Aurora, Neb. – The B-5 district track meet was held at Aurora on Tuesday, and the Dusters have 12 total qualifying entries for next week’s state tournament in Omaha. Holdrege will be sending 15 athletes in six events to Burke Stadium. The highlight of the day came from two field events that have become a perennial strength for the Dusters, Pole Vault and Discus.
Holdrege took home two district champion discus throwers with Gabby Rooks and Andrew Englund. Rooks, a junior, hit a personal record with a throw of 134 feet 8 inches. Englund took gold in his senior year with a throw of 165 feet 6 inches.
All six of the Duster pole vaulters qualified for state, continuing a tradition of excellence in the event. Senior Kaitlyn Jewett returns to Omaha after winning second last year, she finished tied for third with a vault of 11 feet 2 inches. Junior Erin Michalski is also making another appearance at state after a height of 10 feet 2 inches. Freshman Kambryn Vaughn was able to keep the successes going with a height of 10 feet 2 inches. Senior Jaren Moore will try to improve his fifth-place finish last season, he qualified again with a vault of 13 feet 8 inches. Juniors Brady Ham and Rylan Landin are heading back to Omaha as well. They each finished with vaults of 13 feet 2 inches.
Holdrege has three runners competing in the 800 meter run next week as well. Senior Nik Schrock finished in fourth with a time of 2:00.70 to punch his ticket. Sophomore Emily Stutzman took silver with a time of 2:20.10 while senior Avery Hurlbert ran a 2:23.19 to finish in third.
Christophe Taylor qualified for state in the mile. The freshman placed fourth with a time of 4:35.00. Taylor was also part of the only of relay team to make it to state. He joined Michael Golus, Mitchell May, and Nik Schrock in the 4×800. They finished with a time of 8:25.08.
The Dusters were able to send another freshman to Omaha with Mariah Shepherd qualifying in the triple jump. She placed third with a distance of 34 feet seven inches.
As a team, Holdrege placed sixth in the girls standings, and the boys placed seventh. Full results can be found HERE.
The 2024 State Track and Field Championships are held at Omaha Burke Stadium. Classes A and B will start things off on Wednesday, May 15, at 9:00 am and will finish on Thursday.
