ANNA FALTERMEIER/The Kearney CourierKearney High junior Chayla Hisel takes off at the start of the second leg of the girls 3,200-meter relay at districts Saturday, May 10 in Excelsior Springs. The Bulldogs went on to win the relay by more than 20 seconds.
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Girls track makes it two in a row at districts
Girls capture three individual, two relay titles
By Chris Geinosky
For the first time this spring, the Kearney High girls 1,600-meter relay crossed the finish line ahead of all its competition.
That victory officially gave the Bulldogs their first team victory of the season and the Class 3 District 8 championship Saturday, May 10, in Excelsior Springs. Not bad timing.
“It was huge,” said Ariel Dunn, the anchor of the meet-closing relay. “This is what we wanted to do. This is what we came here to do. We had some ups and downs out here on the track today, but we managed to pull it out.”
With one race to go, the girls knew exactly what they needed to do. Kearney head coach Jeff Roberts made sure they knew.
“I told them to go out there and win it, but be safe first,” Roberts said. “Make sure that baton’s secure. Do the right things so that they don’t get anybody in trouble. It’s safe to say they were very safe and very good.”
Actually, the girls were the best they’ve been all season. The relay team of Angel Gannon, Ashley Hoover, Hannah Smart and Dunn posted a winning time of 4 minutes, 9.37 seconds — their best of the season, which is less than a second and a half away from the school record.
“We haven’t been very consistent this year, our time’s been fluctuating,” Dunn said. “We talked it out and knew we had to give everything we had. We did, and it worked out the way we wanted it to. We’re ecstatic.”
Thanks to the relay victory, Kearney finished with 112 team points and captured back-to-back district championships. Maryville, a team that won every meet it had competed in during the regular season, had to settle for district runner-up honors with 99 1/2 points.
“We had some kids step up today,” Roberts said. “They did their best today, and that’s what we wanted out of the kids. They scored more points than I thought they would, and that was nice to see.”
The Kearney girls grabbed five district titles in all, starting with the 3,200 relay in the opening event of the day. Running away from the field early and often, Brooke Buerky, Chayla Hisel, Hoover and Dunn broke the 10-minute barrier and won the race by more than 20 seconds.
Dunn followed up with a victory in the 400. Buerky claimed the title in the 1,600 and took second in the 800. Marissa Moberly became the champion in the 3,200.
“The day went really well,” Buerky said. “The 4-by-8 did awesome, especially in this wind. It wasn’t a real good day to run your best time, but I was still really excited with the way we ran.”
Kearney’s 400 and 800 relay teams each finished second, meaning all four Bulldog relays will run at sectionals this weekend in Kearney. Hisel (fourth in the 1,600) and Sydney Haase (fourth in the 100 and 300 hurdles) grabbed the final qualifying spots in their events. One of the big shockers of the day came in the pole vault where Haase — a returning state competitor — failed to clear a height.
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.
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That victory officially gave the Bulldogs their first team victory of the season and the Class 3 District 8 championship Saturday, May 10, in Excelsior Springs. Not bad timing.
“It was huge,” said Ariel Dunn, the anchor of the meet-closing relay. “This is what we wanted to do. This is what we came here to do. We had some ups and downs out here on the track today, but we managed to pull it out.”
With one race to go, the girls knew exactly what they needed to do. Kearney head coach Jeff Roberts made sure they knew.
“I told them to go out there and win it, but be safe first,” Roberts said. “Make sure that baton’s secure. Do the right things so that they don’t get anybody in trouble. It’s safe to say they were very safe and very good.”
Actually, the girls were the best they’ve been all season. The relay team of Angel Gannon, Ashley Hoover, Hannah Smart and Dunn posted a winning time of 4 minutes, 9.37 seconds — their best of the season, which is less than a second and a half away from the school record.
“We haven’t been very consistent this year, our time’s been fluctuating,” Dunn said. “We talked it out and knew we had to give everything we had. We did, and it worked out the way we wanted it to. We’re ecstatic.”
Thanks to the relay victory, Kearney finished with 112 team points and captured back-to-back district championships. Maryville, a team that won every meet it had competed in during the regular season, had to settle for district runner-up honors with 99 1/2 points.
“We had some kids step up today,” Roberts said. “They did their best today, and that’s what we wanted out of the kids. They scored more points than I thought they would, and that was nice to see.”
The Kearney girls grabbed five district titles in all, starting with the 3,200 relay in the opening event of the day. Running away from the field early and often, Brooke Buerky, Chayla Hisel, Hoover and Dunn broke the 10-minute barrier and won the race by more than 20 seconds.
Dunn followed up with a victory in the 400. Buerky claimed the title in the 1,600 and took second in the 800. Marissa Moberly became the champion in the 3,200.
“The day went really well,” Buerky said. “The 4-by-8 did awesome, especially in this wind. It wasn’t a real good day to run your best time, but I was still really excited with the way we ran.”
Kearney’s 400 and 800 relay teams each finished second, meaning all four Bulldog relays will run at sectionals this weekend in Kearney. Hisel (fourth in the 1,600) and Sydney Haase (fourth in the 100 and 300 hurdles) grabbed the final qualifying spots in their events. One of the big shockers of the day came in the pole vault where Haase — a returning state competitor — failed to clear a height.
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.