By Con Marshall
A half-dozen Nebraska high schools -in alphabetical order Alliance, Chadron, Gering, Hay Springs, Hemingford and Scottsbluff – all had athletes win events and place high Saturday at the Chadron State College High School Indoor Track and Field Meet.
Despite that success, a bigger share the spotlight likely goes to some exceptional South Dakota athletes.Â
      Those include Custer Wildcats Ciana Stiefel and Robbie Emery, who set meet records in both pole vaults, and members of the O’Neill family from Bennett County High at Martin – none of them more than freshmen – who won 7 events and placed high in several others. More about that later.
    Alliance was led by its middle distance runners. Macey Seebohm repeated as the meet’s 800-meter winner and also anchored the Bulldogs’ 1st place 800-meter sprint relay team.Â
In the boys’ competition, Mario Rodriguez won the 400 and Trevor Zurn was the 800 winner. In addition, Jonah Amill was the runner-up in the triple jump and placed fourth in the long jump.
    Chadron’s pacesetters included Quinn Bailey, who won the 200-meter dash, which had 52 contestants, and was 2nd in the 60 sprint.
The Lady Cardinals had an even better showing. Kyndall Carnahan repeated as the 1600-meter champion, Jentsyn Fuller won the 3200 and the Cards won the 4×400 relay with a team of Demi Ferguson, Grace Pyle, Cali Hendrickson and Alex Rasmussen – each of whom finished among the top 4 in an open race. Beau Behrens was 2nd to in the 800.Â
     Gering won both of the boy’s relays behind Bo Gable, who nipped Chadron’s Bailey in the 60, was the runner-up to the Chadron all-star in the 200. The Gering girls had Rylee Luce win the 200 and Aubrey Anderson the high jump. Anderson won on fewer misses as the top 3 all cleared 5-feet.
 Gage Mintken of Hay Springs won both the long and triple jumps while teammate Parker Wellnitz cruised to victory in the 3200.
    Hemingford’s Theron Miller won the shotput with a mark of 51 feet, 9 inches while defending champion Ryan Hinman of Scottsbluff had to settle for 2nd despite throw more than 3-feet farther than a year ago.
Scottsbluff’s only winner was senior Hans Bastron, who claimed the boys 1600 for the 3rd straight year after finishing as the runner-up as a freshman. This year’s time of 4:53.17 is the best of the three. The Bearcats Daniel Young matched Mintken’s best mark in the long jump, but lost the tie-breaker when Mintken had the longer 2nd-best leap.
Defending girls 60-meter hurdle champion Paige Horne of Scottsbluff was one of the victims of the “kids crew” from Bennett County, as 8th grader Reagan O’Neill beat her while also winning the 60-dash and the long jump.
Her winning 18-4 ½ in the long jump broke the Bennett County school record and would have placed 3rd at the recent Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships. Â
Her 7th grade sister, Peyson, placed in 4 events. She won the 400 meters, was 2nd in the high jump on misses and runner-up to her sister in the 60 dash and 3rd in the 60-hurdles.
Reagan and Peyson’s older brother Rush, a freshman, won both the 60-meter hurdles and the high jump while Harley Harris, another Bennett County 8th grader and a first-cousin to the O’Neills, won the girls’ triple jump.Â
Custer stole the show in the pole vault. Ciana Stiefel, the South Dakota Class A record-holder, tied the meet record a year ago as a sophomore, but broke it this year at 12-2;
Her younger sister, 7th grader Tenley Stiefel, was the runner-up Saturday at 10 feet, which Custer coach Peter Johncour said may be the state record for that grade.Â
When the boys vaulted in the afternoon, Custer senior Robbie Emery cleared 14-6 to break the decade-old meet record by 6″, setting a school record in the process.
Another winner Saturday was Harper Bouche of Southeast High at Yoder, Wyo. She won the girls’ shot put with a heave of 39-1 ½. Chadron’s Olivia Lyon was the runner-up.
The placings for the CSC Indoor Meet follow:
Girls’ Results
60—1, Reagan O’Neill, Bennett County, 7.90; 2, Peyson O’Neill, Bennett County, 8.34; 3, Sahsa Haines, Southeast, 8.44; 4, Josie Sanders, Alliance, 8.52; 5, Macy Claussen, Bennett County, 8.54; 6, Kayel Lambert, Alliance, 8.65.
200—1, Rylee Luce, Gering, 28.31; 2, Kayel Lambert, Alliance, 28.74; 3, Grace Pyle, Chadron, 29.46; 4, Bailey Mehling, Southeast, 29.66; 5, Aubree Johnson, Cody-Kilgore, 29.78; 6, Reese Varvel, Hay Springs, 29.99.
400—1, Peyson O’Neill, Bennett County, 1:04.39; 2, Demi Ferguson, Chadron, 1:06.37; 3, Cali Hendrickson, Chadron, 1:06.63; 4, Alex Rasmussen, Chadron, 1:06.87; 5, Bailey Mehling, Southeast, 1:08.56; 6, Mia Bowles, Scottsbluff, 1:09.29.
800—1, Macey Seebohm, Alliance, 2:32.87; 2, Beau Behrends, Chadron, 2:35.47; 3, Paz Cody, Alliance, 2:53.92; 4, Emilee Houchin, Bayard, 2:57.06; 5, Keana Llewellyn, Southeast, 2:58.05; 6, Erin Cawiezel, Gering, 2:59.84.
1600—1, Kyndall Carnahan, Chadron, 5:55.06; 2, Alison Bradford, Gering, 5:55.86; 3, Ysabella Scherer, Scottsbluff, 5:57.99; 4, Samantha Marin, Creek Valley, 6:07.24; 5, Claire Thomalla, Scottsbluff, 6:25.29; 6, Demi Seelhoff, Gering, 6:27.17.
3200—1, Jentsyn Fuller, Chadron, 13:44.23; 2, Lillie Uhing, Chadron, 14:12.47.
60 high hurdles—1, Reagan O’Neill, Bennett County, 9.22; 2, Paige Horne, Scottsbluff, 9.68; 3, Peyson ONeill, Bennett County, 9.78; 4, Aubrey Anderson, Gering, 10.01; 5, Rylee Luce, Gering, 10.41; 6r, Harley Harris, Bennett County, 10.71.
4×400 relay—1, Chadron (Demi Ferguson, Grace Pyle, Cali Hendrickson, Alex Rasmussen), 4:30.49; 2, Scottsbluff, 4:38.95; 3, Southeast, 5:04.40; 4, Bennett County, 5:17.16.
800 sprint medley relay—1, Alliance (Josie Sanders, Alexis Libsock, Kayel Lambert, Macey Seebohm), 3:31.24; 2, Chadron, 3:34.83; 3, Gering, 3:36.65; 4, Alliance, 3:43.89; 5, Bayard, 3:45.41. 6, Bennett County, 3:45.41.
Shot put—1, Harper Bouche, Southeast, 39-1 ½; 2, Olivia Lyon, Chadron 32-7; 3, Haylee Ekwall, Southeast, 31-11 ¼; 4, Shyla Salcido, Alliance, 30-6; 5, Jaxie John, Gering, 30-5 ½; 6, Jaelyn Brown, Chadron, 30- ½.
Long jump—1, Reagan O’Neill, Bennett County, 18-4 ½; 2, Jaelyn Narvais, Gering, 14-6; 3, Reese Varvel, Hay Springs, 14-5; 4, Josie Sanders, Alliance, 14- ½; 5, Addison Morrison, Chadron, 14- ½; 6, Allison Johnson, Gering, 13-10 ½.
Triple jump—1, Harley Harris, Bennett County, 32-9 ½; 2, Bailey Mehling, Southeast, 31-1 ½; 3, Marley Wilkinson, Scottsbluff, 30-7 ½; 4, Mia Bowles, Scottsbluff; 30-5; 5, Addison Morrison, Chadron, 30-1 ½; 6, Olivia Aguilar, Gering, 30-1.
High jump—1, Aubrey Anderson, Gering, 5-0; 2, Peyson O’Neill, Bennett County, 5-0; 3, Aubree Johnson, Cody-Kilgore, 5-0; 4, Jacey Cochran, Gering, 4-8; 5-6 tie, Sarah Heig, St. Thomas More, and Grace Pyle, 4-8.
Pole vault—1, Ciana Stiefel, Custer, 12-2 (meet record); 2, Tenley Stiefel, Custer, 10-0; 3, Angie Logsdon, Southeast, 9-6; 4, Danielle Hunter, Scottsbluff, 8-6; 5, Addie Sander, Custer, 7-6; 6 tie, Alison Miller, Bayard, and Jessi Kappen, Bayard, 7-0.
Boys’ Results
60—1, Bo Gable, Gering, 7,38; 2, Quinn Bailey, Chadron, 7.34; 3, Rush O’Neill, Bennett County, 7.48; 4, Gage Mintken, Hay Springs, 7.53; 5, Landon Amundsen, Scottsbluff, 7.54; 6, Collin Sullivan, Scottsbluff, 7.59.
200—1, Quinn Bailey, Chadron, 24.11; 2, Bo Gable, Gering, 24.40; 3, Tanner Gartner, Gering, 24.42; 4, Landon Amundsen, Scottsbluff, 24.83; 5, Cody Provost, Lakota Tech, 25.28; 6, Conrad Baard, Gering, 25.38.
400—1, Mario Rodriguez, Alliance, 55.90; 2, Wyatt Gladsen, Southeast, 58.75; 3, Dustin Brien, Hay Springs, 58.98; 4, Aidyn Einkorn, Scottsbluff, 1:00.23; 5, Domingo Gomez, Scottsbluff, 1:00.47; 6, Bruce Whalen, Lakota Tech, 1:00.59.
800—1, Trevor Zurn, Alliance, 2:08.65; 2, Jackson Howard, Gering, 2:09.04; 3, Aiden Narvais, Gering, 2:11.22; 4, Devin Graham, Alliance, 2:14.33; 5, Thomas Carrizales, Scottsbluff, 2:17.08; 6. Nathan Seiler, Gering, 2:18.85.
1600—1, Hans Bastron, Scottsbluff, 4:53.17; 2, Benjamin Cassatt-Reina, Alliance, 4:59.27; 3, Kole Carnahan, Chadron, 5:07.92; 4, Asher Saka, Alliance, 5:11.82; 5, Parker Wellnitz, Hay Springs, 5:24.06; 6, Mason Albercht, Hay Springs, 5:30.77.
3200—1, Parker Wellnitz, Hay Springs, 11:37.47; 2, Mason Albrecht, Hay Springs, 12:08.17.
60 high hurdles—1, Rush O’Neill, Bennett County, 8.87; 2, Creighton Beals, Gering, 9.06; 3, Dylan Raymer, Hay Spring, 9.26; 4, Gavin Bell, Hemingford, 9.64; 5, Owen Latham, Scottsbluff, 9.95; 6, Bryson Johnson, Gering, 10:24.
4×400 relay—1, Gering (Creighton Beals, Jackson Howard, Aiden Norvais, William Rairigh). 3:52.97; 2, Scottsbluff, 4:02.41; 3, Bennett County, 4:04.41; 4, Scottsbluff B, 4:19.44; 5, Lakota Tech, 4:26.89.
800 Sprint Medley Relay—1, Gering (Creighton Beals, Bo Gable, Tanner Gartner, Axton Stone), 2:50.87; 2. Alliance B, 2:59.90; 3. Gering B, 3:00.91; 4, Alliance A, 3:02.22; 5, Scottsbluff, 3:08.46.
Shot put—1, Theron Miller, Hemingford, 51-9; 2, Ryan Hinman, Scottsbluff, 49-5 ½; 3, Eladio Campos, Alliance, 41-8; 4, Hayden Bennett, Gering, 41-4; 5, Julius Blanco, Scottsbluff, 40-9; 6, Alex Fisher, Chadron, 40-0.
Long jump—1, Gage Mintken, Hay Springs, 19-11 ½; 2, Daniel Young, Scottsbluff, 19-11 ½; 3, Dylan Raymer, Hay Springs, 19-2; 4, Jonah Amill, Alliance, 18-8; 5, Quinn Bailey, Chadron, 18-5; 6, Jace Paopao, Chadron, 17-9.
Triple jump—1, Gage Mintken, Hay Springs, 38-6 ½; 2, Jonah Amill, Alliance, 38-2; 3, Devin Graham, Alliance, 37-2 ½; 4, Jace Paopao, Chadron, 36-9; 5. Espen Lanik, Alliance, 36-3; 6, Hayden Risse, Bennett County, 34-11 ½.
High jump—1, Rush O’Neill, Bennett County, 6-0; 2, Camden Ceplecha, Scottsbluff, 5-10; 4, Cade Smith, Chadron, 5-8; 5, Jacoby Elliott, Gering, 5-4; 6, Riley Best, Alliance, 5-4.
Pole Vault—1, Robbie Emery, Custer, 14-6 (meet record) ; Dawson Barrett, Scottsbluff, 12-6; 3, Caleb Leonard, Bayard, 11-0; 4, Benjamin Cassett-Reina, Alliance, 10-6; 5, Maddox Gardner, Gering, 10-0; 6, Jacob Carrizales, Bayard, 10-0.