The past few years the Prep Running Nerd team has devoted its coverage primarily to distance running, but we intend to give more love to field events, sprints and hurdles this spring. To get a jump start on coverage, we asked for help for the field events from Patrick Grosserode, the owner of the Trackville training facility in Lincoln. We expected a paragraph on each event; instead, Patrick wrote an entire article for each discipline. Patrick is uniquely qualified to opine on the current state of field events, and we'll thrilled to work with him. Here is Patrick's preview of the triple jump:
Class A Boys
Returning Medal Winners
· Jaylen Lloyd, 46-00 - Omaha Central
· Malachi Coleman, 45-01 - Lincoln East
· Reece Grosserode, 44-04 - Lincoln Pius X
· Beni Ngoyi, 44-01.50 - Lincoln High
Lloyd and Grosserode have each jumped over 47-5” since state last year. Both are rated in the top 20 for US High School this indoor season. The Class A state record of 48-11.25 set by John Gibson, Papio Lavista in 1996 is in serious jeopardy over the next two seasons. Beni Ngoyi and Malachi Coleman both have a bright future in football and track, so the juniors will have their hands full balancing football recruitment, sprint work and triple jumping this spring. Here's a recent article that summarizes their football recruitment.
Class A Girls
Returning Medal Winners
· Lilee Kaasch, 38-04.75 - Millard South
· Amari Laing, 36-11.75 - Millard South
· Maddie Mactaggart, 35-07.50 - Millard West
· Isabelle Rich, 35-04.50 - Kearney
· Cassidy Hinken, 35-03.50 - Grand Island
· Grace Henry, 34-10.50 - Elkhorn South
Lilee Kaasch (New Mexico) stayed in great form competing at High School Nationals and JO Regionals last summer. Lilee and Amari both jumped well over the winter, with Lilee at 36’11” and Amari at 36’00”. Westside's Lademi Davies, who finished 2nd in both the 100 and long jump at 2021 State, jumped 33’05” indoors this winter in her high school first attempt at the discipline. If she improves as much as her coaches think she will, she should be in contention for a high place.
Class B Boys
Returning Medal Winners
· Emmett Hassenstab, 45-05.25 - Skutt
· Adam Dugger, 43-11.75 - McCook
· Chayton Bynes, 43-07.25 - Chadron
Hassenstab earned a silver medal last spring but suffered a major injury over the summer that may prevent him from high-level competition this spring. During the winter indoor season, there was very little participation from Class B boys, so those results don’t give us much insight. Carsen Staehr of Aurora and Damien Walker of Boys Town both had PRs over 43’ last season and could be a factor this year. Freshman Gavin Sullivan of Pierce and James Fogleman of Boone Central both qualified for the State meet last year, so it will be interested to track their progression the next three years.
Class B Girls
Returning Medal Winners
· Mariyah Avila, 35-06.50 - Scottsbluff
· Tatum Bailey, 35-04.75 - Chadron
· Lauren Young, 35-04.00 - O'Neill
· Rosalyn Roggasch, 35-02.75 - Kny Catholic
· Keeli Green, 35-02.50 - Arlington
Only four inches separated the five medalists who return from last May. Lauren Young has the best PR of the returners at 36’5”. Keeli Green grabbed 8th place last spring but has had an eventful last 9 months. She dominated at Class C State cross country just four months after taking up distance running, and she’s put in some solid indoor jump training this winter, already improving her long jump PR by 7”. This will be a closely contested event and we are excited to see who will throw out the first big jump of the season.
Class C Boys
Returning Medal Winners
· Isaac Herbek, 43-04.50 - GICC
· Mason Combs, 41-06.00 - Wilber-Clatonia
· Cade Hosier, 44-05.75 - Elmwood-Murdock (1st in Class D)
Herbek earned a bronze at 2021 State and has about 2 feet over the field of Class C returners headed into this season. He also medaled in the long jump, high jump and 4x100 at State. However, Elmwood-Murdock has moved from Class D to C this year, and that means that Cade Hosier will be in the thick of the title hunt in both horizontal jumps. Cade won the 2021 Class D long jump by over a foot and the triple jump by more than two feet, and he was also a medalist in the 100 and 200.
After Hosier and Herbek, five inches separated 6th place from 13th place at 2021 State, so there are a lot of spots open for the taking. Combs qualified for 2021 State in the same four events as Herbek, so he's no sloouch. Hosier and Herbek will certainly set the pace but look for the rest of the field to throw out some big jumps as the weather warms up.
Class C Girls
Returning Medal Winners
· Ella Gardner, 37-02.25 - Superior
· Avery Couch, 37-00.00 - David City
· Kali Jurgensmeier, 36-09.00 - Bishop Neumann
· Lindsey Kneifl, 35-11.25 - Wisner-Pilger
· Kaitlyn Emanuel, 35-05.50 - NB Central
· Journi Moran, 35-03.75 - Ord
Ella Gardner and Avery Couch are the only returners with PRs over 37’ but Kali Jurgensmeier is close behind. Lindsey Kneifl (Wayne State) has a PR over 36’, as does Josie Noble (Concordia) who finished 9th last season. Kyla Davis of Palmyra (NWMS) is knocking on the door of 36’ and has looked great this indoor season. The class C triple jump will produce some of the biggest jumps in the state this season!
Class D Boys
Returning Medal Winners
· Chandler Page, 42-07.25 - Parkview Christian
· Tony Berger, 42-05.50 - Riverside
· William Kulhanek, 41-06.50 - Overton
· Quintin Shaner, 41-06.50 - Cambridge
· Cade Hammer, 40-10.75 - Creighton
We turn the Class D analysis over to Tyler Hanson, a distance runner at Axtell and a budding writer.
The title hunt is much cloudier this year as Cade Hosier of Elmwood-Murdock ( who led the field at state by over 2 feet as just a sophomore) will be moving up to class C. This leaves the title wide open, and there will be many contenders looking to make some noise.
The highest returner is Chandler Page of Parkview Christian, with a 42-07.25 jump at state last year. Tony Burger is the defending champ in the 110 hurdles, while William Kulhanek medaled in the 200, long jump and triple jump last spring as a freshman. Kulhanek and Quintin Shaner of Cambridge both jumped 41-06.5 at State last year, although neither equaled their PRs of 41-10 and 42-9 respectively, so they could be in contention for the title this year.
Cade Hammer of Creighton is the last of the returners from state last year, with a 40-10.75 leap at state. This leap is just short of his PR of 41-02.5. If he can improve upon his state result from last year, he could also be in the hunt for a major medal. This event will be closely contested this year, as all of last year's returning medalists are within 2 feet of one another. Other notable returners are Xavier Marburger of Harvard, Tyler Miller of Arapahoe, and Seth Scranton of Sandhills/Thedford.
Class D Girls
Returning Medal Winners
· Macy Richardson, 36-02 - Sterling
· Cassidy Gallagher, 35-03.75 - Kenesaw
· Hayley Miles, 34-06.25 - NP St Patrick
· Teagan Gonsior, 34-03.00 - Fullerton
· Abbie Kromarek, 33-04.25 - Plainview
Here's the analysis from Tyler Hanson of Axtell:
The returning state champ, Macy Richardson, is the heavy favorite for a repeat title. Richardson won the triple jump, 100 hurdles, and 300 hurdles in 2021. She commands a one-foot lead on the nearest returner in Kassidy Gallagher. Gallagher has the second-best returning mark, but Hayley Miles of NP St. Pats and Teagan Gonsior aren't far back. Miles competed this winter, setting a new PR of 34'8" at Concordia. This sets her up strong for new PR’s going into the season, and if all goes well, she may be able to surpass the 35’ mark. Teagon Gonsior is the returning state champion in the long jump and could fight for the title. Abbie Kromarek is a bit of a wild card with only two athletic.net results, those being her district and state performances. As a freshman, she medaled at state, and it remains possible that she could have a significant breakthrough and move higher up the medals this year. Other significant returners are Andrea Sucha of Niobara, Addison Burr of Shelton, and Kailyn Paul of Meridian.
*********
Originally written for and posted at www.preprunningnerd.com by Patrick Grosserode.
Patrick Grosserode is the owner of Trackville, an indoor training facility devoted to developing youth, high school and collegiate athletes. He's also the Director of the Lincoln Community Track Club, the jump coach at Lincoln Pius X, and a USATF level 2 jump and sprint/hurdle coach. Lean more about Trackville at https://thetrackville.com/.
Did you love reading about Nebraska high school running? Visit www.preprunningnerd.com for rankings, results, photos, long-form articles, frequent updates our blog page, and a bunch of other cool stuff that only running nerds would think to do. If you want to see meet photos or just need to kill a few hours on social media, follow @PrepRunningNerd on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/preprunningnerd.