By: Con Marshall
The Panhandle Conference will hold its track and field meet at Morrill on Thursday. The meet was set for Friday, but has been rescheduled because the weather is expected to be better then than it will be later in the week.
The Morrill girls and the Hemingford boys are the defending champions and are apt to repeat if all of their athletes are healthy.
Morrill sprinter Brooklin Hess, who won all three of the sprints at her school’s Early Bird Meet to open the current season and also at the Bayard C-D Meet the next week, did not compete at the Western Trails Conference Meet on April 13.
The addition of Hyannis to the conference’s membership this year might be a factor in the outcome.
No records have been set since 2017, but seniors Gage Mintken of Hay Springs and Theron Miller of Hemingford could change that trend. Each has marks this season that exceed conference records that were set by an athlete from his school.
Mintken has a chance to break Heath Lee’s long jump record of 20-8 that was set in 2011 and Miller will be striving to sail the discus farther than Adam Wacker’s record of 163-7 set in 2000. The latter also was the Bobcats’ school record until Miller threw 169-3 last Friday at the Chadron Twilight Meet.
Miller also could erase conference’s shot put record of 52-1¾ set by Crawford’s Paul Shimek in 1985. Miller has hit 52-3 this spring.