Trinity Chatfield wins the High Jump
Medal in 9 Events and Set or Tie 3 School Records
The Ord High School track and field teams competed in the Class C state track and field meet in Omaha on Friday and Saturday May 23-24. The teams had their best finish at the state meet in the last several years. The girls scored 27 points to finish in 6th place out of 45 scoring teams and the boys scored 19 points to finish tied for 12th out of 49 scoring teams. “We had one of the best state meets we have had in a long time”, Coach Derry Trampe commented. “We brought home a lot of medals with our kids, and we had several season and personal best performances. Our kids peaked at the right time and had a lot of success at the state level. We set some school records and came very close in a couple of events to breaking our school records. I am very pleased with how we finished the season this year. The top ten teams in the boys team race were: Perkins County (61), West Holt (57), North Platte St. Pat’s (40), Syracuse (39), Lincoln Lutheran (31), Battle Creek (31), Freeman (31), Boone Central (27), Bishop Neumann (24), Valentine (21), and Stanton (21). The top ten teams in the girls team race were: Kearney Catholic (79), Syracuse (50), Bishop Neumann (47), West Holt (45), Battle Creek (29), Ord (27), Niobrara/Verdigre (23), Sandy Creek (23), Lincoln Lutheran (22), Hartington Cedar Catholic (22), Johnson-Brock (22), and Southern Valley (22).
Trinity Chatfield cleared 5’ 4” on her first attempt which was good enough for her to claim the gold medal in the event. Chatfield tied with two other jumpers at 5’ 4” but was awarded first place based on fewer misses at that height. “I was very happy for Trinity”, Coach Trampe said. “She was calm and collected the entire competition and did not have a miss until she went out at 5’ 6”. I am pretty sure this is the first time she has made 5’ 4” on her first attempt and it could not have happened at a better time.” Natalie Williams had another great meet for the Chanticleers. The senior star collected 4 medals from the meet and established 2 new school records in the process. Williams started out her meet with a season best jump in the long jump of 17’ 6.25” to finish in 5th place. All her jumps were 16’ 11” or further and just got further every time she jumped. In the 100-meter preliminaries Natalie set a new school record with a time of 12.26 to win her heat and advance to the finals. In the finals they ran the race into a head wind, and she finished 5th in the race with a time of 12.71. She qualified for the finals of the 200 with a time of 25.18 and then followed that up with a 25.19 in the finals which was good for a 4th place finish. “Natalie had an outstanding state meet”, Coach Trampe stated. “She looked fast on the runway and in her events. The 100 was a mild surprise because she had the 23rd best time coming into the event and had a great preliminary race. She has been an important part to the success of our team all year and we will miss her next season.” Williams teamed up with Avarie Fox, Klair DeRiso, and Leah Zangger to finish 5th in the 4x100 relay. The team combined to finish in 49.62 and set a new school record. “We were all shocked that this relay was able to break 50 seconds. When we set the school record 10 years ago, I thought it would stand for a long time because it was in the low 50’s. These girls just got better every meet, and I am proud of the way they competed at state.” Lillie Shoemaker advanced to the finals of the shot put in 7th place but just missed out on a medal when she was passed up in the last two rounds of the competition. Shoemaker threw 36’ 1” in the prelims and finished 9th in the event. “I felt bad for Lillie because she threw a good series of throws and just missed out on a medal”, Trampe said. “She is a hard-working athlete that will have a lot of good things happen for her. I am looking forward to having her back next year.” McKenna Hernandez competed in the 1600-meter run and finished 14th in the field of 24 runners. Hernandez completed the race in a personal best time of 5:39.23. “McKenna ran a great race at state”, Coach Trampe noted. “I was worried about her being a freshman at the state meet and how she would respond, and she simply ran a great race. I am very pleased with what she accomplished this season and look for her to get better every year.” Leah Zangger also competed in the 200-meter dash and finished 15th in the race with a time of 26.38 just off her personal best time. “Leah had a good run in the 200 and just missed her personal best time. She has a lot of potential to be a great runner for us because she works hard and has some natural ability. I am looking forward to seeing what she will do in the future”, Trampe said.
Elijah Pollard led the way for the boys’ team by bringing home three medals from the state meet. Pollard finished 4
th
in the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.05 and added a third place medal in the 1600 with a personal best time of 4:27.74 which was .54 seconds off the school record. “Elijah had two great individual races”, Trampe said. “He ran his 400 about 2 and a half hours after he ran a 1:57 split on the 4x800 relay and still almost broke 50 seconds. It looked like he was going to run down the third-place runner but just didn’t have the speed left in his legs. In the1600 he came so close to the school record with a fantastic finish to the race. With 300 meters to go he was just moving into 8
th
place and then in the last stretch he moved all the way from 8
th
to 3
rd
on an unbelievable kick. I am so proud of the way he competes.” Pollard teamed up with Jordan Williams, Gunner Rice, and Garrett Severance to finish 7
th
in the 4x800 relay to bring home a medal. The team finished the race in a season best time of 8:13.01 to finish less than a second out of the school record. “All four guys on this relay had a great day”, Trampe stated. “Jordan, Gunner, and Garret all ran right around 2:05 and Elijah finished it off with a 1:57. We were so close to the school record and the year they set the record they won the state meet. This was a fast year for the 4x800 relay, so I am happy we were able to earn a medal.” Beau Wells finished off the scoring for the boys by finishing third in the pole vault. The freshman tied the school record with a vault of 14’ 0” to claim the third-place medal. The vault was a personal best vault for Wells. “Beau has a bright future in front of him”, Coach Trampe commented. “He is relaxed and just has fun as a competitor. He was not intimidated by the meet and just went out and competed. To tie the school record already is an accomplishment and I am sure he will break that record before he is done.” Levi Klein competed in both the 110 High Hurdles and 300 Intermediate Hurdles at the state meet. Klein finished 24
th
in the high hurdles in a time of 18.00 and 23
rd
in the intermediate hurdles in a time of 44.88. “Levi hurt his hamstring in practice on Wednesday before the state meet and that really hurt him for the meet”, Trampe said. “I felt bad for him because he has had such a good year and then to have an injury just before the state meet doesn’t seem fair. I am proud of the way he competed because it is hard to do anything with a sore hamstring, but hurdling is even more difficult. I looked at his times from last year and the times he ran at state were still faster than what he finished the season at last year. I am very impressed with the progress he made this year and can’t wait to see what he does next year.”