Coyotes finish first and second; ten bound for Burke

Potter-Dix turned out to be show stoppers at the District D-11 Championships at Morrill High School as they earned a first and second place in the team competitions on Wednesday.

The girls won their competition by a fairly comfortable margin, outpointing Leyton 113-92. The boys were edged by Garden County 106.5 to 105.

Perhaps more important for the athletes was the chance to qualify for the NSAA State Track and Field Championships at Burke Stadium in Omaha on May 23-24. For those from Potter-Dix who earned their place, they will have the company of many teammates.

The Coyotes puntuated their efforts with the meet ending boys 4x400-meter relay. Cooper Hicks, Bryant Knigge, Jake Johnson and Cameron Purcell combined to hold off a game squad from Hay Springs to earn the victory.

Purcell, who ran the achor leg, had earlier fallen in the open 400 and sustained some ugly cuts. He nevertheless got back up to finish the race. With his teammates haven given him a lead 10 or so yards to work with, Purcell was determined to have a more successful trip around the track on his second attempt.

After being the first to cross the finish line first he let out a yelp of satisfaction.

"I wasn't going to let him catch me. I wasn't going to let three other guys down," said Purcell. "After falling in the open 400 I had something to shoot for. I never heard the guy behind me, I just ran as hard as I could the whole way."

Earlier in the meet a much less drama filled 4x800 team also paved their way to state. The Coyotes won the longer race by nearly 40 seconds and were never in serious danger of defeat. Knigge, Purcell and Johnson were joined by Sam Bogert in the effort.

As expected from the top seed, Knigge had already earned a place at Burke in the pole vault. His mark of 12-06 put him on top by a foot.

"It wasn't very good but we did what it took to win," said Knigge who set his personal best of 13-10 at the conference meet recently. "My jump from conference put me in the top two seeds for state. I'd like to go 14 at state. That's my goal."

While Knigge will have three events to keep him busy in Omaha, Johnson will compete in four. He added gold in the 800 and 1,600 meters.

In the 800 Johnson edged Cooper Hicks by just a whisker. The pair were separated by just .02 seconds.

Hicks will be busy in Omaha, too. He finished second in the high jump.

Not surprisingly, distance star Kate Woten found her way back to the dance. This year, however, she will be running even farther. A qualifier in the two mile in 2013, Woten now adds the 1,600 meters to schedule, thanks to a solid performance at Morrill. She first vanquished the competition in the 3,200 meters by nearly 40 seconds. She was then caught late in the mile to finish second.

"I will always get beat by the person with the best sprint," said Woten. "So I have to do my best to win every other part of the race."

While Lacie Lietka edged Woten in the final strides of the mile, she gave no such opportunities in the longer race. She went to the front from the gun and seemed to widen her lead with every stride.

"I prefer having good competition and I'll get that at state," said Woten. "I would love to medal there and set a new personal best."

Room will have to be made on the bus for sisters Regyn and Ryley Hicks. Regyn was first up as she won her place with a win in the high jump. Not long after, Ryley's second place in the pole vault secured her ticket.

Ryley cleared the bar at 7-06 but hopes for better next week.

"I was hoping for 8-00 or 8-06 today," said Ryley Hicks. "Perhaps I'm just saving my best vaults for state."

Regyn Hicks, whose personal best is 5-02 in the high jump, also aspires to greater heights.

"I'm still trying to get to 5-02," said Regyn Hicks. "I've been getting 5-00 at the last few meets now and its time to get higher now."

Regyn Hicks also qualified for the 100-meter hurdles later in the meet.

Another Potter-Dix sibling tandem also had a spectacular day. Kelsey Rozelle won the boys long jump and triple jump while sister Alexus took gold in the shot put and discus.

While Kelsey had been nursing a balky quad muscle since the Cheyenne County Meet last week, he put it all behind him when his moment came.

"I did my best jumps on my first attempt in both events," said Kelsey Rozelle. "After I hit 20-1 in the long jump I wasn't sure if anyone could top that so I kept jumping."

After the preliminaries of the triple jump, however, Rozelle decided to pass on his finals jumps to rest his quad. The strategy paid off as his mark of 39-08 held up.

On Alexus Rozelle's third throw in the shot put, she surpassed the distance that gave her an automatic berth at state. She did the same in the discus by blowing away the automatic mark of 114 feet with a throw of 120-07.

"I was so excited when my throws passed the automatic qualifying mark," said the freshman Alexus Rozelle. "I was a little nervous because it was districts, but I eased up throughout the day."

Going to State

Jake Johnson

Cooper Hicks

Kate Woten

Regyn Hicks

Bryant Knigge

Cameron Purcell

Sam Bogert

Alexus Rozelle

Kelsey Rozelle

Ryley Hicks