Nerdsletter 4/2/25

Contributor: The Nerd

Photos

The Nerds have posted photos from twelve different meets since last week's Nerdsletter: Thayer Central, Elkhorn South JV, Wisner-Pilger, Perkins County, Mount Marty 3/27 and 3/28, Lincoln Northeast Relays, UNK collegiate, Morrill, Aurora, Boystown and the Saturday morning session of the PAL junior high meet. A full list of our albums has been updated at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/2022. You can go directly to the albums on our Facebook page by going to https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums.

Results and top marks

While linking meet results to our website at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/trackresults, we pulled together a non-exhaustive list of performances that caught our eye:

Girls

Celia McCoy, Grand Island, 14.79 100H

Addi Hunt, Southern Valley, 24.57 200 (wind-aided), 59.73 400

Jaci Rexillius, Lincoln Christian, 24.90 200 indoor

Story Rasby, Ogallala, 59.05 400

Grace Brees, Seward, 59.72 400

Sophia Reynolds, Hastings, 59.84 400 & 2:20.98 800

Emma Steffensen, Waverly, 2:15.24 800

Cece Kramper, Duchesne, 5:05.61 1600

Kate Ebmeier, Millard West, 5:06.28 1600

Marissa Garcia, Papio South, 5:10.35 1600

Lydia Stewart, Platteview, 5:21.62 1600

West Holt 4x400, 4:11.80

Papio South 4x800, 9:47

Lincoln Southwest 4x800, 9:48

Landri Gates, Norris, 18-01.25 LJ

Finley Moone, Papio South, 18-01 LJ

Addisyn Sweeney, Cedar Bluffs, 18-01 LJ

Willow Petri, Marian, 39-04 TJ

EJ Brown, Elkhorn South, 5-08 HJ

Claire Hellbusch, Lincoln North Star, 5-08 HJ

Claire Emerson, Wahoo, 5-07 HJ

Sarah Yiel, Marian, 5-07 HJ

Alyssa Onnen, Kearney Catholic, 12-06 PV

McKenna Kleppinger, Millard West, 11-06 PV

Julianna Anderson, GICC, 11-03 PV

Abigail Sutton, Lexington, 146-04 discuss

Erin Briggs, Columbus Lakeview, 136-02 discus

Kennedy Bailey, Dundy Country Stratton, 43-11 SP

Autumn L'Ecuyer, Fairbury, 41-06 SP

Boys

Alex Uchtman, Elkhorn North, 6.93 60 indoor

Evvann Daniels, Columbus, 6.94 60 indoor

Charlie Thorne, Lincoln Southeast, 38.37 300H

Dawson Urbanski, GINW, 39.94 300H

Jett Tingelhoff, Elkhorn North, 50.31 400 indoor

Hayden Daggett, Blair, 50.94 400

Josiah Wilkinson, McCook, 50.96 400

Luis Alvarez, Heartland, 51.77 400

Jack Carda, Mount Michael, 1:57.60 800

Josiah Quinones, Beatrice, 1:57.62 800

Josiah Bitker, Lincoln North Star, 4:23.22 1600

Trevin Opp, Lincoln Christian, 4:24.87 1600

Lincoln Southeast 4x400, 3:23.94

West Holt 4x400, 3:27.79

Heartland 4x400, 3:34.12

Finn McGovern, Lincoln Southwest, 23-04.25 LJ

Jonathon Reimers, Adams Central, 22-02 LJ

Maddox Wagoner, Kenesaw, 22-00.5 LJ

Estaban Arcos, Columbus, 45-03.5 TJ

Tayvin Zephier-Murphy, Westview, 45-01.25 TJ

Luke Brachle, Kearney, 6-08 HJ

Parker Ablott, Hastings, 6-08 HJ

Brock McCarter, Overton, 6-07 HJ

Andrew Shada, Elkhorn North, 164-07 discus

Roe Patton, Aurora, 15-06 PV

Marcus Hernandez, Bertrand, 14-09 PV

Lucas Hodges, Elm Creek, 14-06 PV

Ike Ackerman, Omaha Central, 64-08 SP

Brock Bailey, Dundy County Stratton, 58-08.25 SP

Noah Rau, Chase County, 177-10 discus

Flashbacks

When we were reviewing some of last week's top results, one stuck out to us: Wahoo freshman Claire Emerson cleared 5-07 in the high jump at her first high school meet. Claire is the little sister of Mya, whom we profiled back in 2022. That led us down a rabbit hole, and we decided to launch a 'where are they now' search of a few of our favorite stories.

Mya Emerson, Wahoo

Mya Emerson competed in the high jump and hurdles, qualifying for State in the high jump in both 2019 and 2021. She had high hopes of medaling at State in her senior year but in August 2021 she was diagnosed with a cancerous mass in her sinus cavity. She endured six rounds of chemotherapy and thirty-four rounds of Proton Radiation Therapy, finishing her last round of treatment in January 2022. Three months later, she returned to competition, jumping 4'10" at Platteview, which is when we met her. We wrote about her in our Nerdsletter at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/post/040622nerdsletter. Seven weeks later she fell just short of qualifying for State in her senior year, finishing 6th at Districts.

Mya's dad reports that Mya celebrated three years of cancer-free living in December. Inspired by the care she received at UNMC and Mayo, she decided to pursue a healthcare career and now works as a pharmacy technician.

Noah Lambrecht

In September 2018, I was standing at the finish line of the UNK XC Invite waiting for the first Class C runners to finish. Less than 5 minutes before the Class C winner arrived, I watched Noah finish the Class D race in 42:23. I was holding a camera but I'm pretty sure I didn't take a picture of him. It was an entirely forgettable moment during a long season... until I heard someone say this from the end of the finish chute: "That's my son. He's had four open-heart surgeries and he's got a pacemaker."

A few weeks later, I posted my article, "The Runner with the Broken Heart," at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/post/the-broken-heart. The story was read over 250,000 times in the following month. In the following years, Noah was a guest of Senator Sasse at the State of the Union speech, flew to California to appear on a national TV talk show, was featured in Runners World, and received the 2020 FNHS National High School Spirit of Sport Award.

Noah is now working in York and has set his sights on a career in law enforcement. While he never won a medal in his running career, often finishing last, he is thankful for the people he met and the perseverance and determination that it taught him.

Emmett Hassenstab

On May 22, 2021, Skutt junior Emmett Hassenstab finished 2nd in the State triple jump with a leap of 45-05.25. Six days later, while vacationing in Florida with his best friend's family, he dove into the shallow end of a swimming pool. His forehead struck the pool bottom, and one of the best high school jumpers in Nebraska could no longer move his limbs.

It's the most improbable story we've ever shared -- not because Emmett became a quadriplegic, but because his paralysis eventually subsided and he learned how to walk again. His recovery is a stunning example of determination, family support and faith. We wrote about it at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/post/emmett.

Emmett hasn't regained all of his jumping abilities, but that hasn't stopped him from approaching life with gratitude and resilience. Now a junior at UNL, he's still working hard to grow a window-cleaning business he started while still in high school. He continues to work hard in the gym and his family 4x100 team earned another gold last summer at the Cornhusker State Games.

Brandon Schutt and Blake Cerveny

About every three years we have a social media post that goes viral, and that was the case for my tweet about Brandon Schutt, a Bellevue East senior, who helped Blake Cerveny, a Burke sophomore, to the finish line at the 2021 District cross country meet. While I've seen cross country athletes help each other in meaningless races, I'd never seen it happen in the post-season, nor had many of the coaches with whom I spoke.

We spoke with Brandon and Blake a few days later and then posted the story, "Five Seconds. Two Strangers. One Beautiful Gesture." at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/post/five-seconds-two-strangers-one-beautiful-gesture. They officially met for the first time a few days later when a local TV station interviewed them. A few weeks later after that they were a feature story on the NBC Nightly News: https://www.preprunningnerd.com/post/nbc-nightly-news.

Both boys continue to run. Blake qualified for the State cross country meet the following year with his Burke team, and he's now on the Morningside University track and cross country teams. Brandon is a junior at UNL where his running prowess has blossomed. In the summer of 2023, he raised $30,000 for four charities by running across Nebraska, and his Strava feed borders on ridiculous. He has a whole list of running goals to check off, and his next aim is to finish May's Lincoln Marathon in 2:36. He's planning to apply to physical therapy school after he earns his undergraduate degree.

Record watch

The Class of 2024 was pretty special and we don't expect to see 30+ State records again this spring. However, we should see quite a few, including these on our radar:

Ike Ackerman, senior, Omaha Central: Ike threw 64-08 in the shot put last week, putting him within striking range of the 64-09.50 Class A record set by Central alum Larry Station in 1982. The All-Class record of 66-11.50 is held by Marty Kobza of Schuyler in 1981.
Braden Lofquest, senior, Gretna East, and Tommy Rice, senior, Omaha Skutt: The Class B 1600 record of 4:16.82 was held by Steve Doran from 1981 until 2024. Last season Braden broke the record on March 28 with a 4:15.16, Tommy broke it on April 12 with his 4:15.05, and Braden set the current record on April 25 with his 4:12.11. Braden has already run two sub-4:08 'out of season' miles in March so we expect the record to fall again. The two boys race tomorrow (Thursday, April 3) at Bellevue East. (PS: Braden broke the All-Class record with a 4:08.60.)
Juan Gonzalez, senior, Fremont: Juan already holds the All-Class 1600 and 3200 records at 4:08.61 and 8:51.46, respectively. In light of the solo 4:04.63 1600 he ran at NWMSU in February and the 8:55.97 two-mile he ran at New Balance Nationals on March 14, Juan seems poised to lower both marks. There's a chance he'll compete at a national-level meet in April that could provide an opportunity to break one or both records.
EJ Brown, senior, Elkhorn South and Claire Hellbusch, junior, Lincoln North Star: Both girls have already high jumped 5-08 this season and both have lifetime bests of 5-09. Meredy Porter of Bellevue set the Class A record of 5-11 in 1987; look for both to threaten it.
Alyssa Onnen, junior, Kearney Catholic: Alyssa holds the Class C pole vault record at 12-09.25, and she's cleared 12-06 twice this season. Look for her to threaten the All-Class record of 13-04 set by Jaidyn Garrett of Columbus in 2019.
Heartland 4x400 team: The Heartland squad posted a 3:34.12 last week. They'll have to improve quite a bit to break the Class D record of 3:26.85 set by Eustis-Farnam in 2004. However, an eight-second improvement over two months seems realistic given that most of these kids were probably playing another sport until late February.

Drop us a note if you think another record is at risk of being broken this year. The NSAA website at https://secure.nsaahome.org/nsaaforms/tr/staterecords.php lists all the current records.

Do you have an athlete capable of a State record?

Each season I receive DMs and e-mails telling me about a phenomenal result in a sprint race or the horizontal jumps. My usual reply: "was it wind legal?" The usual response: "I don't think they measured it."

As we dive into the outdoor season, this is our annual reminder that a wind reading is required in five events for any performance to be considered for a State record. Here is the 'wind-legal' overview that Doane coach PJ Grosserode helped us first publish in 2023.

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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. (Last Friday the average wind speed at the UNK collegiate meet was over 20 miles per hour, and the meter/second reading ranged between 4.0 and 8.0 for most of the events where it was measured.) 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. In 2022 I asked the Concordia jumps coach whether pole vaulters have higher jumps indoors or outdoors. 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.

World class

The World Masters indoor meet was held in Gainesville last week and we had a few Nebraskans perform incredibly well.

Carol Frost won gold medals in the 80+ division in the shot put and javelin (which was thrown outdoors). Carol, the mother of former Husker quarterback and coach Scott Frost, was a four-time US champion in the discus, won a gold medal at the 1967 Pan-Am games and competed at the 1968 Olympic Games. She was the head coach of the UNL women's track program from 1977-1980.
Tonya Gordon, a teacher in Omaha and wife of College of St. Mary coach Steve Gordon, finished 2nd in the javelin in the 45-49 division. Tonya focused on horizontal jumps in college at South Dakota and recently added the javelin to her portfolio. She also finished 6th in the triple jump and 11th in the long jump.
Platteview coach Christina Elder finished 5th in the 400 in the 35-39 division. She's represented the US at indoor and outdoor World championships, won a 4x400 World title last year, and her next big goal is the outdoor World championships in South Korea in 2026.

Junior high kids need love too

Our primary focus is on high school athletes, but you'll occasionally find us at junior high meets. Because the results of most junior high meets are not posted on athletic.net, each Monday we're going to ask our followers on X and Facebook to tell us about great junior high performances.

Most junior high meets are pretty low key, but the most talented kids in Nebraska have the opportunity to compete at a State championship hosted in Gothenburg on May 17. There are stringent requirements to qualify for this meet, so be sure to visit the event website (https://nebraskachampionshipmeet.com/) sooner than later to see if your athlete may qualify. Nerd Junior competed at this event ten years ago and the experience was great.

This and that

One of my many annoying habits comes out when I meet a parent whose child is active in youth gymnastics. I'll say, "Hey, once you kid gets into high school, they should be a pole vaulter." A gymnast often has upper body strength and in-air body control translates nicely to the pole vault. If you don't believe me, ask former gymnasts Alyssa Onnen (Kearney Catholic, current Class C record holder), Roe Patton (Aurora, cleared 15-06 last week) or Paul Lampert (Creighton Prep, a 15-00 vaulter who placed 3rd and 2nd in Class A in 2021 and 2022).
Science Nerd reported that one of the more entertaining events at Thursday's Perkins County meet was a 4x800 showdown between two Perkins County boys squads. With eight boys vying for a spot on the relay team, Coach Hite let two seniors - Brock Tines and Mason McGreer - draft teams to see who would compete at the next meet. McGreer's squad won in 8:34.36 just ahead of the Tines' time of 8:35.51. Those are the second and third fastest Class C times of the young season.
The NSAA doesn't keep official distance medley relay (DMR) records since it's not a sanctioned event at the State meet, but Fremont coach Sean McMahon is a reliable record keeper. By his estimation, the State record prior to this year was 10:30. At the Mount Marty indoor meet last Friday the Fremont squad of Noah Miller, Jase LaDay, Raymond Rise and Juan Gonzalez posted a 10:29.07.
The Ashland-Greenwood X account provides weekly updates when one of their athletes cracks the AG all-time top ten list. With a heave of 54-6, Barrett Kittrell moved to 4th on the AG shot put list. Just a sophomore, Barrett still trails brother Brett (57-06) in the top spot and dad Barry (55-07.25) in second, but he is ahead of brothers Bryce (51-06) in 6th and Bo (48-03) in 9th. Some families play corn hole at family reunions; these guys probably put cars on their shoulders and carry them around.
Former Overton star Will Kulhanek is now a freshman at UNK. He ran a 47.65 400 last Friday despite heavy sustained winds. He won four State titles last May.

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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on April 2, 2025. 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 Hassenstab