Longhorn boys take first at Hershey, second at home

It didn’t take much deliberation for Chase County administrators to decide to delay last week’s Chase County Invite from April 20 to April 21 and the move paid off.
Rather than having snow on the ground, athletes enjoyed a relatively sunny and wind-free day.
    “All of the schools were still able to attend on Wednesday, and after losing Saturday’s meet to adverse weather, we really needed to get a meet in, so we’re really glad that it worked out,” CCS Head Coach Carl Zuege said.
Members of the Chase County boys’ track team took advantage of the nice day to set 23 PRs.
Taking wins for CCS were Dawson Mollendor, 200 meter dash; Cedric Maxwell, 400 meter dash; Clay Meeske, 800 meter run; Carter Leibbrandt, pole vault; and the 1,600 meter relay.
Ogallala took the team title at the event by 30 points over CCS.
Having a school the size of Ogallala and raising the competition level is never a bad thing, Zuege said.
    “We definitely enjoy having a team with their quality and their numbers to compete against,” Zuege said.
Fifteen more PRs were set Saturday at the Hershey Invite.
CCS took the team title by 11 points over North Platte St. Pat’s after repeat wins by Maxwell and Meeske in the 400 meters and 800 meters, respectively; Mollendor, 100 meter dash; Brit Gockley, pole vault; and the 400 and 1,600 meter relays.
    “It was definitely good to get a solid preview of the SPVA meet at Hershey on Saturday. We beat NPSP by only 11 points, so we know that winning the conference meet will be very difficult, but a great challenge for our team,” Zuege said.
Across the board, many PRs are coming from the Longhorn freshman and sophomore athletes, but Zuege says don’t count the juniors and seniors out.
    With such a young team, Zuege said upperclassmen are carrying fairly heavy workloads and are spreading themselves out during meets in order to score team points.
    “Once we dial in on certain events I think you will see noticeable progress from our older athletes,” Zuege said.
    JV athletes went to the McCook JV meet Monday.
    To make up for the cancelled Sutherland Invite, varsity athletes had planned on going to St. Francis Tuesday, but Indians’ officials postponed the meet due to impending weather.
Up next
Zuege said it’s crazy to think that the SPVA meet is coming up so quickly.
CCS will travel to Perkins County for the conference meet Friday.
    “We always set our sights on the conference meet, and we will be very ready and excited for it,” Zuege said.
    He added that coaches have  used the last couple of meets to try and maximize team entries.
    “For us, the SPVA meet is the ultimate team event that allows us to utilize our depth and get contributions from all throughout our track team,” Zuege said.
    Coaches will spend the week figuring out how to have people in place to maximize points on Friday, he said.
    “This is when track is so exciting and proves to be very much a team sport,” Zuege said, adding his team is confident going into the SPVA meet but definitely understands they must be at their best in order to win it.
    Remaining meets are dwindling quickly.
    Select Longhorns will travel to the Best of the Midwest in Sutherland May 4.
    The team will be at the Dundy County Twilight May 7 for a final tune up before returning to Sutherland for districts May 13.

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