The 2023 State Track and Field Meet at Omaha Burke on May 19-20 for Classes C and D ended with a couple of event champions for Axtell and a runner-up team finish for the Cat boys.

Junior Kassidy Wehrer won Class D gold in the girls’ triple jump with a hop-skip-jump of 35-10 1/2, just a couple inches shy of the school record.

The boys’ 3200 relay with junior Keyton Cole, junior Tyler Hanson, senior Zach Arner and sophomore Luc Lopez outraced all other ‘D’ foursomes to also bring home gold medals.

The Axtell boys scored 33 points to tie for second. The top 10 boys teams were Plainview (53), Axtell (33), Riverside (33), Mullen (33), Sterling (32), McCool Junction (28), Howells-Dodge (28), Overton (27), Nebraska Christian (26) and Brady (26).

The Axtell Wildcats and Wilcox-Hildreth Falcons competed at the 2023 State Track and Field Meet at Omaha Burke on May 19-20. Pictured: Kassidy Halvorsen clears a hurdle at the state competition for the Wildcats. See page 16 for more pics. (Photo by Corbey Dorsey)

Axtell’s girls scored 14 to tie for 17th. The top 10 girls’ teams were Osceola (48), Nebraska Christian (42), May- wood-Hayes Center (35), BDS (31), Sterling (31), O’Neill St. Mary (29), Mullen (28), Central Valley (28), Sandhills-Thed- ford (27) and McCool Junction (23.5).

There were four other event medalists for the Cat boys. Lopez and Cole were second and third, respective- ly, in the 800. Sophomore Jake Halvorsen was a double medalist finishing fourth in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles.

Wehrer brought home a second medal as well, placing sixth in the long jump. Additionally, she earned a third medal as the second leg in the 8th place 400 relay with senior Angie Snell, senior Hannah Lienemann and junior Emma Callan.

Also for the Lady Cats, junior Jenna Marsh nearly medalled in the high jump, tying for ninth. Other state competitors for the girls were sophomore Avery Stritt (1600), Snell (pole vault), senior Lexie Eckhoff (discus), senior Kassidy Halvorsen (100 hurdles) and Wehrer (100).

Additionally for the Cat boys were freshman Cayson Havranek (triple jump), Lopez (400), Z. Arner (1600), Hanson (1600, 3200), 400 relay with senior Cody Arner, Halvorsen, sophomore Elijah Bergstrom and Havranek and the 1600 relay with Bergstrom, Cole, Z. Arner and Lopez.

Wilcox-Hildreth was represented by a pair of sopho- mores. Cara Bunger and Micah Johnson made their state debuts, respectively, in the girls’ and boys’ 3200.

BOYS RESULTS 400-METERS — Lopez, 24th, 58.65

800-METERS — Lopez, second, 2:00.34; Cole, third, 2:00.64

1,600-METERS — Z. Arner, 15th, 4:50.45; Hanson, 18th, 4:56.16

3,200-METERS — Hanson, 15th, 11:06.43; Johnson (WH), 16th, 11:10.55

110-METER HURDLES — Halvorsen, 4th, 15.61 300-METER HURDLES — Halvorsen, 5th, 40.75 4x800 RELAY — Cole, Hanson, Z. Arner, Lopez, 1st,

8:22.88

4x400 RELAY — Bergstrom, Cole, Z. Arner, Lopez, 11th, 3:35.67

4x100 RELAY — C. Arner, Halvorsen, Bergstrom, Havranek, 16th, 46.18

TRIPLE JUMP — Havranek, 23rd, 37-11 3/4 GIRLS RESULTS

100-METERS — Wehrer, 13th, 13.06
1,600-METERS — Stritt, 18th, 6:06.85 3,200-METERS — Bunger (WH), 18th, 13:35.68 100-METER HURDLES — Halvorsen, 15th, 16.914x100 RELAY — Snell, Wehrer, Lienemann, Callan,

8th, 51.95
POLE VAULT — Snell, no height
HIGH JUMP — Marsh, tie-9th, 4-8 LONG JUMP — Wehrer, 6th, 16-1 3/4 TRIPLE JUMP — Wehrer, 1st, 35-10 1/2 DISCUS — Eckhoff, 21st, 97-0