Athletes Compete at State Track
Hector Mendoza and Sara McEvoy Medal
Launch the media gallery 1 playerThe Nebraska High School Track and Field Championships wrapped up on May 19 and 20 at Omaha’s Burke High School Stadium.
Clarkson-Leigh had 2 boys’ athletes competing and numerous girls’ athletes competing after the girls’ team won their district.
“Our state athletes worked very hard this season, and it paid off,” Head Girls’ Track Coach Briana Wietfeld said. “They should be proud of themselves and what they accomplished.”
On the boys’ side, senior Hector Mendoza medaled in both the long jump and the triple jump! He placed 7th in the long jump with a jump of 20’1” and he placed 8th in the triple jump with a jump of 41’5.”
Freshman Tommy McEvoy also competed in the long jump with a jump of 18’4”.
For the girls’ team, junior Sara McEvoy earned a medal, placing 7th in the Discus with a throw of 108’3”.
The girls’ 4x100 Meter Relay team of Halee Steffensmeier, Emily Loseke, Kaegan Held, and Cassie Brabec was one spot away from medalling, finishing 9th with a time of 53.4 seconds.
Held also finished 9th in the 110 Meter Hurdles with a time of 16.46 seconds.
Loseke finished in 12th place in the 100 Meter Dash with a time of 13.18 seconds.
Freshmen Kelsey Moore and Morgan Brabec also competed in the Unified Sports, Long Jump Exhibition.
Along with her partner, Bailey Lemburg, Moore had a combined jump of 18’8.75” in the long jump. Along with partner Kim Stodola, Brabec had a combined jump of 17’11.75”.
Moore also competed in the Unified Sports 100M Dash Exhibition. She and her partner Lemburg finished with a combined time of 37.05 seconds.
Head Boys’ Coach Lee Schneider is extremely proud of all that the Patriot track program has accomplished this year.
“It was another interesting track season in regards to weather,” Schneider said, “but we were still able to get all our meets in and get kids qualified for the State meet. Plenty of Patriot records were broken with the boys 4x800 Meter Relay resetting their record from last year with a time of 9:22, Hector Mendoza breaking the Triple Jump record with a jump of 43’4” and Tommy McEvoy breaking the Long Jump with 21’.05”. Congratulations to both of these boys also for qualifying for state and Hector for medaling in both events! We are all so proud of the work the kids have put in and their willingness to compete and represent our program with class.”
Coach Wietfeld echoes Schneider’s sentiments, noting that on the girls side, 6 Patriot records were broken this year. Sophomore Ashlynn Novotny breaking the 800M Run record with a time of 2:39.5. Junior Kaegan Held broke the 100M Hurdles record at 16.23 and the 300M Hurdles record at 50.46. Freshman Emily Loseke broke the 100M Dash record with a time of 13.2 and the 200M Dash record with a time of 28.1. Junior Sara McEvoy broke the Discus record at 114’1”.
“I can’t begin to say how special it is to be part of such a great team,” Wietfeld said. “The Patriot Track Team is truly a kind of its own. These athletes worked hard and made me proud. We have had many successes this year from getting over 20 personal records broken to having several Patriot Track and Field Records broken. We have had rewarding meets where the girls have been runners’ up, such as the Humphrey Invite and the Patriot Invite, and we also ended the season as District Champions!
“Good work to all track athletes. Your hard work will show in the summer training and in your next season’s sport! I hope future Patriots see all the benefits there are to being a track athlete.”
Congratulations again to all Clarkson-Leigh Patriot Track athletes on a successful season!