By: Con Marshall
Photos: Dave Collins
Nebraska schools—in alphabetical order—Alliance, Chadron, Gering, Hay Springs, Hemingford and Scottsbluff—all had athletes win events and place high Saturday during the Chadron State College High School Indoor Track and Field Meet, but they had to share the spotlight with some exceptional South Dakota athletes.
The latter are Custer Wildcats Ciana Stiefel and Robbie Emery, who set meet records in both pole vaults, and members of the O’Neill family from Bennett County High at Martin—none of them more than freshmen—who won seven events and placed high in several others. More about that later.
Alliance was led by its middle distance runners. Macey Seebohm repeated as the meet’s 800-meter winner and also anchored the Bulldogs’ first place 800-meter sprint relay team. in the boys’ competition, Mario Rodriguez won the 400 and Trevor Zurn was the 800 winner. In addition, Jonah Amill was the runner-up in the triple jump and placed fourth in the long jump.
Chadron’s pacesetters included Quinn Bailey, who won the 200-meter dash, which had 52 contestants, and was second in the 60 sprint. The Lady Cardinals’ Kyndall Carnahan repeated as the 1600-meter champion, Jentsyn Fuller won the 3200 and Demi Ferguson, Grace Pyle, Cali Hendrickson and Alex Rasmussen made up the winning 4x400 meter relay team. Each of the relay members also finished among the top four in an open race, and another Lady Cardinal, Beau Behrens, was second to Seebohm in the 800.
Gering’s winners included Bo Gable, who nipped Bailey in the 60, was the runner-up to the Chadron all-star in the 200. Gering also won both of the boys’ relays while in the girls’ action Rylee Luce won the 200 and Aubrey Anderson, one of three high jumpers to clear 5-feet, was awarded first place because she had fewer misses.
Hay Springs’ Gage Mintken won both the long and triple jumps and Parker Wellnitz cruised to victory in the 3200.
Hemingford’s Theron Miller won the shotput with a mark of 51 feet, 9 inches while Scottsbluff’s Ryan Hinman, last year’s shot put winner at the CSC meet, threw more than three feet farther this year, but had to settle for second.
Scottsbluff’s only winner this year was senior Hans Bastron, who won the race for the third year in a row after placing second as a freshman. This year’s time of 4:53.17 is the best of the three. Another Bearcat, Daniel Young, matched Mintken’s best mark in the long jump, but the Hay Springs senior had a better second-best leap to take the top spot.
The Lady Bearcats’ Paige Horne won the 60-meter hurdles at last year’s CSC Indoor Meet, but was second Saturday to Reagan O’Neill, a Bennett County 8th grader who also won the 60-meter dash and the long jump to lead her family’s impressive showing Saturday.
Reagan’s long jump of 18-4 ½ Saturday set the Bennett County Schools’ record and would have placed third at the recent Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Meet.
Reagan’s 7th grade sister, Peyson, also had an outstanding day, placing in four events. She won the 400 meters, was second to her sister in the 60 and placed third behind only Reagan and Horne in the 60 hurdles and was the runner-up in the high jump after she was one of the three who cleared five feet and the placings had to be decided who had the fewest misses.
The girls’ older brother, Rush, a freshman, also fared well. He won both the 60-meter hurdles and the high jump with a leap of six feet. In addition, a first cousin to the O’Neills, Harley Harris, a Bennett County 8th grader, won the girls’ triple jump.
Custer stole the show in the pole vault. In the morning, junior Ciana Stiefel, who at last year’s CSC Indoor Meet cleared 12 feet to tie the record set by Meagan Bauer of Gering in 2004, went 12-2 to claim the record solely for herself. She also set South Dakota’s Class A record at last year’s state meet by going 12-8.
Her younger sister, 7th grader Tenley Stiefel, was the runner-up Saturday at 10 feet, which Custer coach Peter Johncour said may be the state record for that grade.
In the afternoon when the boys vaulted, Custer senior Robbie Emery cleared 14-6 to break the meet record of 14-even set by Lucas Rosenbaum of Sidney in 2014. It also is the Custer school record.
Another winner Saturday was Harper Bouche of Southeast High at Yoder, Wyo. She won the girls’ shot put with a heave of 39-1 ½. Chadron’s Olivia Lyon was the runner-up.
The placings for the CSC Indoor Meet follow:
Girls’ Results
60—1, Reagan O’Neill, Bennett County, 7.90; 2, Peyson O’Neill, Bennett County, 8.34; 3, Sahsa Haines, Southeast, 8.44; 4, Josie Sanders, Alliance, 8.52; 5, Macy Claussen, Bennett County, 8.54; 6, Kayel Lambert, Alliance, 8.65.
200—1, Rylee Luce, Gering, 28.31; 2, Kayel Lambert, Alliance, 28.74; 3, Grace Pyle, Chadron, 29.46; 4, Bailey Mehling, Southeast, 29.66; 5, Aubree Johnson, Cody-Kilgore, 29.78; 6, Reese Varvel, Hay Springs, 29.99.
400—1, Peyson O’Neill, Bennett County, 1:04.39; 2, Demi Ferguson, Chadron, 1:06.37; 3, Cali Hendrickson, Chadron, 1:06.63; 4, Alex Rasmussen, Chadron, 1:06.87; 5, Bailey Mehling, Southeast, 1:08.56; 6, Mia Bowles, Scottsbluff, 1:09.29.
800—1, Macey Seebohm, Alliance, 2:32.87; 2, Beau Behrends, Chadron, 2:35.47; 3, Paz Cody, Alliance, 2:53.92; 4, Emilee Houchin, Bayard, 2:57.06; 5, Keana Llewellyn, Southeast, 2:58.05; 6, Erin Cawiezel, Gering, 2:59.84.
1600—1, Kyndall Carnahan, Chadron, 5:55.06; 2, Alison Bradford, Gering, 5:55.86; 3, Ysabella Scherer, Scottsbluff, 5:57.99; 4, Samantha Marin, Creek Valley, 6:07.24; 5, Claire Thomalla, Scottsbluff, 6:25.29; 6, Demi Seelhoff, Gering, 6:27.17.
3200—1, Jentsyn Fuller, Chadron, 13:44.23; 2, Lillie Uhing, Chadron, 14:12.47.
60 high hurdles—1, Reagan O’Neill, Bennett County, 9.22; 2, Paige Horne, Scottsbluff, 9.68; 3, Peyson ONeill, Bennett County, 9.78; 4, Aubrey Anderson, Gering, 10.01; 5, Rylee Luce, Gering, 10.41; 6r, Harley Harris, Bennett County, 10.71.
4x400 relay—1, Chadron (Demi Ferguson, Grace Pyle, Cali Hendrickson, Alex Rasmussen), 4:30.49; 2, Scottsbluff, 4:38.95; 3, Southeast, 5:04.40; 4, Bennett County, 5:17.16.
800 sprint medley relay—1, Alliance (Josie Sanders, Alexis Libsock, Kayel Lambert, Macey Seebohm), 3:31.24; 2, Chadron, 3:34.83; 3, Gering, 3:36.65; 4, Alliance, 3:43.89; 5, Bayard, 3:45.41. 6, Bennett County, 3:45.41.
Shot put—1, Harper Bouche, Southeast, 39-1 ½; 2, Olivia Lyon, Chadron 32-7; 3, Haylee Ekwall, Southeast, 31-11 ¼; 4, Shyla Salcido, Alliance, 30-6; 5, Jaxie John, Gering, 30-5 ½; 6, Jaelyn Brown, Chadron, 30- ½.
Long jump—1, Reagan O’Neill, Bennett County, 18-4 ½; 2, Jaelyn Narvais, Gering, 14-6; 3, Reese Varvel, Hay Springs, 14-5; 4, Josie Sanders, Alliance, 14- ½; 5, Addison Morrison, Chadron, 14- ½; 6, Allison Johnson, Gering, 13-10 ½.
Triple jump—1, Harley Harris, Bennett County, 32-9 ½; 2, Bailey Mehling, Southeast, 31-1 ½; 3, Marley Wilkinson, Scottsbluff, 30-7 ½; 4, Mia Bowles, Scottsbluff; 30-5; 5, Addison Morrison, Chadron, 30-1 ½; 6, Olivia Aguilar, Gering, 30-1.
High jump—1, Aubrey Anderson, Gering, 5-0; 2, Peyson O’Neill, Bennett County, 5-0; 3, Aubree Johnson, Cody-Kilgore, 5-0; 4, Jacey Cochran, Gering, 4-8; 5-6 tie, Sarah Heig, St. Thomas More, and Grace Pyle, 4-8.
Pole vault—1, Ciana Stiefel, Custer, 12-2 (meet record); 2, Tenley Stiefel, Custer, 10-0; 3, Angie Logsdon, Southeast, 9-6; 4, Danielle Hunter, Scottsbluff, 8-6; 5, Addie Sander, Custer, 7-6; 6 tie, Alison Miller, Bayard, and Jessi Kappen, Bayard, 7-0.
Boys’ Results
60—1, Bo Gable, Gering, 7,38; 2, Quinn Bailey, Chadron, 7.34; 3, Rush O’Neill, Bennett County, 7.48; 4, Gage Mintken, Hay Springs, 7.53; 5, Landon Amundsen, Scottsbluff, 7.54; 6, Collin Sullivan, Scottsbluff, 7.59.
200—1, Quinn Bailey, Chadron, 24.11; 2, Bo Gable, Gering, 24.40; 3, Tanner Gartner, Gering, 24.42; 4, Landon Amundsen, Scottsbluff, 24.83; 5, Cody Provost, Lakota Tech, 25.28; 6, Conrad Baard, Gering, 25.38.
400—1, Mario Rodriguez, Alliance, 55.90; 2, Wyatt Gladsen, Southeast, 58.75; 3, Dustin Brien, Hay Springs, 58.98; 4, Aidyn Einkorn, Scottsbluff, 1:00.23; 5, Domingo Gomez, Scottsbluff, 1:00.47; 6, Bruce Whalen, Lakota Tech, 1:00.59.
800—1, Trevor Zurn, Alliance, 2:08.65; 2, Jackson Howard, Gering, 2:09.04; 3, Aiden Narvais, Gering, 2:11.22; 4, Devin Graham, Alliance, 2:14.33; 5, Thomas Carrizales, Scottsbluff, 2:17.08; 6. Nathan Seiler, Gering, 2:18.85.
1600—1, Hans Bastron, Scottsbluff, 4:53.17; 2, Benjamin Cassatt-Reina, Alliance, 4:59.27; 3, Kole Carnahan, Chadron, 5:07.92; 4, Asher Saka, Alliance, 5:11.82; 5, Parker Wellnitz, Hay Springs, 5:24.06; 6, Mason Albercht, Hay Springs, 5:30.77.
3200—1, Parker Wellnitz, Hay Springs, 11:37.47; 2, Mason Albrecht, Hay Springs, 12:08.17.
60 high hurdles—1, Rush O’Neill, Bennett County, 8.87; 2, Creighton Beals, Gering, 9.06; 3, Dylan Raymer, Hay Spring, 9.26; 4, Gavin Bell, Hemingford, 9.64; 5, Owen Latham, Scottsbluff, 9.95; 6, Bryson Johnson, Gering, 10:24.
4x400 relay—1, Gering (Creighton Beals, Jackson Howard, Aiden Norvais, William Rairigh). 3:52.97; 2, Scottsbluff, 4:02.41; 3, Bennett County, 4:04.41; 4, Scottsbluff B, 4:19.44; 5, Lakota Tech, 4:26.89.
800 Sprint Medley Relay—1, Gering (Creighton Beals, Bo Gable, Tanner Gartner, Axton Stone), 2:50.87; 2. Alliance B, 2:59.90; 3. Gering B, 3:00.91; 4, Alliance A, 3:02.22; 5, Scottsbluff, 3:08.46.
Shot put—1, Theron Miller, Hemingford, 51-9; 2, Ryan Hinman, Scottsbluff, 49-5 ½; 3, Eladio Campos, Alliance, 41-8; 4, Hayden Bennett, Gering, 41-4; 5, Julius Blanco, Scottsbluff, 40-9; 6, Alex Fisher, Chadron, 40-0.
Long jump—1, Gage Mintken, Hay Springs, 19-11 ½; 2, Daniel Young, Scottsbluff, 19-11 ½; 3, Dylan Raymer, Hay Springs, 19-2; 4, Jonah Amill, Alliance, 18-8; 5, Quinn Bailey, Chadron, 18-5; 6, Jace Paopao, Chadron, 17-9.
Triple jump—1, Gage Mintken, Hay Springs, 38-6 ½; 2, Jonah Amill, Alliance, 38-2; 3, Devin Graham, Alliance, 37-2 ½; 4, Jace Paopao, Chadron, 36-9; 5. Espen Lanik, Alliance, 36-3; 6, Hayden Risse, Bennett County, 34-11 ½.
High jump—1, Rush O’Neill, Bennett County, 6-0; 2, Camden Ceplecha, Scottsbluff, 5-10; 4, Cade Smith, Chadron, 5-8; 5, Jacoby Elliott, Gering, 5-4; 6, Riley Best, Alliance, 5-4.
Pole Vault—1, Robbie Emery, Custer, 14-6 (meet record) ; Dawson Barrett, Scottsbluff, 12-6; 3, Caleb Leonard, Bayard, 11-0; 4, Benjamin Cassett-Reina, Alliance, 10-6; 5, Maddox Gardner, Gering, 10-0; 6, Jacob Carrizales, Bayard, 10-0.