HARTINGTON — Community members showed their state championship pride on Saturday night and again Monday night.

On Saturday, the Hartington Public boys’ track team added another state title to the school’s already impressive year. They were then welcomed back to Hartington by an impromptu parade led by a firetruck and ambulance.

Just two months ago, the speech team hauled in the state title and prior to that, the One-Act crew earned the state trophy. Now, they also have a state track title.

At a Monday night celebration for the track team at Felber Park, Hartington Public Principal Russ Flamig said winning another title was a “great” end to a successful year.

Track Coach Blair Kalin recapped the state track meet by first talking about the two-mile relay team consisting of Pat Wortmann, Taylor Fischer, Griffin Kalin and Adam Hochstein.

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HARTINGTON — Work has begun on the downtown revitalization project.

Dale Bohac, JEO Consulting Group Inc., said the project is a couple of weeks behind.

“We will have to be more aggressive with the schedule to make up the time and I think we can do that,” he said.

The $1.4 million revitalization project includes new paving for the streets and sidewalks from Franklin to Broadway, new storm sewers, a 12-inch water main and street lights. The intersections will also be made handicap accessible.

Last week, crew members were working on Madison Avenue between Bow and Court streets and this week, Bohac anticipates they will be working on Broadway between Court Street and Hwy. 84.

The work is being done so a water main for the new Fire Hall on the former Hartington Public campus can be hooked into the rest of the system. It cost $5,000 for the adjustment, which the Hartington Fire Dept. and city are sharing.

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HARTINGTON — Ready, set, splash!

Area residents might notice a few changes at the Hartington Swimming Pool when it opens Friday.

Hartington Park Board President Jerry Wintz said the main and kiddie pools have been given a new coat of paint. The  exterior of the bath house and corridor leading inside have also been painted.

The staff this year includes seven full-time and three substitute lifeguards. Jason Wintz, Hartington, is the pool manager and Zach Steffen is the assistant pool manager.

Most of the lifeguards, who are both high school and college students, are returning from last year.

“It is nice to have the experience, so that is a plus for us,” Jerry Wintz said.

Jason is returning for his second year as pool manager and fourth year as an employee.

He is required to obtain his pool operator’s permit for this position, which means taking a four-hour class and then passing an exam. It covers everything from balancing the pool chemicals to proper procedures in case a major accident would happen.

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BELDEN — An area in the southern part of Cedar County being used to honor American soldiers will soon be spruced up and ready for Memorial Day.

A spot on the south side of Hwy 20 between Belden and Laurel has been set aside to honor the fallen soldiers that served in the 189th Army National Guard Transportation Company.

For the past eight years volunteers have been maintaining the memorial which honors the soldiers of the 189th along with the 73 soldiers and one K-9 dog who all lost their lives while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The site receives special attention right before Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

There will also be new additions at the memorial this year, according to Belden resident, Kenny Hintz.

“We will fly flags from all 50 states. The flags will be set out right before Memorial Day and then again for the Fourth of July,” Hintz said. “We will be going out to mow and clean up the area ahead of Memorial Day. The flags that have been out there have to be pulled up and replaced and we will redo the flowers.”

Volunteers maintain the area used for the memorial throughout the year.

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OMAHA — Hartington Public School senior Michaela Dendinger closed out her high school track career with a pair of silver medals as last week’s State Track Meet.

She helped the Lady Wildcats earn a Top 10 finish at this year’s State meet.

Lewis and Clark Conference schools Wausa, Wynot, Osmond and Hartington all broke into the Top 20 in the state meet with Hartington leading the way in the Class D state meet.

“This proves just how good our local competition has been all year long,” said Hartington Track Coach Laura Noecker.

Dendinger was in the lead on her final throw in both the discus and the shot put.

She was bumped into second place in both events, however. Kelbie Lyon of Giltner edged her out in the shot put with her last toss of 39’8.25  and Jordan Lempka of SterIing bumped her to second with her final throw of 133’7”.

Dendinger’s second place mark in the shot of 39’6” was just inches shy of the championship. Her second place toss was 132’9” in the discus.

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OMAHA — Even though they graduated earlier this month, the Hartington High School Class of 2013 continued to etch their names into the Hartington High School history book last weekend.

The Wildcat boys’ track team claimed the State Track title on Saturday. It marks only the second state track title in school history. The last time the Wildcats topped the state in track was in 1948.

The race for the coveted state crown had been a back and forth affair all day between Paxton and Hartington. With just one event left on the schedule late Saturday afternoon, HPS Coach Blair Kalin knew his team could do it.

All his Wildcats had to do was out-perform Paxton in the 4×400 relay to earn the state title.

They did just that, claiming a silver medal in the event to finish the meet with 55 points and take home the state title.

“Coach Kalin said, ‘just run.’  We thought we should be able to beat Paxton, and because they ran in the heat before us, we got to watch them and knew what time we had to beat and believed we could do it,” said senior speedster Nick Miller.

OMAHA — Wynot track star Ashley Heine walked away from her final State track meet with three medals in tow.

Heine won the Class D 400-meter run. She took home fifth-place honors in the 800-meter run.

Heine also helped the Wynot 1,600-meter relay team earn a fifth-place finish. Other members of that team were: Jenna Heine, Erica Burbach and Shelby Hochstein.

400-meter run

1 Ashley Heine, Wynot, 59.03; 2 Emily Petz, WP Guardian Angels, 59.91; 3 Maddison Nygren, Mead, 1:00.47; 4 Rochelle Wendland, Arapahoe, 1:00.6; 5 Holly Podliska, Humphrey St. Fran, 1:01.55; 6 Rachel Finnegan, Allen, 1:01.80; 7 Lesley Towery, Hitchcock Co, 1:02.06; 8 Kate Kelley, Southwest, 1:02.12.

800-meter run

1 Carissa Gutz, Osmond, 2:21.48; 2 Emily Kaup, Stuart, 2:22.64; 3 Tessa Gale, Cody-Kilgore, 2:23.69; 4 Holly Podliska, Humphrey St. Francis, 2:25.33; 5 Ashley Heine, Wynot, 2:25.54; 6 Alejandra Kersenbrock, St. Mary’s, 2:27.26; 7 Jennifer Pribyl, Exeter-Milligan,

2:28.34; 8 Breanna Gallup, Wausa, 2:28.45.

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OMAHA — Sophomore speedster Alli Walter picked up a pair of medals for the Cedar Catholic Lady Trojans at last weekend’s State Track Meet here.

Walter was just one of several Cedar athletes competing at the State meet for the Trojans.

Emily Schrempp competed in the long jump, and Katelyn Dickes competed in the 300-meter hurdles. Siera Becker competed in the pole vault, and Liz Steffen threw the discus. None of them earned medals, however. Lexi Steffen also earned the right to compete at State, but an injury kept her out of the competition.

The Cedar girls team of Siera Becker, Bailey Steffen, Monica Arens and Katelyn Dickes  also competed in the 3,200 meter relay, finishing ninth on the day.

Competing for the Cedar boys were Ryan Becker in the pole vault and Shane Guy in the triple jump.

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The Hartington boys have 36 points, one ahead of day-one leader Paxton.

As they have done all year long, the Hartington relay teams have carried the squad.

The 400-meter relay team earned gold, while the 4×800 relay team earned a silver medal.

Hartington’s state championship 4×100 team crossed the finish line in 44.229 to edge out Cambridge. Falls City Sacred Heart crossed the line in third, while Paxton took fourth.

The Wildcat 4×100 team is made up of

1 Hartington, 44.20 (Alec Fuelberth, Nick Miller, Brandon Mainquist, and Joe Noecker).

OMAHA — Cedar Catholic sophomore sprinter Alli Walter earned a bronze medal at the State Track meet Saturday.

Walter, crossed the finish line in third place in the 100-meter dash. Her time of 12.72 was just off the pace set by Kearney  Catholic seniors Kalyn Brannagan and Michaela Mestl. Brannagan claimed gold with a time of 12.37, while teammate Mestl  edged out Walter at the line with her time of 12.66.