Rosenbaum sets school mark at Chadron indoor event

Despite the snow and wind that fell outside, the Chadron State College Indoor High School Invite went off as planned on Saturday. With competitors from 15 teams, three states and seven different classes, it was an event more about testing the waters of competition more so than team vs. team.

Though there were many Raiders highlights, especially in boys field events, the moments when Sidney's Lucas Rosenbaum grabbed the attention of nearly all in the Nelson Physical Center in Chadron on Saturday, was certainly a high point. He made his last several vaults to the sound of a rhythmic clapping from the crowd that began quietly and grew louder as he approached his moment of truth.

Though nearly out at every height he attempted, Rosenbaum made it over the bar on the third and final attempt on four occasions in the boys pole vault. Through much of the competition he merely watched, as he didn't jump in until the bar reached 12-2.

While Rosenbaum was the only competitor to remain after the height surpassed 12-2, he continued to push the bar ever higher.

After making it through three heights and his meet win already secured, Rosenbaum had the bar raised to 14-2. To make that height, as was explained by the public address announcer, would mean a meet record. It would also surpass the Raiders record, which Rosenbaum then shared with Andy Niekum. Niekum cleared the 14-1 barrier in 1991 and Rosenbaum last season.

As the crowd became aware, most eyes turned to Rosenbaum and his attempts at a record. As he went into his pre-run up the rhythmic clapping began.  

"With all the clapping it really gets my adrenaline up," said Rosenbaum. "I acutally have to adjust for that surge so I don't lose focus."

On his third attempt at 14-2 Rosenbaum must have had the right dose flowing as he cleared the bar to the cheering of the entire room. After receiving a few congratulations, he went back to work but he just missed on his final attempt at 14-5.

In all he made 15 vaults on the day.

"I wasn't quite ready for that kind of performance, especially after almost going out at 12," said Rosenbaum who is headed to Missouri S&T in the fall to run track and study engineering. "I was really just thinking about winning the meet."

Perhaps most impressive for Rosenbaum is that he managed to reach what would have been mid-season form last year without hardly any practice. They have had only four days of vault time and only one day actually going over a bar - though the bar was just a bungee cord.

"It's just muscle memory," said Matt McKay who coaches the Sidney vaulters.

The Sidney boys picked up three individual wins in field events including a top-two sweep of the shot put, with Logan Lewis (52-08) on top followed by Jake Heeren (47-09).

Tucker Wintholz (42-09) and Brian Rolls (39-02) finished in fifth and ninth, respectively, ensuring the Raiders placed four in the top 10.

Sidney also placed two in the top four of the high jump, with Nick Conger (6-02) taking the top spot and Brendan Holly (5-10) nearby in fourth.

"Today I was just thinking about getting out and jumping. Just get the first-meet jitters out of the way," said Conger who entered the competition when the bar reached 5-8. "I was thinking about going in at 5-10 but I went in early to warm up my legs. Later when I saw a couple of guys clear six feet, that got me into the meet. The competition is good for me."

On the girls side of the ledger, there was plenty of promise and accomplishment, particularly in the relays. The team of Preslie Allen, Abby Heller, Genessa Schilz and Alli Ehler (10.57.7) won the 4x800 relay by a comfortable margin over host Chadron.

"It's a confusing track to try and pace yourself in," said Allen of the short indoor course. "But we all managed to to handle it really well."

In the relay sprint (4x160), Gabbie Addleman and Sara VonSeggern joined Schilz and Heller (1.40.8) to finish fifth, despite a dropped baton. In the 4x400 Schilz and Heller teamed up Ehler and Savanna Rosenbaum (4.32.7) to finish a close second to Alliance.

In other boys results the throwers showed they could run too. Lewis (6.60) finished a close third in 55-meter dash while Heeren (25.20) was a top-ten finisher in the 200.

Freshman Alex Linneman's debut on the varsity track was a resdounding success with a fifth place at 400 meters (57.30) and an 8th place in the long jump (18-08).

At 800 meters junior Hayden Lienemann narrowly missed victory as he finished second in 2:08.1. Brody McKnight (2:24.7) finished just out of the top 10 in 11th.

Jachob Wiedeburg (5:12.2) and Brenner Keane (5:12.6) finished in a tied for 7th and 9th respectively in the metric mile. Wiedeburg (11:25.4) also had a strong showing in the 3200 meters in 6th. Ryan Aurich (12:12.0) was just a few places back in 9th.

Conger added to his win in the high jump with a third place (8.30) in the 55-meter hurdles. Colby Dickman also made it out of the preliminaries for Sidney. An encounter with a hurdle in the finals slowed him by about two seconds from his preliminary run.

The boys relay teams were led by the 4x800 (Keane, Logan Uhlir, Lienemann and McKnight) which finished second in 9:02.5 just behind winner Gering.

In the 4x160 the Raiders placed two teams in the top five. Finishing in fourth in 1:23.3 was the team of Michael Muggli, Lewis, Rosenbaum and John Bramer. Just behind was a group including Tyler Wintholz, Hunter Secrest, Michael Deaver and Chance Anglin (1:24.7).

A team including Lienemann, Muggli, Rosenbaum and Lewis (3:52.4) finished fifth in the 4x400.

Ian Wagner (9-08) and Deaver also finished in the top-10 in the pole vault for the Raiders.

Strong finishers for the Sidney girls included Sara VonSeggern who was fourth in the 55-meter dash in a time of 7.7. Kate Brosnan (30.0) was just out of the top 10 with a 12th in the 200 meters.

In the 800 meters Allen finished in fourth with a time of 2:39.0.

At 1600 meters Erin Lindeman (6:21.8) and Mia Hernandez (6:34.3) crossed one behind the other in 8th and 9th.

In the field events Heller (4-08) and Rosenbaum (4-06) finished 4th and 5th, respectively, in the high jump. Raiders teammates Chaona Radtke and Annalise Lecher were in a tie for 7th in the shot put (29-05).

The Raiders pole vaulters were led by 2013 state qualifier Jami Flores (7-08) while Jasmine Jallen (6-08) and Jolene Oliverius (6-02) also finished in the top 10.