Longhorns repeat as boys’ district champs

    The Chase County boys’ track team had its share of emotional highs and lows at the C9 District Track Meet Thursday in Mitchell.
    The Longhorns qualified Easton Fries, Jensen Olsen and Kade Anderson for state in the 110-meter high hurdles, Jaret Peterson in shot put, Fries in the high jump and 300-meter hurdles, Anderson in triple jump and Ryan Bernhardt in the long jump.
    But the team only qualifed one relay, the 400-meter team made up of Luis Co, Stephen Murray, Fries and Bernhardt, after running in miserable conditions in the 3,200-meter relay and missing a handoff in the 400-meter relay.
    Dawson Mollendor also missed out on a trip to state after a photo finish in the 100-meter dash when the second through fourth place runners were within 0.03 of each other.
    CCS Head Coach Carl Zuege said coaches asked to see a picture of the finish, which did show that he was edged out by a chest, about 1/1000th of a second.
    “At the time I was confident that our 4X100 would still get in, but a few bad breaks really led to a tough day for Dawson. Dawson had been one of our team’s best leaders all season, and I know that he will come back next year ready to go,” Zuege said.
    As for the 3,200-meter relay, Zuege called the conditions unfortunate.
    “A driving rain with 40-50 mph winds literally hit about the moment they shot the gun to begin the race. Everyone else in the facility ran to their buses and inside the school, while those guys were left to try to complete the race,” Zuege said.
    While he doesn’t know what might have happened under different conditions, Zuege said he does know that the time the team recorded six days earlier would have qualified them for state with about five seconds to spare.
    “It was a tough break for every team in that race, but that is the way it goes sometimes,” Zuege said.
    Still, there were more positives from the meet.
    Anderson and Murray just started triple jumping three weeks ago and placed second and third, respectively, at districts.
    “We saw an opportunity to get someone qualified, as the district marks were not that strong, so when I approached both of those guys they both agreed to give it a shot. Add in James McArthur, and we wound up with three guys jumping very well and scoring quite a few team points at both SPVA and districts for us,” Zuege said.
    Fries, Olsen and Anderson will run in the same heat at the state meet.
    “It was great to see their work validated by having all three of them qualify for the state meet. And, they will get another crack at running together, as they are all in the same heat at state. All three of these guys are good enough to make finals, so we will keep fine tuning this week to try to make that happen,” Zuege said.
    Bernhardt is the lone senior to qualify for state after winning long jump.
    “Ryan has had some 21+ foot jumps this year that have been scratches, so we know there is more opportunity for him this weekend at state,” Zuege said, adding that Bernhardt’s versatility sometimes makes it tough for him to get in quality practice time.
    “However, he can concentrate on it some this week and I think he will get a nice jump off at state,” Zuege said.
    Peterson’s qualification in shot put means more to the team than just his individual performance.
    “Jaret is definitely a vocal leader on our team and in our building, but I think his biggest contributions come as our athletes watch his fire and work ethic,” Zuege said.
    Peterson placed third in the discus, but bounced back strong in shot put, Zuege added.
    The 1,600-meter relay team won its event by almost three seconds and will be in the fast heat at state.
    Zuege said the relay has been in the top five in the state most of the season, so it was great to see their work validated by winning the district race convincingly.
    “These guys are very competitive, and they will be ready to go get themselves a medal on Saturday. Being in the fast heat is huge, as you have the best teams in the state pushing you on every leg,” Zuege said.
    So many young athletes on the team qualifying for state and contributing to the Longhorns’ sixth consecutive district championship is Zuege’s biggest takeaway from the meet.
    “The next few years in our program are VERY exciting. Easton Fries not only qualified in four events, but he has a very legitimate shot to score points in three of them. Our three relays, which were all state-ranked most of the year, had only one senior total on them. Our 4x100, which had some bad luck at districts, will be back and even faster next year, I believe,” Zuege said.
    In field events, Zuege sees big things coming from Longhorn throwers.
    “It was very exciting to see the improvement in this squad,” Zuege said.
    CCS will take to the Burke Stadium track Friday and Saturday. Class C will compete with Class D this year, while Classes A and B will be on Wednesday and Thursday.

Results:
Team results—1. Chase County, 146; 2. Gordon-Rushville, 105; 3. Perkins County, 91; 4. Mitchell, 74; 5. Bridgeport, 62; 6. Bayard, 25; 7. Morrill, 12; 8. Hemingford, 6; 9. Kimball, 4.
Individual results
100 Meters—1. Ellis Livingston, 11.51, Gordon-Rushville; 3. Dawson Mollendor, 11.60, CCS.
200 Meters—1. Casey Hanson, 23.88, PCS; 5. Jonathan Sosa, 24.46, CCS.
400 Meters—1. Jace Freeseman, 52.71, Gordon-Rushville; 3. Ryan Bernhardt, 54.72, CCS; 4. Luis Co, 58.87, CCS.
800 Meters—1. Jace Phillips, 2:05.87, Bridgeport; 3. Zach Herbert, 2:15.52, CCS; 5. Tristan Jablonski, 2:17.26, CCS; 7. Sean Heermann, 2:20.90, CCS.
1600 Meters—1. Mason McGreer, 4:56.57, PCS; 4. Brayan Reyes, 5:16.45, CCS; 7. Colin O’Neil, 5:27.45, CCS; 8. Trevin Moreno, 5:35.24, CCS.
3200 Meters—1. McGreer, 11:10.41, PCS; 3. Moreno, 11:43.09, CCS.
110m Hurdles—1. Easton Fries, 15.49, CCS; 2. Jensen Olsen, 15.97, CCS; 4. Kade Anderson, 16.12, CCS.
300m Hurdles—1. Fries, 42.24, CCS; 5. Anderson, 46.79, CCS; 7. Cameron Johnson, 47.80, CCS.
4x400 Relay—1. CCS (Co, Stephen Murray, Fries, Bernhardt), 3:32.73.
4x800 Relay—1. PCS, 9:02.95; 2. CCS (O’Neil, Murray, Mason Tyerman, Herbert), 9:20.43.
Shot Put—1. Atreyu Thorsen, 44’3.25, Gordon-Rushville; 2. Jaret Peterson, 43’8.75, CCS; 3. Cooper Dillan, 42’2.25, CCS.
Discus—1. Thorsen, 141’0, Gordon-Rushville; 3. Peterson, 128’8, CCS; 5. Dillan, 122’1, CCS.
High Jump—1. Wyatt Hayward, 6’0, Mitchell; 2. Fries, 5’7, CCS; 7.  Johnson, 5’1, CCS.
Pole Vault—1. Kolby Houchin, 12’9, Bayard; 4. Mason Wallin, 12’3, CCS; 8. Zach Herbert, 9’9, CCS.
Long Jump—1. Ryan Bernhardt, 20’3, CCS.
Triple Jump—1. Blake Garner, 41’9.5, PCS; 2. Anderson, 40’3.75, CCS; 3. Murray, 39’3, CCS; 7. James McArthur, 37’8.5, CCS.