Sidney achieves success at State

Coming into the final event of the Class B 2014 NSAA State Track & Field Championships in Omaha, the Red Raiders boys team held a tenuous grip on second place. It would be up to the 4x400-relay team to preserve a 1.5-point lead and earn the Raiders a prime spot in the closing ceremonies.

After the final race was over and a school record set, a swarm of Raiders sprinted in from every corner of Burke Stadium to join in an impromptu celebration. Over the low fence that separated fans and coaches from competitors were handshakes, hugs and shouts of joy as Sidney put an exclamation point on its special weekend.

When the dust had settled Sidney had preserved their team runner-up status with 45.5 points. As a testament to the strength of Sidney's district, three B-6 teams finished in the top four.

"What a great way to finish," said a jubilant Raiders Head Coach John Ganser after the final event. "It was really close there at the end and our relay guys really came through under pressure."

The Sidney quartet of Michael Banaszak, Hayden Lienemann, Lucas Rosenbaum and Hunter Secrest crossed in 3:24.17 to finish second behind Gering. The previous school record had been set at 3:24.60 by Bret Bayne, Chase Frerichs, Brandon Segelke and Ryan Wieser in 2010.

As for the seniors, the Sidney boys will lose just a handful - albeit a talented handful. Logan Lewis, who was named the Raiders Wheat Belt Athlete of the Year, medaled in each event in which he qualified. In the shot put he finished fifth (53-07.50) while teammate Jake Heeren, a sophomore, was third (54-04.25). Among the other state qualifiers lost to graduation are Rosenbaum and Nick Conger.

In the 200 meters Lewis finished fifth while the 400-meter relay team collected the bronze. Lewis was joined in the relay by Chance Anglin, Rosenbaum and Alex Linneman. Lewis also picked up a third in the 100 meters, though he barely made the finals. His preliminary time of 11.17 was just enough to shade two other runners that came in at 11.18.

"I got a really bad start in the prelims," said Lewis. "One of my goals was to break 11 seconds and I did that. This was a really good field. Everybody was really fast."

Lewis got off to a better start out of lane 8 in the finals than he did from the middle of the track in the preliminaries. He finished with a 10.98, just behind Jake Paulsen of Cozad and Cooper Rogers of Holdrege. The top two were separated by just .002 seconds.

While it was the 4x400 team that clinched Sidney's final place, it was the 4x800 team that spurred the Raiders off to a positive start. The 3,200-meter relay opened the running events on Friday morning with immediate Sidney success. The Raiders took their spot at the starting line with Lienemann, Brody McKnight, Logan Uhlir and Jachob Wiedeburg. A new personal-best time earned the foursome a sixth-place medal.

"The best thing about this is that we're all going to be back next year," said McKnight, a junior. "This was alright, but next year we can be great. I really think if we keep working hard we can come back and break the school record."

Like McKnight, Lienemann and Wiedeburg are both juniors while Uhlir is a sophomore.

In the 800 meters, Lienemann has been used to running in the deep waters with Nebraska's best all season. Four of the top six medalists in the event came from District B-6.

"My strategy was to stay with my district guys because I know how good they are," said Lienemann. "I also wanted to break two minutes."

Lienemann did break two minutes (1:59.55) to set a new personal best. His effort earned him a sixth-place medal.

Beyond his successful relay races, Rosenbaum earned valuable points in the pole vault with a third-place finish. In the open 400 he narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. Conger, the third senior, returned to state in the high jump, where he medaled in 2013. He also made the grade in the 110-meter hurdles.

Conger was one successful jump away from earning a second medal in the high jump.

"What can you say about our seniors," said Ganser. "They were locked in all year and were big leaders for us."

While the Sidney girls were shutout of any medals, the young team sent eight athletes to the dance and will not graduate a single senior. Junior Savanna Rosenbaum completed her third straight state meet.

Rosenbaum just missed out on a medal in the high jump with her ninth-place leap of 4-10. She also joined up with the 4x400 team with Abby Heller, Abbie Fraas and Preslie Allen.

In the 4x100 an even younger group broke their personal best on the biggest stage of the year. Gabbie Addleman, Heller, Emily Mika and Sara VonSeggern crossed the line in 51.22.

Allen (400, 800 and 4x400) had the distinction of qualifying in three different events. Heller (4x100, 4x400), VonSeggern (100, 4x100) and Rosenbaum (high jump, 4x400) each qualified in two events.

"What a fun and enjoyable season it was," said Ganser. "It was really special."