Shamrock girls take 2nd

COLUMBUS -- Scotus Central Catholic’s Amber Ewers may only be a freshman, but she didn’t run like one.

Ewers won three events in leading the Shamrocks to a second-place finish with 80.8 points at the Centennial Conference meet Saturday at Pawnee Park’s Memorial Stadium.

The Scotus boys, paced by Taylor Suess’ win in the discus, finished sixth with 53 points, while the David City Aquinas boys were eighth with 28 points.

The Monarch girls were sixth with 35 points.

Wahoo Neumann took the girls title with 165.2 points, while Boys Town won the boys portion with 131 points.

Ewers won the 100-meter run at 12.6 seconds, the 200 at 26.1 and teamed with Ashley Paprocki, Monica Boeding and Kellie Korth to win the 400 relay at 51.0.

Running anchor on the relay team, she passed a Wahoo Neumann runner near the middle part of the leg and then cruised to the win. SCC girls coach Janet Tooley said the freshman put up some impressive performances.

“She really had a great day,” Tooley said. “She has worked very hard this year. Coming off of junior high, we knew she was fast and she’s proven that with her performances today.”

Also coming away with wins for Scotus were Korth in the 300 hurdles and Kelli Schumacher in the triple jump.

Korth edged Neumann’s McKenzie Fujan with a winning time of 47.2, the same girl that beat her in the event at the state meet last year. Korth got off to a slow start, but slowly worked her way back into the race, passed Fujan between the last flight of hurdles and held her off before crossing the tape.

Schumacher leaped a personal best 36 feet, 4 inches to take the triple jump.

Tooley said she was happy with those athletes as well.

“I think today was only the sixth time Kellie ran in the 300 hurdles this year, so she was a little concerned going in,” Tooley said. “Just this last week, her times have been coming down, and she knows she can be pretty competitive. We’re hoping for good things from her.

“Kelli Schumacher had a personal best by a ton today, so that was good to see from her. The 400 relay has been consistent all year long, despite a few bad handoffs that can go from great to good to bad, but these girls have been consistent with that.”

In addition to those girls, the Shamrocks brought home 13 more medals in the events. Tooley said she couldn’t be happier with a second-place finish as it should help for confidence going into the Class B-4 district meet Thursday.

“We are thrilled with a runner-up finish,” Tooley said. “The girls really stepped and performed well. Not only did we accomplish a runner-up finish, but we got some good updates going into Thursday. I think in some events, our conference meet was tougher. I think this will help us as we are in a tough district. If the kids perform well, we will be sending a lot of kids down to (the state track meet at Omaha) Burke.”

For the Shamrock boys, they went 1-2 in the discus. Suess took the event by throwing a 152-1, while teammate Josh Ryba was behind him, throwing a 146-9.

Scotus boys coach Jeff Ohnoutka said going 1-2 in the event was great.

“Throwing a 152-1 for Taylor was great for him,” Ohnoutka said. “For Josh to place as high as he did is also great as well. Those two have been neck and neck all year.”

Scotus’ Jordan Janda finished second in the 100 and 200, with times of 11.0 and 22.9, respectively, while Pat McKay grabbed a second-place finish in the 800 at 2:03.6.

“For Pat, that’s a great accomplishment for him,” Ohnoutka said. “It’s one of the faster times we have had at Scotus in awhile. We feel like he has a chance to qualify next week.

“Jordan is just running with so much confidence right now. He is so fast, and his form is so good, and we feel he has a good chance to qualify for the state meet.”

Overall, the Shamrocks were just two points away from a fourth-place finish with three other medalists, so Ohnoutka said it was a good day overall for them.

“Our kids are just giving every ounce of effort they can right now,” Ohnoutka said. “I think how everything is going right now, and I think we can take a lot of kids down to Omaha for the state track meet.”

For Aquinas, Justin Fiala set a meet record in the pole vault by clearing 13-6 to lead the boys.

“He has been vaulting real well, and he’s been doing that for three straight meets,” Monarch coach Ron Mimick said. “It’s gratifying seeing things finally falling in for him.”

The pole vault was the best event for Aquinas as Doug Daro was fourth by going 11-6, and Clete DeWispelare was fifth at 11-0.

Cortney Novacek paced the Monarch girls in winning the high jump at 4-10, while Stephanie Eller was second in the 1,600 with a 5:52.7.

CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE

TRACK MEET

Saturday at Pawnee Park

Girls Team Standings

•1. Wahoo Neumann 165.2, 2. Scotus Central Catholic 80.8, 3. Hastings St. Cecilia 73, 4. Lincoln Christian 70, 5. Grand Island Central Catholic 37, 6. David City Aquinas 35, 7. Boys Town 33, 8. Fremont Bergan 24, 9. Lincoln Lutheran 9.

Girls event winners, area placers

•High jump -- 1. Cortny Novacek, DCA, 4-10; 4T. Kelli Schumacher, SCC, 4-6; 4T. Amy Steiner, SCC, 4-6.

•Long jump -- 1. Lizzy Mach, WN, 17-2.

•Triple jump -- 1. Kelli Schumacher, SCC, 36-4.

•Shot put -- 1. Alicia Statler, GICC, 39-3; 3. Paige Pillen, SCC, 36-7; 5. Megan Kresha, SCC, 34-11; 6. Britny Novacek, DCA, 33-8.5.

•Discus -- 1. Karen Braun, WN, 111-5; 4. Bre Romshek, DCA, 102-2; 6. Megan Kresha, SCC, 99-4.

•Pole vault -- 1. Shelly Jacobs, FB, 9-3; 4T. Kaitynn Klassen, SCC, 8-0; 6. Alex Gutzmer, SCC, 8-0.

•100 -- 1. Amber Ewers, SCC, 12.6; 5. Ashley Paprocki, SCC, 13.2.

•200 -- 1. Amber Ewers, SCC, 26.1; 4. Monica Boeding, SCC, 27.0.

•400 -- 1. Sarah Plambeck, LC, 1:00.2.

n 800 -- 1. Sarah Plambeck, LC, 2:23.0.

•1,600 -- 1. Chelsea Shanks, BT, 5:39.8; Stephanie Eller, DCA, 5:52.7.

•3,200 -- 1. Chelsea Shanks, BT, 12:14.8; 4. Jaisa Gutierrez, SCC, 13:10.5.

•100 hurdles -- 1. Lizzy Mach, WN, 15.6; 5. Kellie Korth, SCC, 16.3.

•300 hurdles -- 1. Kellie Korth, SCC, 47.2; 5. Megan Engel, DCA, 49.3.

•400 relay -- 1. Scotus 51.0.

•1,600 relay -- 1. Wahoo Neumann 4:11.1; 4. Scotus 4:20.2; 5. David City Aquinas 4:23.5.

•3,200 relay -- 1. Wahoo Neumann 4:23.5; 5. David City Aquinas 11:07.3; 6. Scotus 11:08.1.

Boys Team Standings

•1. Boys Town 131, 2. Lincoln Christian 95, 3. Hastings St. Cecilia 66, 4. Wahoo Neumann 55, 5. Lincoln Lutheran 54, 6. Scotus Central Catholic 53, 7. Grand Island Central Catholic 28, 8. David City Aquinas 28, 9. Elkhorn Mt. Michael 12, 10. Fremont Bergan 5.

Boys event winners, area placers

•High jump -- 1. Jay Battle, BT, 6-2

•Long jump -- 1. Daniel Blackwood, LC, 20-11; 5. Kyle Christensen, SCC, 19-9.5.

•Triple jump -- 1. Isiah Gandy, BT, 43-0.5.

•Shot put -- 1. Seung Choi, LC, 51-2.5.

•Discus -- 1. Taylor Suess, SCC, 152-1; 2. Josh Ryba, SCC, 146-9.

•Pole vault -- 1. Justin Fiala, DCA, 13-6; 4. Doug Daro, DCA, 11-6; 5. Clete DeWispelare, DCA, 11-0; 6. Austin Wallick, SCC, 10-0.

•100 -- 1. Erskin Williams, BT, 10.9; 2. Jordan Janda, SCC, 11.0.

•200 -- 1. Andrew Hamann, LL, 22.6; 2. Jordan Janda, SCC, 22.9.

•400 -- 1. Andrew Hamann, LL, 51.0; 3. Paul McCawley, DCA, 52.8.

•800 -- 1. Kyle Bartek, WN, 2:02.9; 2. Pat McKay, SCC, 2:03.6.

•1,600 -- 1. Colten Venteicher, EMM, 4:39.4.

•3,200 -- 1. Kyle Bartek, WN, 10:00.8; 6. Clete DeWispelare, DCA, 11:00.9.

•110 hurdles -- 1. Brent Moravec, GICC, 14.6.

•300 hurdles -- 1. Nehemiah Wilkens, BT, 40.2; 6. Matt Mimick, DCA, 43.0.

•400 relay -- 1. Lincoln Christian 44.0; 5. David City Aquinas 45.9.

•1,600 relay -- 1. Lincoln Christian 3:33.5; 5. David City Aquinas 3:39.4.

•3,200 relay -- 1. Wahoo Neumann 8:33.6; 5. Scotus 9:18.4.