Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Chase County SPVA Conference Track Champions

Chase County captured both the men’s and women’s divisions of the SPVA Conference Track and Field championships this past Friday at the meet held in Grant. The Imperial based Chase County boys won the team title with 171 points holding off North Platte St. Pats who finished runnerup with 157.5, followed by Perkins County with 69, Kimball 51.5, Hershey 43, Sutherland 29, and Maxwell 6. In the girl’s division Chase County won with 153 points with Kimball runnerup with 89, St. Pats 83, Sutherland 71, Perkins County 57, Maxwell 43, and Hershey 31.

Fresh off an amazing night at the Best in the West meet in Scottsbluff where Kimball athletes established all time personal bests and even set some new school records, the Longhorns had another solid day as they continue to improve heading towards tomorrow’s B-C-D meet at Bayard, the final preparation prior to the District Class C meet back at Bayard on May 15.

Laura Flores had a good day in the distance runs winning the 3200 in 12:45.36, a personal and season best time for her, and ran 2nd in the 1600 in 5:56.88. She also hooked up with Madison Biesecker, Ali Hunsaker, and Jannell Fiehtner to run 2nd in the 4 x 400 relay in a time of 4:32.50. Miss Biesecker set a new school record in the 300 hurdles at the Best in the West and came right back with another excellent time at Grant running 2nd in 48.55 and also used her speed to finish 4th in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.41, another personal best. She teamed with Shelby Vogel, Brooke Hager, and Kelly Green to win the 4 x 100 relay with a winning time of 52.21.

Ali Hunsaker came through like always with a 2nd place in the 200 meter dash clocked in 27.49, and 2nd in the 400 in 62.52, and Jannell Fiehtner ran 5th in the 400 in 66.37. Mikayla Fiehtner was 6th in the 100 meter hurdles in 17.44 and tied for 4th in the high jump at 4’6”. Shelby Vogel was 2nd in the triple jump at 32’5 1/4”, and Kelly Green was 6th in the long jump at 13’11 1/4”. Jessica Hanks was 4th in the discus at 103’5” and 8th in the shotput at 31’11 1/2”. The 4 x 800 relay team of Taylor Muldoon, Myriah Tyan, Ivanna Valle, and Kailey Dickerson ran 3rd in 11:55.79, their best time of the season and first time under 12 minutes.

A solid day for the Kimball boys as well with two places in the 100 meters as the meet scored 8 places. Colton Stull ran 5th in 11.81” and Jake Reader 8th in 11.91. Jon Withrow was 5th in the 200 meter dash in 23.89 but in a try at a new event, placed 2nd in the triple jump at 39’10 1/2”, second only to his brother Jaden who won the triple jump at 40’4 1/2” with the young freshman bringing home the gold. Ryan Muneio ran 6th in the 400 in 53.78, a personal best, as was Reader’s time in the 100 and Withrow’s time in the 200. Angel Flores kept the personal best theme alive when he ran 5th in the 800 in 2:12.43. Mitchell Shields with a big day running 4th in the 3200 in 11:34.05 and 8th in the 1600 in 5:51.87. Two places in the 110 meter hurdles for Kimball with Javier Figueroa 7th in 18.66 and Trent Rutledge 8th in 18.72. Ethan Land ran 7th in the 300 hurdles in 47.97, a personal best.

In the relays Jake Reader, Jon Withrow, Angel Flores, and Colton Stull teamed to run 3rd in the 4 x 100 with a time of 46.17. The 4 x 400 unit of Withrow, Reader, Flores, and Muneio ran 6th in 3:56.52. Kimball’s 4 x 800 relay team of Enrique Cajero, Creg Barker, Colt Lewis, and Mitchell Shields ran 7th in 10:03.22.

Damien Rutledge had a good day in the weights taking 4th in the shotput at 42’8 1/4’, a personal and season best, and was 7th in the discus at 113’6”, while team mate Ben Sauter was 6th at 114’5”. Trent Rutledge cleared the bar at 11’6” in the pole vault for 4th place and a new personal best for him and Tyrus Gawith was 8th at 10’6”. Ethan Land was tied for 6th in the high jump at 5’4” and Colton Stull was 3rd in the long jump at 18’6”.

Once again coach Gene Mohr was delighted with the way his team performed this past week at both the Best in the West and at the SPVA Conference meet. “We have athletes who are improving their times and their marks each and every week and we feel good about what we are doing and what we are accomplishing. We feel we are getting ready for our best showing at the district meet coming up and we want to really fine tune this week at the Bayard B-C-D meet and then decide just what events we are going to load up for district. The kids are still having fun and are excited with what they are doing and this makes our jobs as coaches easier”.

The Bayard B-C-D meet has a start time of 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Friday), and the district meet back at Bayard on May 15 will also start at 8:30 a.m.