Patriot Track Qualifies 7 in 9 Events!
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Launch the media gallery 1 playerLoseke, Hanel, Larson, Stodola All Bring Home Medals!
By: Leigh High School Journalism Staff
With their season stolen away from them last year due in the midst of the pandemic, this year’s Patriot track team certainly made up for lost time.
After a season of broken records and personal bests, the Patriots had a stellar district performance at Wisner-Pilger on May 13. Here they competed against Wisner-Pilger, Oakland Craig, GACC, Stanton, Logan View, Tekamah-Herman, Howells-Dodge, and Madison.
The boys’ team finished 5th out of 9 teams, and the girls were the district champions!
Overall, the Patriots qualified 7 team members in 9 events for the Class C State Track Competition at Omaha Burke High School on May 21-22. To qualify, the competitor must have finished in the top 2 in his or her event at the district competition.
Junior Carter Hanel finished second at districts in Discus with a throw of 135-05. At state, Hanel finished 21st with a throw of 121-01.
Junior Eli Hays won the Triple Jump at districts with a throw of 41-08. At state, he jumped 39-11 and placed 20th.
On the girls’ side, freshman Chloe Hanel won the Triple Jump and 100M Hurdles at districts. She also captured second in the 300M Hurdles. At state, she earned 8th place in both hurdle events and 6th in High Jump with a jump of 5-02.
Fellow freshman Tanyn Larson won the 100M Dash at districts and also qualified in the Long Jump. At state, she ran 12.82 in the 100, good enough for 10th place. In Long Jump, she finished 21st with a jump of 14-08.
Kennedy Settje, junior, finished second at districts in the Triple Jump with a jump of 32-05. At state, she jumped 32.05-75, earning her 20th place.
Senior Emily Loseke cracked finals in multiple events at State. She finished 4th at state in the 100M Dash with a time of 12.59. She also finished 2nd at state in the 200M Dash with a time of 26.01.
The girls’ 4x100M Relay Team of Loseke, Larson, Hanel, and McKenna Stodola finished 7th at State with a time of 51.08.
The Patriot girls also finished 12th as a team with Chase County winning the Class C title.
Track Coach Briana Wietfeld said, “It was so humbling to be back at Burke. With last year being taken away from us, I know us coaches and athletes were ready to achieve the goal of heading to state. I am so proud of all of our competitors on their accomplishments. They experienced the excitement of the high school state track meet and learned what it means to have hard work pay off.
“Large goals come with large risk and not all things worked out in our favor, however our Patriots held their heads high and didn't leave anything on the track. Making it to state and getting medals is a great accomplishment. Overall, we had an amazing season, and I couldn't be more excited for our athletes and all their accomplishments.
Along with Emily Loseke, the Patriots say goodbye to seniors Tommy McEvoy, Lane Kudera, Grace Baumert, Morgan Brabec, and Kelsey Moore. They thank these seniors for their passion and dedication and look forward to what the future has in store.