05/10/26 Nerdsletter

jayslagle
1 day ago
12 min read

Contributor: The Nerd

With District meets starting on Tuesday, we're publishing this week's Nerdsletter early to make sure you're in the know.

Leave no room for fear or doubt

For many athletes, this week can be an exhaustive tour through self-doubt, anxiety and fear. We know that athletes perform best when they are confident, and that's the reason we wrote this article years ago. If your athlete is struggling with performance anxiety, pass along this article to them.

How to qualify for State

One of the most important topics for this week is how an athlete qualifies for the Nebraska State T&F meet. We've broken down the details by Class at this link.

District meets

Below is a list of the District meets along with tentative Nerd assignments. The NSAA website lists all of the schools assigned to each District at this link. Since at-large qualifiers are selected based on the results of the District meets in each Class, we'll try to post a link to live results so you have a better idea of whether an athlete has a chance at an at-large spot.

Tuesday, May 12

A-1 Fremont (Royal Nerd, Joyful Nerd)

A-2 Millard North, 11:00/2:00 (Nerdfoot)

A-3 Lincoln High, 12:00/2:00 (Nerdtron)

A-4 Omaha Burke, 12:00/2:00 (Nerdy by Nature, Mega Nerd)

B-1 Gretna, 11:00/2:00

B-2 Elkhorn, 10:00/1:30 (TBD)

B-3 Columbus Scotus (Sky Nerd, Young Nerd)

B-4 Waverly, 10:00 (TBD)

B-5 Central City (Speedwalker until 3:00)

B-6 Alliance, 10:00/1:00 (Nerd 501©3)

Wednesday, May 13

D-1 Pawnee City (Nerdfall)

D-2 Osceola, 9:00

D-3 Hartington

D-4 Rock County, 10:00/1:00 (Hurdle Nerd, Dancing Nerd)

D-5 Burwell, 10:00/1:00 (Volley Nerd)

D-6 Kenesaw, 10:00/1:30

D-7 Southern Valley, 11:00/2:00 (Valley Nerd)

D-8 Paxton

D-9 Bayard, 10:00/1:00

Thursday, May 14

C-1 JCC (Nerdfall)

C-2 Louisville (TBD)

C-3 Norfolk Catholic

C-4 Hartington (Nor’easter Nerd?, Bloomin’ Nerd, Nerdennan at 1:30)

C-5 West Holt (River Nerd)

C-6 Boone Central

C-7 Sandy Creek (Sun Nerd)

C-8 Kearney Catholic (Donkey Nerd)

C-9 Perkins County (Nerd Stammpede, Blurry Nerd, Science Nerd, Word Nerd)

Fast times at UNL

UNL is hosting the Big Ten T&F meet this weekend from Friday through Sunday. The Big Ten is a powerhouse in track and field, and this is undoubtedly the most competitive meet that has ever been held in Nebraska. With only junior high and youth races this weekend, this is the perfect time for running fans to catch a collegiate meet. You can find out more information and see the meet schedule at https://bigten.org/motf/article/59741/. The running events don't begin until the mid- to late afternoon on Friday and Saturday, so you can't even use school as an excuse not to attend.

Give your local nerd some love

The Nerds have already posted albums for 124 meets, have about 10 more still in the editing process, and we're planning to shoot 18 of the 28 District meets. Have we mentioned that every single Nerd is a volunteer, and that for every hour they're at a meet, they're spending at least another hour editing photos? About half of our Nerds will wrap up their shooting season this week, so please give them a big 'howdy Nerd and thank you' if you see one.

Rankings

Nerd Junior continues to keep our rankings spreadsheet alive, and we've been told by a number of coaches that they use our data to decide which events their athletes will compete in at Districts. In addition to listing the top 15 performances by Class, our spreadsheet also lists the current or pending State record in each event. You can find the spreadsheet at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/rankings.

Odds and ends

We have listed this year's 27 State records below. Of the 27, only one has come from Class A: Jaiya Patillo of Bellevue West broke her own 400 record from 2024. However, a few athletes are knocking on the door: McKenna Keplinger of Millard West (12-08 PV, record is 13-04), Aaliyah Perry of Millard North (41-05.75 TJ, record is 42-04), Finley Moore of Papio South (19-08.50 LJ, record is 20-02.75), Niles Medcalf of Lincoln Southeast (47.11 400, record is 46.95) and Maurice Purify of Omaha Westside (24-07 LJ, record is 25-02.50).
Madison Scott, an 8th-grader at Millard Russell, ran a 5:06.07 1600 on Friday, May 8. Our crack researchers believe it's Nebraska's fourth-fastest junior high 1600 in the last decade behind Emily Hegge (4:55.06, 2025), Berlyn Schutz (5:01.08, 2019) and Avery Arens (5:04.18, 2025).
Speaking of fast 8th graders, Kamden Cupples of St. Wenceslaus in Omaha dropped a 4:36.45 1600 on Saturday, May 9 after running a 56.66 open 400 and before a 2:11.98 800. Surprisingly, Kamden isn't the fastest 8th grader in Nebraska this season. That distinction belongs to Carter Ribble of Beatrice, who ran 2:07.48 and 4:32.18 at a meet on Friday. We believe Carter and Kamden are both headed to the JH Championship meet this weekend in Gothenburg.
Gretna East alum Braden Lofquest, now a freshman at Duke and running unattached, posted a 3:39.53 1500 on Friday at the Mount Olive meet. That time converts to a 3:57.20 mile, and the 3:39.53 is the fastest 1500 time run by a Nebraska high school graduate. Braden also held the previous mark for the fastest 1500, having done that a few weeks ago.
Cece Kramper of Omaha Duchesne is the Class B defending champ in the 1600 and 3200, as well as in cross country, but she won't be defending her track titles in two weeks. After posting a sub-11:00 3200 at an indoor meet in March, she was subsequently diagnosed with a toe injury that will keep her on the shelf until the summer.

Summer camps

We've received information on these summers camps:

The Nebraska FCA is holding its annual cross country camp from June 9-12 in Kearney. We've heard great things about this camp from both campers and counselors (who are typically college runners), and it's a great way to meet runners from other schools. You can get more information at https://www.fcanebraska.org/distancecamp.

Freeman is hosting one-day camps on June 16 (high jumping with UNL's Karsyn Leeling), June 20 (hurdling with NCAA champ Darius Luff), June 23 (throws with UNL's Cade Moran), July 8 (triple and long jumps with PJ Grosserode). I'm not sure I've seen a more star-studded line-up at a camp hosted by a Nebraska high school. Click here to see the brochure and get more information.

Nebraska Wesleyan is offering a 3-hour T&F camp on Friday, May 29 with different sessions for Youth and Middle/High School. Cost is $45. Info at https://www.nebrwesleyan.edu/student-life/athletics/camps/nwu-summer-track-and-field-camps.
Nebraska Wesleyan is offering summer speed sessions for one hour on Wednesdays from June 10 through July 29 for students entering grades 6-8. Info at https://www.nebrwesleyan.edu/student-life/athletics/camps/summer-speed-series
Cozad High School is hosting its annual one-day cross country camp on July 14. Click here to access a Word document offering more details.
Coach Ramsey is moving his annual cross country summer camp from Colorado to Omaha; it will be held July 5-12. You can find more information at https://ccrunningcamps.org/.

The website https://runningcamps.org/find.php?search=MO also lists a number of summer camps, sorted by state, but this appears to be a relatively new website and doesn't list camps offered by Nebraska colleges. Colleges can reach out to me if they'd like me to share camp information.

Photos

Below are examples of the meet albums published since our 5/5/26 Nerdsletter. We have posted albums for 124 (!!!) meets so far this season, and weather permitting our Nerds will be at over 15 meets this week. You can find our Facebook albums at https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums. If you'd like to see our chronological listing of albums, we update that list at least weekly at this link.

Millard Russell/Millard North MS dual, 4/28 (Nameless Nerd)

Millard Russell/Beadle dual, 4/30/26 (Nameless Nerd)

NVC at North Central, 5/2 (Hurdle Nerd and Dancing Nerd)

Millard MS championships, 5/8 (Nameless Nerd)

Dundy County Stratton Twilight, 5/8 (Nerd Stammpede)

State records

Two State records have been broken since our last Nerdsletter:

#27 Abigael Spargo, Dundy County Stratton - Abi ran a 43.85 300h on Friday, May 8 at the DCS Twilight meet to break the Class D record of 44.12 that she set on April 2nd. Her sister Clara, a senior at DCS, currently holds the 100, 200 and 400 Class D records.

#26 Braxton Badman, Waverly - Braxton posted a 13.84 110 hurdles time in the prelims at the EMC meet at Elkhorn High on Tuesday, May 5, breaking the Class B mark of 14.02 set by Aaron Brandt of Bishop Neumann in 2006.

And here are the other 25 State records from this year:

#25 Hazel Haarberg, Kearney Catholic - After seemingly jogging in the Centennial 200 prelims to earn the top seed later on Saturday, May 2nd, Hazel posted a 23.88 (-0.13 m/s headwind) in the finals to break her own Class C record of 24.04 from 2025.

#24 Hazel Haarberg, Kearney Catholic - Hazel posted a 11.57 in the 100 meters at the Centennial prelims on Saturday, May 2nd, but the wind reading of 2.2 m/s was above the record-eligible limit of 2.0 m/s. A few hours later in the finals, she ran 11.55 (-0.40 m/s headwind) to break her Class C record of 11.73 from 2024. This mark also establishes a new All-Class record, topping the 11.64 ran by Dajaz DeFrand of Lincoln High in 2022. Dajaz is still competing for USC and has won multiple NCAA sprint medals at Florida State and USC.

#23 Aubrey Fujan, Bishop Neumann - In the 100h finals of the Centennial meet on Saturday, May 2nd, Aubrey posted a time of 14.08 to break her own Class C record of 14.28 that she set on April 21.

#22 Noah Rau, Chase County - The UNL recruit set a huge PR in the discus, jumping to #2 in the nation this season, throwing the discus 219-06 on his first attempt on May 1st at Perkins County. That throw improved upon his All-Class and Class C record of 207-03 that he set on April 16. Science Nerd was on the scene and an official told her that a subsequent throw went around 225' but Noah touched the top of the toe board on his follow through.

#21 Norris 4x100 relay - On Thursday, April 30 at the Crete Invite, the Norris 4x100 squad of Luke Findley, Noah Waddel, Christopher Garner and Becket Behrens posted a time of 41.78 to break the Class B record of 42.04 set by Waverly in 2025.

Here's a list of the broken State records from prior Nerdsletters:

#20 Avery Arens, Crofton - On Saturday, April 25, Avery faced off against an elite field in the mile at the Drake Relays. Avery was the fourth of five girls to break the five-minute barrier, and her 4:54.84 mile time is well below the 4:56.18 Class C State record she set on April 16 at the Titan Classic. Using the MileSplit calculator, the 4:54.84 mile time converts to a 4:53.13 1600 time. Once the Crofton athletic director or coach connects with the NSAA, we'll have clearer guidance on whether the NSAA will recognize the mile time or a converted 1600 time as the new record.

#19 Kennedy Bailey, Dundy County Stratton - she threw the discus 159-11 on Friday, 4/24, at Lexington to set the Class D record. It was a 3-09 PB for her and broke the previous record of 157-02 set by Samantha Musil of Pawnee City in 2006. Kennedy is a two-time defending Class D State champ in the discus, the defending State champ in the shot put, and she's a member of the defending Class D champ 4x100 squad.

#18 Brody Galyen, West Holt - a 48.15 400 on Friday, 4/24, at his home meet to break the previous Class C record of 48.33 set by Joel Duffield of Morrill in 2002.

#17 Beau Fujan, Bishop Neumann - 13.86 110HH (0.6 m/s) at the Bennington meet on Tuesday, 4/21, breaking Class C record of 14.01 by Jaxon Knisley (NPSP) from 2024.

#16 Beau Fujan - 21.60 200 (1.5 m/s) at the Bennington meet on Tuesday, 4/21, breaking Class C record of 21.78 by Cole Biodrowski of Fort Calhoun in 2001.

#15 Aubrey Fujan, Bishop Neumann - 14.28 100H (1.3 m/s) at the Bennington meet on Tuesday, 4/21, breaking her own Class C record of 14.45 from 2025.

#14 Mia Cushing, Elkhorn - 11.92 100 (1.3 m/s) at the Bennington meet on Tuesday, 4/21, breaking the Class B record of 11.94 set by Katy Jay of Mitchell in 1999.

#13 Addie West, Omaha Skutt - 55.81 400 at the Bennington meet on Tuesday, 4/21, breaking the Class B record of 55.95 set by Sydney Stodden of Elkhorn North in 2024.

#12 Avery Arens, a freshman at Crofton, is breaking State records before the previous ones can get posted on the NSAA website. On April 8 she ran a hand-timed 10:51.7 3200 at the Knox County meet, which if ratified would have broken the previous Class C record of 10:59.05 set by Tamala Resh of Shelton on 1983. However, on Tuesday, April 21 at the USD Battle of the Border, Arens posted an electronic time of 10:31.69 to set the new standard. The All-Class 3200 record is held by Karlene Erickson (Wheeler Central), who ran 10:19 in 1982. The Class A record is held by two-time Olympian and US marathon record holder Emily Sisson, who posted a 10:23.00 for Millard North in 2008.

#11 Avery Arens, a freshman at Crofton, broke her own yet-to-be-ratified 1600-meter Class C record of 5:00.00 from April 8 (see #6 below) with a 4:56.18 at the Titan Classic on Thursday, April 18. She was one of three girls in that race to dip below the 5:00 mark.

#10 Jaiya Patillo, a junior at Bellevue West, broke her own Class A and All-Class 400-meter record of 54.66 set in 2024 with a 54.41 at the Elkhorn meet on Thursday, April 16.

#9 Noah Rau, a senior at Chase County and a UNL T&F commit, threw the discus 207-03 on Thursday, April 16 at Sutherland to break his own Class C and All-Class record of 205-07 set on April 2nd.

#8 Alyssa Onnen, a senior at Kearney Catholic and a UNL T&F commit, pole vaulted 13-04.25 at the Gothenburg meet on Thursday, April 16 to break her Class C record of 13-00.25 from the 2025 State meet and the All-Class record of 13-04.00 set by Jaidyn Garrett of Columbus in 2019.

#7 - Avery Arens of Crofton ran a 10:51.65 3200 at the Knox County meet on Wednesday, April 8. If the handheld time is accepted by the NSAA, it will break the Class C record of 10:51.65 set by Tamala Resh of Shelton in 1983.

#6 - Avery Arens of Crofton ran a 5:00.00 1600 at the Knox County meet on Wednesday, April 8. If the handheld time is accepted by the NSAA, it will break the Class C record of 5:05.25 set by Rylee Rice of Ainsworth in 2017.

#5 - Brock Bailey of Dundy County Stratton threw the shot 63-10.00 at the Perkins County meet on Friday, April 2nd. This mark breaks his previous but not-yet-certified-by-the-NSAA Class D record throw of 63-04.25 (see #2 below) at the Southern Valley meet on March 27.

#4 - Abigael Spargo of Dundy County Stratton set the Class D 300 hurdles record with her 44.12 mark at the Perkins County meet on Friday, April 2nd. She broke the record of 44.76 set by Skylar Hadley of Loomis in 2018.

#3 - Noah Rau of Chase County set the All-Class and Class C discus record with his 205-07 mark at the Ogallala meet on Friday, April 2nd. He broke his previous All-Class record of 203-09 that was set at last year's State meet as well as the previous Class C record of 196-11 set by Derric Werner of Elkhorn Valley in 2002. Because Chase County moved from Class B in 2025 to Class C in 2026, Noah has the unusual distinction of holding both the Class B (203-09 in 2025) and Class C (205-07 in 2026) State records.

#2 - Brock Bailey of Dundy County Stratton threw the shot 63-04.25 at the Southern Valley invite on March 27, topping the Class D mark of 63-01.25 set by Steve Kriewald of North Loup-Scotia at the State meet in 2000.

#1 - Chayden Hoffmaster of Cozad posted a long jump of 24-05.50 leap at the UNK indoor meet on March 20. There was initial confusion about whether an indoor mark qualified for a Class B State record, but the NSAA has ratified the the mark. The previous mark of 23-08.25 was set by Tyler Wullenwaber of Centennial in 2009.

The NSAA website at https://secure.nsaahome.org/nsaaforms/tr/staterecords.php has been updated for a number of the records above. Check out our April 7 Nerdsletter if you'd like more information on how wind strength impacts State record certification.

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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on May 10, 2026. 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 T&F and cross country scene? There's more of this at www.preprunningnerd.com. Check out the Blog tab for our frequent stories and the Results tab for every Nebraska high school meet 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 ," a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadrapalegic after a swimming accident.