Local stars shine at Best of the West

Close finishes, personal best efforts and plenty of drama made up the annual all-star track & field event known as The Best of the West Classic in Scottsbluff Thursday.

Representatives from three area schools - Sidney, Potter-Dix and Leyton - sent qualifiers to the event, and all came away with the hardware of success.

As only qualified team members were present, the Best of the West is more of an individual event than a team affair. However, the Sidney boys managed to outpoint the other 21 schools represented with a 106. Two other Class B schools, Alliance (102.5) and Scottsbluff (88.5) finished second and third.

On the girls side host Scottsbluff was the big point earner with 94.5 points while Sidney finished fourth with 49.

In four previous meets this season the Red Raiders have made a clean sweep of the shot put competition powered by the duo of Logan Lewis and Jake Heeren. The Raiders managed to pull off another 1-2 finish on Thursday--only this time the sweep occurred in the high-jump pit.

Nick Conger won his fifth title by jumping 6-02 while Brendan Holly was right with him in second. Holly cleared the identical height but lost out on a tie breaker.

For Holly, who has been working all season to find the form he showed last year, his mark was a new personal best by one inch. Additionally, he bested his previous season effort by four inches.

"I tied my shoes tighter," said Holly with a laugh. "No really. In past meets my shoes seemed to be slipping and today I tied them up real tight. I think that was the difference."

As for Conger his day seemed to be given a boost by his friend and teammates performance. With only Holly and Conger remaining in the competition, Holly cleared the bar on his second attempt at 6-02. Conger, needing a clean jump to move on, followed Holly by clearing the height only moments later.

"Yeah we did feed off each other," said Conger. "When I saw him make it I knew I had to match it."

There was also a close battle in the girls high jump. The Coyotes' Regyn Hicks edged out the Raiders' Savanna Rosenbaum in a tie breaker as both cleared 5-00. In fact the three medalists all cleared the winning height.

Over in the shot put ring Heeren and Lewis again did battle for supremacy, only this time they had company. Ultimately the title was taken by Martin Fitzwater of Niobrara County with Heeren second and Lewis third.

While Heeren established a new personal best (51-01.75) by two inches, Lewis had an off day.

"I felt a lot of pressure on me knowing the guy seeded behind me was just two inches from my best," said Heeren. "Logan just had one of those days. We all have days like that."

Actually Lewis' day wasn't all bad. Whatever struggles he faced with the shot put didn't slow his legs down any. Lewis picked up a win in both the 100 and 200 meters. For good measure he anchored the Raiders winning effort in the 4x100 relay with Michael Banaszak, Lucas Rosenbaum and Chance Anglin.

Banaszak finished just out of the medals in the 200, finishing fourth.

The Raiders earned a sweep of the fastest of the meet when Sara VonSeggern joined Lewis on the top step. She vanquished all her competitors by breaking the 13-second barrier in the 100.

The girls shot put also had some local flavor on the podium as Alexus Rozelle of Potter-Dix finished second. She had a throw of 36-02.75 at just about the time she needed it.

When the competition began, however, it looked like it might not be Rozelle's day.

"I had a really bad start," said Rozelle. "I was a little nervous coming in. But on my last two throws I knew I wasn't going to place if I didn't have a good one. On my second to last throw I was able to get the one I was looking for."

One of the closer battles of the day occurred in the boys pole vault. Over the final three heights, Rosenbaum of Sidney and Bryant Knigge of Potter-Dix were two of four vaulters left in the late stages of the competition. While Rosenbaum and Knigge breezed through their opening heights, a pair of Alliance jumpers managed to hang in by meeting with success on their second and third attempts.

Eventually, it came down to the pair of Cheyenne County rivals. Rosenbaum outlasted Knigge by clearing 13-06 on his second try.

"During warmups I didn't think I had it today," said Knigge who equalled his personal best. "Coach Frerichs just said, 'Let it rip.' He always says 'You can give in to pressure or apply pressure.' So on the runway I always say to myself, 'apply the pressure.'"

Rosenbaum's teammate, sophomore Jasmine Jallen, found her way onto the podium in the girls pole vault. Jallen managed to equal the personal best she set at last weeks meet in Scottsbluff.

"It feels good to be putting in consistent efforts," said Jallen. "If you can keep being constant you can keep excelling. If I keep improving I hope to get to nine feet by the end of the year."

Kassandra Harris of Leyton filed her usual strong effort in the discus. She returned to Dalton with a bronze medal. Though she eclipsed her season-best effort she says she is still working on regaining the form that had her near the school record last season.

"I did about 120 feet on a scratch when I was over the board by no more than a quarter inch," said Harris. "I've been kind of off lately, but the scratch throw made me pretty happy. I'm going to keep practicing to get back where I should be."

Jessica Houk and Kaitlyn Berner joined Harris to represent Leyton at the meet. Berner qualified for the triple and long jumps while Houk joined her in the long jump.

"It wasn't a very good day for either of us," said Berner, who was fifth in the long jump and sixth in the triple. "My consistency just wasn't there. In the long jump I took off on the wrong foot and I was having trouble hitting my mark."

Potter-Dix's Kate Woten ran three metric miles at the meet while earning a personal best in two events. She shaved nearly 10 seconds off her mile time and about four seconds off her specialty - the two mile.

Woten's effort in the two mile earned her a bronze medal.

The Raiders are the next local squad to be back in action on when they travel to the Chadron Invite on Saturday for a 9 a.m. start. The pole vault for the Chadron Invite will be held in Alliance on Friday. Leyton and Potter Dix will be in Sidney on May 9, for the Cheyenne County Invite at 9 a.m.

Best of the West Results

Girls Individual Results

100 Meters

1. Sara VonSeggern, Sidney 12.97

200 Meters

1. Alisha Hunsaker, Kimball 27.36

400 Meters

1. Kaylee Greenwald, LFL 1:01.15

800 Meters

1. Jessi Smith, Bayard 2:19.59

8. Kaitlyn Berner, Leyton 2:36.33

1,600 Meters

1. Celeste Cardona, Mitchell 5:22.46

7. Kate Woten, Potter-Dix 5:53.15

3,200 Meters

1. Celeste Cardona, Mitchell 12:01.25

3. Kate Woten, Potter-Dix 12:28.02

6. Erin Lindeman, Sidney 12:46.66

100-Meter Hurdles

1. Chesney Walker, Scottsbluff 15.37

300-Meter Hurdles

1. Chesney Walker, Scottsbluff 46.66

4x100 Relay

1. Torrington 51.50

6. Sidney 52.83

(Emily Mika, Gabbie Addleman, Sara VonSeggern, Abby Heller)

4x400 Relay

1. Mitchell 4:10.28

4. Sidney 4:16.77

(Preslie Allen, Savanna Rosenbaum, Jami Flores, Abbie Fraas)

4x800 Relay

1. Gering 10:25.28

2. Sidney 10:49.94

(Preslie Allen, Genessa Schilz, Alli Ehler, Maddie Stafford)

Shot Put

1. SteaVen Becker, Scottsbluff 38-11.00

3. Alexus Rozelle, Potter-Dix 36-02.75

Discus

1. SteaVen Becker, Scottsbluff 134-02

3. Kassandra Harris, Leyton 115-08

High Jump

1. Regyn Hicks, Potter-Dix 5-00

2. Savanna Rosenbaum, Sidney 5-00

Pole Vault

1. Megan Stuart, Bayard 9-00

2. Jasmine Jallen, Sidney 8-00

4. Jami Flores, Sidney 8-00

5. Ryley Hicks, Potter-Dix 8-00

Long Jump

1. Avery Madden, Torrington 16-09.75

5. Kaitlyn Berner, Leyton 15-03.50

10. Jessica Houk, Leyton 13-10.50

Triple Jump

1. Avery Madden, Torrington 35-11.75

6. Kaitlyn Berner, Leyton 32-06.75

Boys Individual Results

100 Meters

1. Logan Lewis, Sidney 11.07

200 Meters

1. Logan Lewis, Sidney 22.80

4. Michael Banaszak, Sidney 23.56

400 Meters

1. Ryan Schwartzkopf, Gering 49.07

800 Meters

1. Levi Avila, Mitchell 1:59.33

1,600 Meters

1. Matthew Barraza, Scottsbluff 4:28.22

6. Jake Johnson, Potter-Dix 5:00.79

3,200 Meters

1. Brendan Taedter, Scottsbluff 10:17.34

7. Jachob Wiedeburg, Sidney 10:51.78

110-Meter Hurdles

1. Trevor Kamerzell, Alliance 14.96

4. Nick Conger, Sidney 15.86

300-Meter Hurdles

1. Trevor Kamerzell, Alliance 39.98

4x100 Relay

1. Sidney 44.31

(Michael Banaszak, Lucas Rosenbaum, Chance Anglin, Logan Lewis)

4x400 Relay

1. Gering 3:24.41

2. Sidney 3:26.70

4x800 Relay

1. Sidney 8:33.23

(Jachob Wiedeburg, Logan Uhlir, Brody McKnight, Hayden Lienemann)

5. Potter-Dix 8:58.31

(Jake Johnson, Bryant Knigge, Cooper Hicks, Cameron Purcell)

Shot Put

1. Martin Fitzwater, Niobrara County 51-10.00

2. Jake Heeren, Sidney 51-01.75

3. Logan Lewis, Sidney 50-10.25

Discus

1. Scott Gross, Pine Bluffs 149-08

5. Tucker Wintholz, Sidney 142-04

High Jump

1. Nick Conger, Sidney 6-02

2. Brendan Holly, Sidney 6-02

Pole Vault

1. Lucas Rosenbaum, Sidney 13-06

2. Bryant Knigge, Potter-Dix 13-00

Long Jump

1. Jackson Dickerson, Chadron 20-09.50

Triple Jump

1. Jason Berglund, Alliance 44-02