Northeast Track Medals in Three Events

May 29, 2015 Leave a comment


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

Northeast’s track team managed to bring home medals in three events at the State Track Meet held in Omaha last weekend.  The girls tallied 6 points for a 32nd place finish while the boys took 41st with 4 points.

 

Darcey Simonsen took third last year in the discus.   It looked like she was going to move up to the silver position until the final throw.  Darcey had a throw of 115 feet  3 inches to cement her position in second place with one throw to go.  Scribner-Snyder’s Peters, the classes top thrower this spring, got an three inch lead on her in the final throw to claim the silver medal.

 

Things did not go as well for Abby Peterson,.  The junior had been battling respiratory illness for over two weeks.  She was wore down a little and managed a twelfth place finish with a toss of  101 feet 10inches.

 

The third girl qualifier was Kelly Wakeley.  She had a scratch on her opening jump.  She long jumped 15 feet 2 3/4 inches on her second try and finished in the eighteenth place.  Coach Hosch said, ” I was so excited to have Kelly return to State- even though it was in a different event.   I am confident she can return next year.”

 

It was a shaky start for Jon Christiansen in the triple jump.  The sophomore opened with a 38 foot jump,  but was over two feet behind the board.  After another sub-par leap, his third attempt in the prelims got him into the finals.  It measured over 40 feet.

 

“I am  so happy that Jon finally got off a good jump,” said Coach Hosch.  “I am sure the excitement of the whole experience affected his approach.  We kept edging him forward in the finals.”

 

The coach’s advice propelled Jon into a medal position as he opened the finals with a career tying best of 41 feet 8 inches.  He moved up three places and finished with a sixth place medal.

 

The Cougars’ 400M runners faced a tough challenge as they both drew lane eight.  With the staggered start they have no runners in sight to set their pace.  “It is going to be really tough out there,” said Chevy Henneman.  The senior was at the lead with 200 meters to go.  In a photo finish Chevy ended up in fourth place .  His time of 53.22 missed making the finals by .13 seconds.

 

Brianne Haskell gave it her all.  “I was running with everybody, until the final curve and then they pulled away,”  She finished in eighth with a time of 1:06.16.

 

Dylan Hardeman ran the 800M on Saturday.  He finished tenth in his section with a time of 2:13.54.

 

The 4×400 Relay closed out the meet.  Northeast got strong legs from Jon Christiansen, Benny Estrada,  Dylan Hardeman, and Chevy Henneman and improved their season best by over five seconds.  It was a three team race in their heat with the Cougars taking third in 33:36..21.  All three teams earned medals with LDNE taking eighth place.

 

Coach Hosch commented. “We really worked on relay exchanges during the week for the 4×4 and it paid off.  Chevy really ran a stellar leg.  He pushed his first 200 faster than normal to keep contact with the leaders and still managed to finish strong.”

 

Hosch added, “It was a nice way for the three seniors, Chevy, Dylan, and Darcey, to go out.”

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State Track Schedule

May 18, 2015 Leave a comment


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

It will be a busy Friday afternoon for the State Qualifiers from Northeast’s track team.  The Class D prelims are set to start at 3:30 P.M. on May 23 at Burke Stadium in Omaha..  

 

LDNE has two athletes in the 400 meter dash which starts at 5::45 P.M.  Brianne Haskell will run in lane 8 of  the third heat.  Chevy Henneman  also lines up in lane 8 of second heat of the boys’ race.  The top eight times will advance to the finals on Saturday at 12:55 P.M.

 

Jon Christiansen will get the jump on the track athletes as his event, the triple jump, starts at 3:00 P. M.  Jon is in the third flight which has the top eight marks from the district meets.

 

LDNE’s other jumper, Kelly Wakeley competes at 5:30 P. M.    She will be in he second flight of the girls’ long jump.

 

Northeast has both of its discus throwers in the third flight.  Abby Peterson and Darcey Simonsen are seeded at fourth and eighth in the competition which starts at 5:30.

 

On Saturday,  Dylan Hardeman starts Northeast’s day with an 800 meter race at 9:30 A.M.   He runs in section one of the race.

 

The 4×400 meter relay is the last event on Saturday.   Jon Christiansen, Benny Estrada, Dylan Hardeman, and Chevy cap off a successful season as they race in Section 1 at 3:55 P.M.

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Cougars Qualify Eight for State Track

May 18, 2015 Leave a comment


By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

Cougar Track and Field will have eight representatives at the State Track Meet next Friday at Burke Stadium in Omaha.  “It was a very competitive meet as the teams had to battle a brutal wind,” said Coach Hosch. The Lady Cougars finished in third place with 71 points.  They trailed Allen who scored 124 and Wynot with 86  points.  The boys finished in fourth with 55 points. Wausau was the winner with 133 points followed by Randolph with 84.

 

Three Athletes are making a return trip to Burke Stadium.  Darcey Simonsen is going back for the third time.  She placed third last year in the discus..  Chevy Henneman and Kelly Wakeley are competing in different events this year.  Chevy moves up from the 100M to the 400 M.  Kelly switches from the triple jump to the long jump.

 

The girls got a big boost from the discus competition.  Northeast throwers took the top two positions.  Abby Peterson was a surprise winner.  She had been battling illness all week, but came through with a personal best by eight feet to take the gold.  Her winning mark was 119 fee 3 inches.  Darcey Simonsen took the other qualifying position with a toss of 113 feet 6 inches.

 

Brianne Haskell fought the wind and a B-R runner down the stretch in the 400 M dash.   She got the edge with fifteen meters left and held on to place second place in 1:07.1. After sitting out last year because of a basketball injury it was a sweet feeling to qualify for the first time.   In the boys’ race, Chevy Henneman found himself  behind coming off the final curve.  He battled to the lead coming down the stretch, loss it, and surged at the end to take a photo finish win in a slow time for him of 55.4.

 

Jon Christiansen made up for the disappointment of taking third in the triple jump as a freshman.  He had a career best of 41 feet 8 3/4 inches to place second to one of the best jumpers in the state from Wausau.

 

Dylan Hardeman raced to a second place finish in the 800 M run.  It was a three man race to finish and the senior had the fortitude to claim the second qualifying position with a time of 2:13.2.

 

The boys’ relays had one victory and one disappointment.  After a disastrous first hand off the 4×400 team had to play catch up to the team from Allen.  A strong  anchor leg by Chevy Henneman got the team the lead with 60 meters to go.  They won in  3:44.0.  The team  included Jon Christiansen, Benny Estrada, and Dylan Hardeman.  The same foursome had lined up the race before, the 4×100,  and lost to Randolph as the Cardinal anchor edged out Chevy by one tenth of a second.   The Cougars’ time was 47.4.

 

Northeast had several place in non qualifying places.  Madie Ronnfeldt took fourth in the 100M with a time of 13.3.  Cierra French took fifth in the 400M in 1:09.4 and added a fifth in the 200M with clocking of  28.7.  In the 1600M, Sophia Henneman placed fourth in 6:25.9 and Tessie Collins added a fifth with a 6:38.1.  The 4×100 Relay took third in 55.3.  French, Haskell, Ronnfeldt, and Wakeley made carries.

 

The shot put supplied eleven points  with Darcey in third with a 33 feet 10 1/4 inch toss.  Libby Henneman got fourth with a 33 feet 4 inch effort, and Abby P added a sixth at 32 feet 9 inches.  Kelley Wakeley placed third in the triple jump with a best mark of 31 feet 9 inches.

 

The Cougar boys got a third in the 400 M by Benny Estrada.  He timed at 59.2.  Jon Christiansen took fourth in the 200M with a 24.4   Joey O’Connor added a sixth in the 3200m run.  His time was 12:17.4

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Simonsen Carries on Family Tradition at State Track

May 28, 2014 Leave a comment


Northeast’s track teams concluded their season with the State Meet held at Burke Stadium in Omaha last weekend.  Both the boys and girls had a medalist as the girls scored  six points and tied for 25th in Class D and the boys had one point placing them in a tie for 47th position.

 

Darcey Simonsen continued the family tradition as she came up with as big final throw.  She had a toss of 113 feet 1 inch in the prelims.  This put her in the final medal position going into the finals.  She still sat in eighth place until on her sixth try she had a heave of 119 feet 2 inches.  She moved up five places.  None of the  other contestants changed positions in the final round and Darcey finished in third place.

 

For the Simonsen family this is their second State medalist.  Darcey’s uncle, Brock was a three time medalist.  In 2004, he took the Class C gold, but had to settle for the silver in 2005.

 

Taylor Fuston made his third appearance at State.  In his third  400M dash at Burke Stadium he a had a non qualifying time of 54.57.

 

Taylor made the most of his first attempt in the long jump field.  The senior jumper opened with a leap of 20 feet  0.75 inches.  This mark stood up as the eighth best in the Class D field, 0.25 inches ahead of ninth place.

 

The four first timers at State failed moved out of qualifying rounds in their events.
Chevy Henneman had the twentieth best time in the boys’ 100M dash.  Libby Henneman placed fourteenth in   the shot put with a heave of 34 feet 1.25  inches.  Also in fourteenth place was freshman Kelly Wakeley in the triple jump.  Her best mark was 33 feet 8.5 inches.  Tessie Collins ran a time of 6:40.53 in the 1600M run.  She came in twenty-third place.

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Cougar State Track Schedule

May 20, 2014 Leave a comment


With athletes competing in seven events the State Track meet will have special interest for local supporters.  The meet takes place at Burke Stadium in Omaha on May 23 and 24.

 

By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

The Class D prelims will be in the morning session on Friday, May 23.  The action starts at 9:00 A.M.

 

First up on the track will be Chevy Henneman in the 100M dash.  Heats for the 100M start with the girls going first at 9:55 A.M.  Chevy will be in the first boys’ heat. Look for him in lane one.

 

The 400M dash prelims will be contested at 11:15 A.M.  Taylor Fuston is in heat two.  The Lyons-Decatur district champ will start out of lane seven.

 

The field events are spread out over the two day affair.  Darcey Simonsen will be competing on Friday at 9:00 A.M.  Darcy had the sixth best mark in district competition. She throws in the third flight.

 

Saturday day will have four events of interest for the Cougar following.  It will be an early start for Libby Henneman who throws the shot put at 8:30 A.M.  She is the last thrower in the second flight.

 

Taylor Fuston had the fourth best mark from the eleven district meets in the long jump.  He will be in the third flight of the Class D long jump which begins at 1:00 P.M.

 

Freshman Kelly Wakeley will get her first taste of State competition at 3:30 P.M.  She is in the second flight of the triple jump

 

Tessie Collins will compete in the 1600M run at 3:55 P.M.  She starts in the second row of the twenty-four runners.

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Four Cougars Qualify for State in Track

May 20, 2014 Leave a comment


Tessie Collins and Vanessa Peterson set the pace during the last lap of the 1600M. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor.

Tessie Collins and Vanessa Peterson set the pace during the last lap of the 1600M. Photo Credit/Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor.

Lyons -Decatur hosted the D-3 District track meet on May 14 and the Cougars made a good showing as the Boys  finished in fourth place and the Girls took fifth. Northeast  had competitors in seven events qualify for State competition.

 

Darcy Simonsen made sure of a return to Burke Stadium with a big throw of 125 feet on her second attempt.  This exceeded the automatic qualifying standard by eleven feet.  Darcy held first place until the final round.  She had another good throw of over 124 feet on her final attempt.  Darcey’s second place means a second trip to State for the junior thrower.

 

After missing out on qualifying as a junior Taylor Fuston was hungry to get back to Omaha.  Taylor took the lead in the Long Jump with a 20 fee 6 inch mark in the prelims.  He was bumped out of the lead in the finals, but came up with a mark of 20 feet 11.25 inches on his last jump just short of first place.

 

Taylor ran only his second open 400 M dash race at districts.  Though seeded second, the senior used a surge down the homes stretch to claim a win over a HSF runner whose seed mark was two seconds better than Taylor’s.   His time of 53.2 was a personal record.  This is the third time Fuston has qualified in the 400.

 

Four Cougar athletes qualified for State for the first time.  Kelly Wakeley used the qualifying standards mark to earn her way to the  NSAA meet.  The freshman finished third in the triple jump competition, however, her mark of 34 feet 1.5 inches exceeded the standard by three inches.

 

Sophomore Libby Henneman threw her best at Districts and beat a Mead thrower who had a two foot advantage in seeding.  Libby had a 35 foot throw.  This personal record was good enough for a second place finish.

 

Chevy Henneman made his first year of track competition a good one.  The junior runner finished second in the 100M dash.  He was off his best time of the year, but his 11.8 earned his s place at State.  Henneman finished third in the 200M dash in 24.4.

 

Tessie Collins took the gold in the 1600 M run.  She and Vanessa Peterson carried the pace for three and half laps.  Tessie fought off a challenge from a Scribner-Snyder runner to win in 6:20.6.

 

Jon Christiansen saved his best for his last attempt in the triple jump.  He moved up to third place with a personal best of 41 feet 4 inches.  Jon’s cousin, Madie Ronnfeldt had a personal best in the girl’s triple jump. She took sixth with a leap of 31 feet 11 inches.

 

Vanessa Peterson had her best day in the discus.  A toss of 104 feet got her fifth place.  Her sister , Abby, came up with as personal record in the shot.  She won he sixth place medal with a 31 foot 9 inch heave.

 

Vanessa had a disappointing finish in the 1600M run.  A pace setter through three laps, she faded down the stretch and finished in third place in 6:35.6.

 

Dylan Hardeman added a third in the 300 hurdles.  His time was 48.2.

 

Two freshmen earned District medals.  Joey O’Connor took fourth in the 3200M run with time of 11:43.4  Bren Shatto ran 2:30.7 in the 800M and placed in sixth.

 

The boys had three relays earn points.  A botched handoff cost the 400 relay precious time as they took fourth in 47.30.  Jon Christiansen, Chevy Henneman, David Bishop and Taylor Fuston were teammates.

 

Henneman, Bishop, Fuston and Dylan Hardeman ran the 4×400 relay in 3:48 and placed second.

 

Hardeman team with his brother Tyler and Alec Anderson and David Bishop for a second place 4×800 team.  They had as time of 9:39.8.

 

 

Final Team Scoring

 

Boys

HSF                             181

Howells-Dodge            102.5

Scribner-Snyder           78

Lyons-Decatur             71

Cedar Bluffs                 41.5

Mead                           37

Walthill                        8

Omaha Nation              0

Bancroft -Rosalie          0

 

Girls

HSF                             152

Howells-Dodge            98

Scribner-Snyder           97

Mead                           61

Lyons-Decatur             42

Cedar Bluffs                 33

Bancroft-Rosalie           32

Omaha Nation             0

Walthill                         0

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