The Central City Invite does not feature of quantity of track and field competitors, but with traditional Class B heavyweights Northwest, Aurora and York on hand, the meet certainly has ample quality.
On a cloudy, extremely windy day Friday, the Boone Central/Newman Grove Cardinals were unable to challenge for team honors against those squads, but continued strong step-by-step, meet-by-meet improvement with several event victories and numerous season best performances.
“We battled some of the better teams in Class B, along with a strong Nebraska wind,” said BC/NG Coach Kris Pestel. “The wind gusts were so hard that the pole vault was postponed until Tuesday.
“Our kids did very well under those circumstances. As a team, we had a total of 34 season bests! The boys posted 15 and the girls had 19.
“Our hard work and conditioning is starting to pay off,” Pestel praised. “In the conditions the kids faced today, most athletes would give in, but I’m so proud of how our athletes continued to push through the conditions and pain until the end of each race.”
Senior Sheldon Beierman notched an event victory for the Lady Cardinals in the high jump (5’4) and also finished runner-up to Northwest standout Kayla Bachle in the 300 meter low hurdles (48.47).
The BC/NG girls thrived once again in the distance events Friday. Ashlynn Baker placed second in the 3200 meter run (12:33.01) and fourth in the 1600 meter run (5:48.47), while teammate Christina Stopak finished third in the 3200 (12:36.82) and sixth in the 1600 (5:59.79).
Damian Backus won the boys long jump (21’½) and took third place in a hard fought 400 meter dash (54.76).
Scott Ketteler scored third-place points for the Cardinals in the 110 meter high hurdles (15.30) and placed fourth in the triple jump (40’8½). BC/NG was also strong in the weight events. Isaac Sullivan placed fourth in the shot put (48’5¼), while younger brother Jessie finished sixth in the shot (46’9½) and fifth in the discus (139’5).
BC/NG will be back in action Thursday at the Northwest Invite in Grand Island (2 p.m.).
Complete results in Print & Online editions of Albion News
