5 Things To Know - District Track Meets

The 2016-17 school year is drawing to a close, meaning that state track is just around the corner. One final hurdle stands between competitors and a state title - the district meet. Antelope County athletes will be headed in three different directions with the goal of meeting up in Omaha for the state track meet next week. Here is five things you need to know about the district meets this week.

​1. The who and when
As we said earlier, Antelope County will be a bit spread out for district track. Districts starts off on Wednesday with Clearwater-Orchard and Elgin Public/Pope John heading to the D-6 meet at Rock County in Bassett with the pole vault competition going down in O'Neill on Tuesday evening. Elkhorn Valley will head east to Hartington for the D-1 meet on the same day. Neligh-Oakdale competes on Thursday in Atkinson for the C-8 meet.

2. How's the weather?
Things could get a little soggy on Wednesday. The tracksters in Bassett should expect rain throughout the morning before finishing the day under clouds with highs in the mid-50s. That same trend will likely hit Hartington a little bit later in the day, so the Falcon faithful should expect to get a bit wet. Neligh-Oakdale will be the team that lucks out as temperatures are expected to hit the 70s on Thursday in Atkinson with almost no chance of rain.

3. Who has a return ticket to state?
The county is not lacking for great athletes, that is evident when looking at last year's state qualifiers combined with the newcomers this year. However, with the districts changing up a bit, it could put some of the fringe competitors out of the running. Elkhorn Valley's Amber Miller, Hannah Ollendick, Tyler Miller, Austin Miller and Brayden Effle all have experience at the state meet from last year. EPPJ's Lydia Behnk will keep her eye on a return trip. Clearwater-Orchard sent Alexis Pokorny, JoCee Johnston, Brooklynn Chipps, Kylie Thiele and Kinzly Macke last year and Neligh-Oakdale's Alexis Jensen, Bailey Frey and Grant White all made the trip as well. 

4. What about first-time qualifiers?
If there is one thing that can be guaranteed, it's this: there will be multiple first-time qualifiers for the state meet. Its just natural, with kids putting in the hard work they do and talented freshmen coming in. There could be many first-timers this year, but here's someone to watch for from each school:
Elkhorn Valley: Allison Stineman
Neligh-Oakdale: Tyson Belitz
Elgin Public/Pope John: Girls 4x800 relay team
Clearwater-Orchard: Jacob Long

​5. What will Clearwater-Orchard do next?
The track season has been a strong one for the Cyclones. It seems as if every other meet sees a Cyclone setting a new record of some kind, whether it be Thiele, Chipps, Bertschinger or the whole team. The girls topped it off by winning their first-ever Niobrara Valley Conference meet. The depth of the Cyclones is their strength, so it will be certainly be interesting to see how many points they can rack up in search of a district title.