It was going to take a great team effort to beat Hartington-Newcastle on their track.  The defending class C State Champions had a long streak of district titles on the line also.  The Tigers were working for their fourth in a row.

          Osmond got off to a great start when Alexis Solorzano won the shot put on his last throw of the finals.  He had been trailing Meisenheimer of Hartington till he unleashed a toss of 45-5, his best ever.  He wasn’t done yet as he took the lead in the discus on his third throw of the prelims.   His winning mark was 131-7, also a personal record. With the win’s Alexis qualifies for next week’s State Meet in both events.  This was very important as the Wildcats Lincoln McPhillips would win the high jump, long jump, and triple jump and the Wildcats took first and second in the pole vault.  The Tigers did score additional points in the sand jumps.  Aaron Chishiba collected fourth in the long jump with a leap of 19-4, nearly a PR.  Justus Maertins had a season’s PR in the triple jump as he cleared 39-.25 for fourth place.  Graysen Schultze took sixth place with nearly his best mark ever of 38-9.

          The first track event saw the Tigers finish in third place in the 3200-relay.  Their time of 8:55.59 would later qualify them for the State Meet.  Team members were Johnson Chishiba, Mason Bykerk, Joshua Gansebom, and Anthony Heiman. After the preliminaries of the hurdles and 100 meters it was time for the 400 meters where the Tigers would score very well.  The top four runners were very close at the finish.  Avery Fredericksen from Allen won in a time of 52.71, Anthony Heiman second at 52.76, Justus Maertins third in 53.19, and St. Francis’s Taylor Wemhoff fourth at 53.27.   

          Next event was the 3200 meters where the Tigers would also double up. Jared Bessmer and Mason Bykerk would leave the pack behind on the fifth lap.  Mason would win the race in his best time of 10:59.90 and Jared was second in 11:13.75.

          In the finals every point was very important.  Keaton Wattier finished second in the 110 high hurdles edging Allen’s Lukas Oswald.  Keaton ran 16.42 and Oswald 16.45. In the 100 meters Connor Gutz finished in sixth place in a time of 12.18, Zach Huwaldt was seventh.  In the 800 meters Osmond would finish in third and fourth places.  Johnson Chishiba ran his best time of the season of 2:09.25 and Anthony Heiman 2:11.19, his PR this season.  Hartington picked up a second place finish. 

          The 300 hurdles proved to be a very fast race as the top two times were in the 41 second range.  Justus Maertins ran nearly his fastest time of 42.91 for fourth place. That time was good enough for an additional qualifier.  Keaton Wattier came in sixth in 45.98.  In the 200 meters Hartington finished in third place and Zach Huwaldt placed sixth in 24.89.  Aaron Chishiba was seventh. 

          The 1600 meters turned out to be a big race for the Tigers as three runners placed.  Graysen Schultze won the event in his best time of 4:57.14.  Joshua Gansebom was fourth in 5:17.23 and Jared Bessmer fifth in 5:19.70.  Those were 16 big points as before the race the Wildcats had a 96.5 to 92 lead and after the Tigers had pulled ahead 108 to 97.5.

          Hartington finished third in the 400-relay and Osmond was fourth in a time of 47.25.  Aaron Chishiba, Nick Reikofski, Bodie True and Zach Huwaldt had held their own.  The final race was the 1600-relay.  Osmond had an 8.5 point lead so they needed to just finish in the middle and would win the meet.  Hartington was second and Osmond fourth to seal the deal.  Justus Maertins, Johnson Chishiba, Connor Guts, and Anthony Heiman ran their best time of the season of 3:42.13. 

          “We had a great day executing just as we needed to “praised Coach Joe Ortmeier.  “We ran, jumped, and threw just what we thought we could and that got the job done.”

          “On the girls’ side there were some very tough teams making it very difficult on our team” noted Coach Ortmeier.  Top event for the Tigers was the 400-relay team.  The girls finished in third place in their fastest time of the year of 54.38.  Team members were Kennedy Johnson, Makenzie Johnson, Grace Gansebom and Haven Schultze.  They had qualified and medaled each of the past three years and were hoping for an additional qualifier, but their time just missed out. 

          Makenzie placed fourth in the high jump with a jump of 4-9.  She had been a three year qualifier the high jump. She also took sixth place in the 100 hurdles in a time of 18.37.  Kennedy Johnson was fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 31-4.5.  She also ran her fastest 400 meters of the year for a sixth place finish.  She was clocked at 64.32.

 Grace Gansebom earned fifth place in the 200 meters in a time of 28.98. Mary Kahny made the finals of the shot put, but did not place.  Haven Schultze also made the finals of the 100 meters but just missed placing.

          The 3200-relay team and the 1600-relay teams both placed fifth. In the 3200-relay Madeline Huwaldt, Kiera Moes, Bailey Schmit and Lexi Beacom ran their best time of the year by nearly 9 seconds.  They covered the distance in 12:08.46.  The 1600-relay team of Riley Wagner, Makenzie Johnson, Grace Gansebom, and Kennedy Johnson also ran their fastest time of the season of 4:30.09.

          “The girls gave a great effort and competed hard” complimented Coach Ortmeier.

Girls Scores                                                  Boys Scores