ABOVE: Logan Recoy finishes in second place and qualifies for the State Meet in the 800m run.

LEFT: Ella Cool crosses the finish line and realizes she is a District Champion in the 2-mile. (Courier photos by Loleta Connell)

Charli Vickers crosses the last hurdle in second place to earn a trip to Burke Stadium in the 300 hurdles.

RIGHT: Ethan Furne's leap of 20' 9.5' in the long jump qualifies him for the chance to compete in Omaha.

South Loup ended their regular season on the track on Thursday, May 9, when the men’s and women’s teams traveled to Ord for the Class C-8 district meet. The Bobcats qualified four athletes for the Nebraska State Track & Field Championships which begin tomorrow, May 17, in Omaha.

Junior Ella Cool ran her fastest 1600m to date in a time of 12:40.44 to earn the district silver medal and a ticket to Omaha. Joining her from the ladies' team will be Charli Vickers, whose time of 50.65 in the 300m hurdles was enough for the silver medal and a state bid.

Several members of the women’s team narrowly missed qualifying for the state meet but did earn district medals. Along with her 2nd place finish in the 300m hurdles, Vickers also earned the bronze medal in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.55. She was also a member of the 3rd place 4x100m relay team, joined by Erin Fitzgerald, Bryn Schwarz, and Joslyn Reiff. The team clocked a time of 53.55

The women’s 4x400m relay team also picked up the bronze medal, with team members Jade Bierman, Fitzgerald, Cool, and Ivy Tullis, with a time of 4:27.01. Tullis and Bierman also finished 6th and 7th respectively in the 800m run, where Tullis ran the race in 2:38.58 and Bierman had her best run of the season at 2:38.85. She is just a freshman.

In field events, Schwarz came home with the bronze in pole vault, clearing the bar at an even 9 feet. Reiff finished 7th in triple jump with a leap of 27-11.0, and Bierman had an 8th place finish in high jump with 4-06. Freshman Evalynn Wonch had her best discus throw of the year of 90-08, good for 9th place, as did Kaygan Witthuhn who threw 82-04 for 13th place overall.

For the men, Logan Recoy will be competing in two events today and tomorrow in Omaha after running the best 400m and the best 800m of his career at the district meet. The senior clocked a time of 53.04 to pick up the silver medal in the 400m, and a time of 2:03.19 to also win silver in the 800m.

Joining Recoy in Omaha will be teammate Ethan Furne, who also had the best performance of his high school career so far at the district meet. Furne leaped 20-09.5 in the long jump which was good for the 4th place medal, and far enough to send him to the state meet.

Both Recoy and Furne are also members of the 4x400m relay team who just missed qualifying for the state meet. Along with Dylan Pandorf and Conner Paulsen, the team earned the silver medal at the district meet with a time of 3:42.63.

The 4x800m relay team of Josiah Coleman, Paxton Bierman, Uotong Haidle, and Elijah Cool finished in 3rd place, clocking in at 9:28.59. The 4x100m relay team of Eli Hunt, Paulsen, Furne, and Trey Connell came in 5th with a time of 47.14.

In field events, Dylan Pandorf had the best leap of his young career with 40-09.5 for the 3rd place district medal. Dawson Mason cleared the bar at 11-00 to win the 5th place medal in pole vault, and Rio Remund finished 6th in shot put with a toss of 48-06.5.

The Nebraska State Track & Field Championships are held at Burke Stadium in Omaha. Events on both Friday and Saturday begin at 9 a.m. A complete schedule of events can be found on nsaahome.org. News Channel Nebraska will also be broadcasting from Burke Stadium both days beginning at 1 p.m.

We will have full results from the state track meet in next week’s Courier.