Noecker, Kathol lead Cedar track teams

PIERCE — It was the Mid-State Conference track and field meet last weekend in Pierce and the Cedar Catholic boys and girls did more than represent themselves just fine.

The boys finished fifth with 64 points and the girls took sixth with 42 points.

The Lady Trojans were led by the winning double of Laney Kathol (first, 400 meters, 1:00.66; first, 800 meters, 2:32.78) while they also saw top performances by Grace Reifenrath (second, 200 meters, 26.45), Sara Burbach (fourth, 1,600 meters, 6:06.49; fourth, 3,200 meters, 13:47.54), the 4x400 relay (Faith Christensen, Sophia Reifenrath, Grace Reifenrath, Kathol, fourth, 4:28.27) and 4x800 relay (Burbach, Mackenzie Arens, Jordyn Steffen, Kathol, fifth, 10:44.86).

Carson Noecker (first, 1,600 meters, 4:41.07; first, 3,200 meters, 9:44.78) continued his legendary form with two wins again and his performance was the pinnacle of showings that included the 4x800 relay (Noecker, Calvin Christensen, Carson Arens, Dagen Joachimsen, first, 8:33.78), Jaxson Bernecker though.”

It was a nice culmination to a week that included a trip to The Classic two days earlier as Cattau traveled with 15 Trojans.

“Every kid we brought won at least one medal,” Cattau said. “I was extremely excited for each of our athletes for this opportunity. Most of the kids had their best performance of the season which was great. Going against the level of competition that we faced really helps prepare us for districts and state.

“I really believe that our kids are really starting to believe that they can accomplish some great things in the last few meets of the year. They have really grown mentally over the past month because of the challenges we have put them through in practice.”

Noecker was named the most outstanding male athlete of the meet for winning gold in the 3,200 relay and the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs.

Alex Kuehn said a lot of the team’s success comes from the Trojan coaching staff’s ability to coach the kids up and prepare them for battle.

Battle is one thing the Trojans have excelled at in the sports arena this year so why not go out with a bang? (second, triple jump, 41-01; sixth, discus, 142-00), Alex Kuehn (second, 400 meters, 52.53), Arens (third, high jump, 6-00), 4x400 relay (Dagen Joachimsen, Carson Arens, Easton Becker, Kuehn, third, 3:35.73), Owen Heimes (fifth, 300 hurdles, 43.12; sixth, long jump, 20-03) and Joachimsen (fifth, 800 meters, 2:12.59).

“We knew with the balance of the conference that this would be a difficult meet for us, but I thought our kids competed really hard in their events,” CCHS head coach Chad Cattau said. “We had a lot of kids have their best performance of the season. This really shows that we are continuing to improve ourselves as the season progresses. This meet really puts us in a great situation heading towards the district meet because we have faced off against some of the best athletes in the entire state at this meet.

“The weather was a major factor in the day because it was the first time we have competed in the heat this Spring. It was 93 degrees and windy, so we really had to emphasize proper water intake throughout the day and leading up to the meet. The kids all seemed to handle the heat very well

“They get us in shape to get ready to compete with other people,” Kuehn said. “We want to try our best and see where it can go. A lot of the guys want to go to state and we want to win.

“We want to have a memory to look back on.”

Keuhn feels that kind of memory could happen.

“There is definitely a lot of potential because everyone is pretty motivated to be their best and they have what it takes to do well,” he said. Girls Standings:

Girls Standings: Boone Central/Newman Grove 103; O’Neill 96; Battle Creek 84.50; Norfolk Catholic 84; Pierce 62; Hartington Cedar Catholic 42; Wayne 22; Crofton 21.50; GACC 12. 100: 1. Paytyn Taake, BC, 12.69; 2. Ava Duerksen, BC/NG 12.83. 200: 1. Zelie Sorensen, ON, 25.59; 2. Grace Reifenrath, Cedar, 26.45. 400: 1. Laney Kathol, Cedar, 1:00.66; 2. Meg Schluns, ON, 1:01.68. 800: 1.Laney Kathol, Cedar, 2:32.78; 2. Callie Arnold, PIE, 2:34.73. 1,600: 1. Jordan Stopak, BC/NG, 5:49.11; 2. Samantha Weeder, BC/ NG 5:53.61. 3,200: 1. Stopak, BC/NG, 12:53.72; 2. Weeder, BC/NG, 13:02.67. 100 hurdles: 1. Bri Zohner, BC, 15.35; 2. Blair Gutshall, ON, 15.37. 300 hurdles: 1. Carly Marshall, NC, 49.14; 2. Zohner, BC, 50.44. 4x100: 1. O’Neill 50.56; 2. Battle Creek, 51.61. 4x400: 1. O’Neill, 4:15.55; 2. Pierce, 4:19.69; 4x800: 1. Boone Central/Newman Grove (Simons, Alicia Weeder, Samantha Weeder, Stopak) 10:13.53; 2. Pierce, 10:23.15. High jump: 1. Gutshall, ON, 5-3; 2. Piper Craig, NC, and Channatee Robles, NC, 4-10. Pole vault: 1. Jayden Jordan, CR, 8-6; 2. Sierra Kravig, BC/NG, and Sorensen, ON, 8-0. Long jump: 1. Laura Hasemann, WA, 13-10¼; 2. Avery Yosten, NC, 12-10¼. Triple jump: 1. Renee Brummels, BC, 37-4¼; 2. Lauren Young, ON, 35-1½. Shot put: 1. Mary Fennessy, NC, 42-3; 2. Jozy Piper, NC, 40-1. Discus: 1. Elly Piper, NC, 123-10; 2. Jozy Piper, NC, 122-4.

Boys Team Standings

Battle Creek 110; Pierce 96.5; Boone Central/Newman Grove 86.50; Norfolk Catholic 85; Cedar Catholic 64; O’Neill 40; Wayne 21; Crofton; 14; Guardian Angels Central Catholic, n/a.

Individual results 100: 1. Jackson Clausen, NC, 11.02; 2. Wyatt Nissen, BC/NG, 11.12. 200: 1. Clausen, NC,

100: 1. Jackson Clausen, NC, 11.02; 2. Wyatt Nissen, BC/NG, 11.12. 200: 1. Clausen, NC, 22.30; 2. Nissen, BC/NG, 22.39. 400: 1. Layne Evans, WA, 52.17; 2. Alex Kuehn, HCC, 52.53. 800: 1. Josh Jansen, GACC, 2:09.61; 2. Connor Arens, CR, 2:10.37. 1,600: 1. Carson Noecker, HCC, 4:41.07; 2. Brady Thompson, ON, 4:53.96. 3,200: 1. Noecker, HCC, 9:44.78; 2. Ben Hammond, NC, 10:38.83. 4x800: 1. Cedar Catholic (Noecker, Calvin Christensen, Carson Arens, Dagen Joachimsen), 8:33.78. 2. O’Neill, 8:41.36. Triple jump: 1. Moeller, PIE, 44-6½; 2. Jaxson Bernecker, HCC, 41-1.

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