25 Antelope County Athletes Set To Compete At State Meet

Twenty-five Antelope County athletes qualified for this week's state track meet in Omaha.

For the second year in a row, the Elkhorn Valley Falcons boys were the district champions. Thanks to a strong team effort Wednesday in which the Falcons medaled in nearly every event, the Elkhorn Valley boys took home the team title, scoring 146 points, 19 more than the next closest team. Led by seniors Chris Peterson and Noah Rutjens, Elkhorn Valley used an extremely well rounded performance to take the medal. Peterson took home second in the shot put, as well as third in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dash. Rutjen won the triple jump, long jump, and finished third in the high jump. Both are members of the first place 4x100 meter relay team, along with Tyler Rautenberg and Brayden Effle. Effle also took home gold in the 300 meter hurdles.

"A handful of boys medaled here that have not medaled yet this year," said the Falcons head coach, Jeff Meyers. "We came into the season with an older team, but the younger kids have been pushing themselves all year. We have seen PRs in every meet this year."

The Falcon girls also had a strong day, finishing third in the team standings. They were lead by Amber Miller, who took home first in the triple jump. Ranee Keehn also had a strong day, taking third in the triple jump and fourth in both the 400 meter dash and the 300 hurdles.

At the C-9 district meet in Burwell on Thursday, Clearwater-Orchard led the local qualifiers with seven athletes. Kinzly Macke (100, 200), Kylie Thiele (400, 800) and Jagger Smith (high jump, long jump) were all double qualifiers. The Cyclones went 1-2 in the high jump with Alexis Pokorny and JoCee Johnston qualifying. Sierra Schroeder (long jump) and Brooklynn Chipps (shot put) also will advance to Omaha.

For Elgin Public/Pope John, Austin Meis is a double-qualifier in the 100 and 200 while the brother-sister duo of Dylan and Lydia Behnk also qualified in the triple and long jump, respectively. Ryan Pelster qualified int he 3,200. For Neligh-Oakdale, three Warriors punched their ticket to Omaha. Grant White (triple jump), Alexis Jensen (100) and Bailey Frey (300 hurdles) all qualified.

State Qualifiers
Austin Miller, Elkhorn Valley, 3200 Meter Run
Quin Smith, Elkhorn Valley, 110 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles
Tyler Miller, Elkhorn Valley, pole vault
Josh McFarland, Elkhorn Valley, pole vault
Brayden Effle, Elkhorn Valley, 300 meter hurdles, 4x100 meter relay
Tyler Rautenberg, Elkhorn Valley, 4x100 meter relay
Noah Rutjens, Elkhorn Valley, 4x100 meter relay, long jump, triple jump
Chris Peterson, Elkhorn Valley, 4x100 meter relay, shout put
Hannah Ollendick, Elkhorn Valley, 100 meter hurdles, 300 meter hurdles
Amber Miller, Elkhorn Valley, pole vault, triple jump
Ranee Keehn, Elkhorn Valley, triple jump, long jump
Austin Meis, EPPJ, 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash
Dylan Behnk, EPPJ, triple jump
Lydia Behnk, EPPJ, long jump
Ryan Pelster, EPPJ, 3200
Grant White, Neligh-Oakdale, triple jump
Alexis Jensen, Neligh-Oakdale, 100 meter dash
Bailey Frey, Neligh-Oakdale, 300 meter hurdles
Kinzly Macke, Clearwater-Orchard, 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash
Kylie Thiele, Clearwater-Orchard, 400 meter run, 800 meter run
Alexis Pokorny, Clearwater-Orchard, high jump
JoCee Johnston, Clearwater-Orchard, high jump
Sierra Schroeder, Clearwater-Orchard, long jump
Jagger Smith, Clearwater-Orchard, high jump, long jump
​Brooklynn Chipps, Clearwater/-Orchard, shot put