Cyclones Battle Storms At State Track, Long Earns First Medal

As the weather slowly deteriorated throughout the afternoon, the Cyclones kept plugging along at the State Track and Field Championships in Omaha.

Chris Kester got the Clearwater-Orchard competitors started off on the day. The sophomore cleared 10-00 on his first attempt at the pole vault but was unable to beat 10-06, a mark that would have set a new school record.

Fellow sophomore Jacob Long got a busy day started with the triple jump. He was unable to keep up with the rest of the pack, finishing 14th with a jump of 39-11.00. He later competed in the high jump, an event that proved a bit more fruitful. Despite the wet weather, he bested the 5-10.00 mark to tie for fifth, earning his team three points in his first meet and becoming the Cyclones' first medalist of the meet.

Kinzly Macke was the first Lady Cyclone to hit the track when she took part in the 100 meter dash. The senior was unable to qualify for finals, finishing in a time of 13.56. She later just missed out on heading to the finals in the 200 meter dash when she ran a 27.93 in the pouring rain.

Kylie Thiele rounded out the day for the Cyclones. She finished with arguably the best performance, running the 400 meter dash in a time of 1:00.73 to lock up a spot in Saturday's finals.

On Saturday, Thiele will take part in the 800 meter run at 9:30 a.m. to kick off a busy day for Clearwater-Orchard.