates (Norris 17-06.75), Aspen Tool (Elm Creek 16-11.50), Ava Weyers (Gothenburg 16-11), Kathleen Kelly (Gretna 16-10), Ayla Garrett (Conestoga 16-05), Ana Esono Adugu (LNW 16-04.75)
TJ - Zaidah Lightener (Papio South 37-05.50), Jayden Meyer (Syracuse 36-02.25), Aspen Tool (Elm Creek 35-02.50)
HJ - EJ Brown (ElkSouth 5-06), Claire Hellbusch (LNS 5-05.75), Margaret Haarberg (Kny Cath 5-05), McKenna Yates (MCJ 5-04.25), Kate Hessel (MWest 5-04), David Garrett (Conestoga 5-04), Sarah Spahr (Milford 5-03.75), Marlea Donahey (Palmer 5-03), Mia Pojar (NBC 5-02), Rayna Apley (Bennington 5-02), Aubrey Anderson (Gering freshman, 5-00), Aubree Johnson (Cody-Kilgore 5-00),
PV - Alyssa Onnen (12-00), Kyah Hazard (Kearney 11-00), Kaitlyn Jewett (Holdrege 10-06), Avery Scott (Waverly 10-00), Allyson Dutoit (ENorth 10-00), Mya Hibbard (ENorth 10-00)
Boys
60 - Anthony Jones (Papio South 6.90), Ethan Baessler (Blair 6.91), Preston Okafor (Westside 6.93), Asher Jenkins (Bell West 6.94), Zaire Lagrone-Miller (Kearney 6.94), Brody Krusemark (Pender 6.99), Luke Findley (Norris 7.05), Taylor Schaaf (Beatrice 7.06), Will Cacy (Arapahoe 7.14), Jett Tingelhoff (Elkhorn North 7.15), Daniel Hollens (Falls City 7.19)
60H - Jesse Malone (PLV 8.00), Trevor Retzlaff (GINW 8.52)
200 - Asher Jenkins (BellWest 22.38), Preston Okafor (Westsdie 22.54), Ethan Baessler (Blair 23.19), Isaah Poteet-Brown (Boys Town 23.33), Brody Krusemark (Pender 23.33), Luke Findley (23.41), Gavin Vlcan (Wilber-Clatonia 23.80)
400 - Jett Tingelhoff (Elkhorn North 51.56), Asher Jenkins (51.82), Chris Medlock (GINW 51.86), Lucas Gautier (Aurora 52.01), Drew Moser (Waverly 52.07), Will Cacy (Arapahoe 52.09), Chase Wiegert (GINW 52.12), Reece Santamaria (PLS outdoor 52.44), Gavin Vlcan (Wilber-Clatonia 53.11), Dallin Franzluebbers (Arlington 53.82), Teghan Rosebaugh (Diller-Odell 54.24), Mario Rodriguez (Alliance, 55.90), Dylan Pandorf (South Loup 56.51)
800 - Juan Gonzalez (Fremont 1:56.98), Dalan Hochstein (Papio South 2:00.67), Josiah Quinones (Beatrice 2:01.30), Jack Carda (MM 2:01.41), Mason Hagan (North Central 2:04.23),
1600 - Jack Witte (Mwest 4:15.74), Braden Lofquest (Gretna East 4:21, Riley Boonstra (Norris 4:22)
3200 - Max Myers (LSW 9:39), Jacob Finney (Prep 9:47), Xaiver Mallow (Papio South 9:48), Jared Schroeder (Waverly 9:59)
SP - Ike Ackerman (OCentral 57-11), Sam Thomas (Elkhorn North 54-07), Eli Holt (Norris 54-03), Cole Brandt (Kearney 540-02), Blake Hawkins (Gretna 52-04.25), Garrett O'Hare (Kny Cath 52-03), Tobin Engelhard (AG 52-02.25), Christian Jones (Westside 52-07.50), Theron Miller (Hemingford 51-09), Boone Snyder (Sutherland 50-10.50)
Discus - Andrew Englund (Holdrege 170-01), Byron Ostdiek (Beatrice 159-05), Samuel Zazueta (Norfolk 158-01), Trenton Moudry (Bishop Neumann 149-10)
LJ - Dylan Crumley (Columbus 22-08.5), Reece Grosserod (Pius 22-04), Finn McGovern (LSW 22-01.75), Jordon Hurst (Westside 21-10), Truman Ryan (Central City 21-09.50), Chayden Hoffmaster (Cozad 21-07), Vendelly Juyzk (Auroa 21-04.75), Evan Mai (McCook 21-04.50), Landon Fye (Crete 21-04.25), DeMarcus McCarty (PLV 21-03.75), Connor Schutt (Bishop Neumann 21-01.25), Bryce Larsen (DCW 21-00), Luke Bailey (Ansley-Litchfield 20-10)
TJ - Reece Grosserod (49-08), Davieian Williams (LSE 46-08), Josh Lima (MWest 44-07), Vendell Juyzk (Aurora 44-06.50), Travis Hines (PLV 44-03.50), Taj Wilson (Kearney 44-00.50), Connor Schutt (Bishop Neumann 43-07.50)
HJ - Parker Ablott (Hastings 6-07), Jaxon Lipker (Boone Central 6-06), Cohen Burhoop (Waverly 6-04), Brooks Holen (Norris 6-04), Connor Schutt (Bishop Neumann 6-04), Luke Brachle (Kearney 6-04), Jang Dak (Lincoln East 6-03), Kolten Nelson (DCW 6-02), Justin Folkers (Twin Loup 6-02), Ryland Garretson (MCJ 6-02), Maddox Wagoner (Kenesaw 6-02), Camden Ceplecha (Scottsbluff 6-00)
PV - Roe Patton (Fullerton 14-00), Rylan Landin (Holdrege 13-06), Tyler Trumbley (Gothenburg 13-06), Jaren Moore (Holdrege 13-00), Boston Irish (Cozad 13-00), Peter Russell (Kimball 13-00), Liam McGlynn (ElkSouth 13-00), Trevor Fuss (Kimball 12-06), Dawson Barrett (Scottsbluff 12-06), Jackson Saner (Sutherland 12-06), Seth Berens (Pius 12-06), Davin Wang (Westside 12-06), Jordan Settles (NBC 12-06), Tayden Gronemeyer (Tri County 12-00), Quincy Ryker (Twin Loup 12-00), Grant Scott (DCW 11-06), Brendyn Luna (Norfolk 11-11.25), Greg Minne (GI 11-11.25), Caleb Leonard (Bayard 11-00)
Spring Sprints
Kern Track at Wayne will be the site of an event called Spring Sprints on May 3rd. Spring Sprints is an inclusive event for students with special needs to enjoy the amazing sport of track and field. Spring Sprints started in 2012 with 5 teams and about 25 athletes. Since then, the meet has been grown to over 20 teams and 200+ athletes! The meet is May 3rd at Kern Track in Wayne, Nebraska. You can find an article and video about the event at https://iloveps.org/films/spring-sprints. If you want more information on this event, please contact Wayne's Activity Director, David Wragge, at dawragg1@waynebluedevils.org.
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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on March 20, 2024. If you find an error, shoot us an e-mail at jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it fixed.
Like this coverage of the Nebraska track and field scene? There's more of this at www.preprunningnerd.com. Check out the Blog tab for our frequent stories and and the Results tab for every Nebraska high school race we can find. If you want to see meet photos or just need to kill a few hours on social media, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PrepRunningNerd or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/preprunningnerd.
Finally, if you think runners, jumpers and throwers are the best things on earth, you'll enjoy our two most popular articles. In 2018 we published "The Runner with the Broken Heart" about a high school boy who finished last in nearly every race he ran. In 2022 we published, "The Fall and Rise of Emmett Hassenstab," a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadrapalegic after a swimming accident.