Cougars Medal at Stanton Invitational

By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

The last day of March provided perfect weather for a track meet and the Cougars took advantage of it with some great marks at the Stanton Invitational.  While the small squads limited their scoring, the teams got the most of their athletes..  The boys scored 36 points for a sixth place and the girls tallied 61 for a fifth place, four points from third.  West Holt won the boys division with 169 points while Stanton took the girls division with 125 points.

Darcey Simonsen pulled off a sweep of the weight events.  The senior thrower had  a career best shot put heave with a 33 feet 7.5 inch for the gold.  The state medalist in the discus took the Stantontitle with a toss of 108 feet 6 inches.

Benny Estrada was the team’s other gold medalist.  The sophomore won the 400 meter dash in 55.15 seconds.

Joey O’Connor placed second in the 3200 run with a time of 11:26.7.  He doubled back to take sixth in the 1600.  He was clocked in 5: 17.9

Dylan Hardeman picked up second place points in the 800 run.  The senior has a time of 2:15.1.

Jon Christiansen earned two medals.  He had a leap of 40 feet  5.5 inches  in the triple jump which placed him in third.  His 24.6 in the 200 dash placed fifth.

Chevy Henneman picked up a sixth in the 100 dash with a time of 11.82.

The girls swept the shot put.  Joining Darcey Simonsen on the podium were Abby Peterson with a 32 foot 5.5 inch effort and Libby Henneman with a 32 foot 3.5 inch heave.  Peterson added a fifth in the discus with an 83 foot 7 inch toss.

Kelly Wakeley placed in both horizontal jumps.  She placed sixth with long jump of 14 feet 7 inches.  Her triple jump of 32 feet 0.5 inch took fourth place.  Wakeley claimed sixth in the 200 with a time of 29.06.

In the distant runs Northeast got a fourth and fifth in the 1600 meters.  Sophia Henneman ran a 6:12.0 and Tessie Collins a 6:13.0.  Natalie Castle-Gosch took fifth in the 3200 run with a time of 14.27.6

In the 400 dash Brianne Haskell took fourth and Cierra French took fifth.  They had times of 1:07.8 and 1:08.97.  Destanie French had a seventh place finish with a time of 1:13.4.  The threesome teamed with Kelly Wakeley in the 4×100 relay.  They took fourth in 56.05.