PONCA — A single point separated Hartington-Newcastle and Hartington Cedar Catholic in the girls and boys divisions of the C-4 district track meet here Thursday.
The Trojan and Wildcat girls tied for the team crown with 122 points each and the Hartington-Newcastle boys edged Cedar Catholic 127-126.
Can’t hardly get any closer than that.
On the girls’ side, Hartington-Newcastle’s Belle Harms won a couple of individual titles for the Wildcats with a first in the triple jump and a first in the 100 hurdles. She won the triple jump with a best of 34-feet-5.5-inches and ran the hurdles in 16.58 seconds.
“I kind of tweaked my leg in the triple jump, but it felt fine in the hurdles,” Harms said. “I wanted to get to Omaha and make the finals and place again in the triple jump.”
She also pointed out the importance of her team winning the district crown.
“We talked about it on the bus on the way here,” she said. “Coach told us ... to make it a good last meet for the seniors.”
Emerson-Hubbard-Pender’s Ashley Ostrand won the 100 and placed second in the 200 in her first-ever district meet. Her 100-time was 12.85 seconds and her 200 was a 25.78.
“I have surprised myself a little this year,” Ostrand said. “My Mom was pretty good in track, so I just try to make her proud — I just always try to run faster than I did the last race.”
Ostrand’s teammate, Paige Steinman won the distance races, taking titles in the 1,600 and 3,200. She’s had a different spring due to the fact her twin sister, Piper, has not been running with her.
Piper has been sidelined this track season with a foot ailment, which wiped out her sophomore track campaign.
“It’s different not having her out here running with us,” Paige said. “Hopefully, it gets healed so she’ll be ready for cross country.”
With state experience under her belt from her freshman season, Steinman looks forward to her second trip to Omaha.
“I know more of what to expect this year,” she said. “Last year, it was strange running with a big group the entire race — I almost tripped at the beginning.”
She won the 1,600 at the district meet by a little over 10 seconds and the 3,200 by around 30 seconds.
Abbe Morten won the 300 hurdles and the pole vault for the Wildcats and the H-N 400 relay team took gold in 52.08 seconds.
Cedar Catholic won the 1,600 and 3,200 relays and Sara and Anna Reifenrath each won a pair of events with Sara taking the 200 and 400 and Anna taking the 800 and high jump.
The Wildcat boys got the usual 40 points out of senior standout Cole Schmidt.
Schmidt won the 100 (11.09), 200 (22.45), long jump (22-0.25) and triple jump (44-4).
Brian Santiago contributed another 28 points with firsts in the 1,600 and 3,200 and a second in the 800.
Wakefield ended up third in the team race paced by a pair of wins in the relays and Israel Gardea in the shot.
“I finally hit 50 feet,” Gardea said. “Now I want to get to the school record. I’ve been working hard this spring and would like to get over 51 feet, which is the school mark.”
Teammate, Solomon Peitz placed second in the triple jump and ran a leg in the Trojans’ 3,200 relay squad that won gold.
“I like running the relay because it’s more of a team effort,” Peitz said.
The 3,200 team is a family affair. Peitz runs along with his younger brother Gabe and they team up with Jack and Sam Heitz to round out the quartet.
Girls team results
1. Hartington-Newcastle 122; 1. Hartington Cedar Catholic 122; 3. Emerson-Hubbard-Pender 107; 4. Ponca 80; 5. Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast 44.5; 6. Wakefield 22; 7. Laurel-Concord/Coleridge 19; 8. Homer 10.5.
State qualifiers
100 – 1. Ashley Ostrand (EHP) 12.85; 2. Kaylin Sandall (EHP) 13.16. 200 – 1. Sara Reifenrath (HCC) 24.92; 2. Ostrand (EHP) 25.78. 400 – 1. S. Reifenrath (HCC) 58.57; 2. Kelsey Larsen (BRLD) 1:01.63. 800 – 1. Anna Reifenrath (HCC) 2:22.93; 2. Larsen (BRLD) 2:24.95. 1,600 – 1. Paige Steinman (EHP) 5:37.55; 2. Sara Burbach (HCC) 5:48.39. 3,200 – 1. Steinman (EHP) 12:00.39; 2. Allie Rosener (H-N) 12:32.53. 100H – 1. Belle Harms (H-N) 16.58; 2. Tymaree Krusemark (EHP) 17.09. 300H – 1. Abbe Morten (H-N) 49.03; 2. Maddie Wieseler (HCC) 50.45.
400 Relay – 1. Hartington-Newcastle 52.08; 2. Emerson-Hubbard-Pender 52.23. 1,600 Relay – 1. Hartington Cedar Catholic (A. Reifenrath, Jayda Bernecker, Wieseler, S. Reifenrath) 4:17.24; 2. Ponca 4:28.26. 3,200 Relay – 1. Hartington Cedar Catholic (Brianna Miller, Burbach, Bernecker, A. Reifenrath) 10”09.09; 2. Wakefield 11:28.39. High Jump – 1. A. Reifenrath (HCC) 5-3; 2. Erica Wolfgram (LCC) 4-10. Pole Vault – 1. Morten (H-N) 8-6; 2. Evvie Krie (H-N) 8-2. Long Jump – 1. Autumn Lammers (H-N) 16-0; 2. Rayne Allvin (H-N) 15-11.5; Triple Jump – 1. Harms (H-N) 34-5.5; 2. Allvin (H-N) 32-7. Shot – 1. Brooke Languis (Pon) 37-0; 2. Abby Hochstein (HCC) 36-7. Discus – 1. Meg Keller (Pon) 108-7; 2. Trisha Dybdal (HCC) 103-2.
Boys team results
1. Hartington-Newcastle 128; 2. Hartington Cedar Catholic 127; 3. Wakefield 97; 4. Ponca 71; 5. Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons-Decatur Northeast 62; 6. Homer 23; 7. Emerson-Hubbard-Pender 12; 8. Laurel-Concord/Coleridge 6; 9. Winnebago 1.
State qualifiers
100 – 1. Cole Schmidt (H-N) 11.09; 2. Esgar Godinez (Wak) 11.39. 200 – 1. Schmidt (H-N) 22.45; 2. Godinez (Wak) 23.34. 400 – 1. Seth Wiebelhaus (HCC) 2:00.4; 2. Brian Santiago (H-N) 2:07.53. 1,600 – 1. Santiago (H-N) 4:51.82; 2. Braydan Anderson (BRLD) 5:00.81. 3,200 – 1. Santiago (H-N) 10:07.89; 2. Dagen Joachimsen (HCC) 10:57.24. 110H – 1. Levi Heckenlaible (HCC) 15.70; 2. Paul Masin (Pon) 17.02. 300H 1. Heckenlaible (HCC) 42.33; 2. Turner Korth (H-N) 42.48.
400 Relay – 1. Hartington Cedar Catholic (Austin Arens, Jacob Keiser, Keyan Joachimsen, Isaac Creamer) 45.06; 2. Wakefield 45.96. 1,600 Relay – 1. Wakefield (Jack Heitz, Ben Chase, Justin Erb, Godinez) 3:37.91; 2. Hartington Cedar Catholic 3:39.82. 3,200 Relay – 1. Wakefield (Gabe Peitz, Solomon Peitz, J. Heitz, Sam Heitz) 8:32.29; 2. Hartington Cedar Catholic 8:37.98. High Jump – 1. Lincoln McPhillips (H-N) 6-6; 2. Matthew Becker (HCC) 5-10. Pole Vault – 1. K. Joachimsen (HCC) 12-8; 2. Gage McGill (Pon) 11-8. Long Jump – 1. Schmidt (H-N) 22-0.25; 2. Dalton Tremayne (Pon) 20-10.5. Triple Jump – 1. Schmidt (H-N) 44-4; 2. S. Peits (Wak) 42-10.5. Shot – 1. Israel Gardea (Wak) 50-2; 2. Nick Ronnfeldt (BRLD) 49-5.5. Discus – 1. Hudson Schweers (Pon) 144-0; 2. Seth Totten (BRLD) 129-6.