Janda’s 10.6 leads Scotus into state

COLUMBUS -- On April 29, Scotus Central Catholic’s Jordan Janda surprised even himself.

After finishing the 100-meter run at the Boone Central Quad, the timers told the Shamrock junior that he had run 10.6 seconds after the race. The time is the fastest ran in the state this season.

“I really didn’t believe it at first,” Janda said. “The timers asked me what the school record was and I really didn’t know what it was. They then told me my time and I was surprised and excited at the same time.”

Since then, the time gave Janda momentum and confidence for the rest of the season. He earned a state berth when he finished second to Lakeview’s Kaleb Christensen in the B-4 district meet May 8 in O’Neill. Janda will be one of six Shamrock boys to participate in the state track meet at Omaha Burke this weekend as he will also compete in the 200 and is a member of the 400 relay team. Classes B and D will get underway at 9:30 p.m. Friday morning, while Classes A and C will start at 3 p.m.

SCC boys coach Jeff Ohnoutka said he knew Janda was going to be a good runner when the season started, but seeing him run that fast during the Boone Central Quad was nice to see.

“We knew going into the year that Jordan was going to be a fast guy and had a chance to qualify for the state meet,” Ohnoutka said. “We also knew that he would have to go through Christensen and the guys from Pierce to get there. I think the quad was the breakout meet for him in terms of having confidence that he really was a fast, elite sprinter.”

Joining Janda at the state meet will be Taylor Suess and Josh Ryba, who went 1-2 in the discus at districts, Pat McKay in the 800 and the 400 relay, along with Kyle Christensen and Callen Schwank.

Ohnoutka said its nice to take a few guys down to state, instead of having just one, like last season. That builds experience for the Shamrocks because they didn’t have a senior on the team this season.

“We have had a great season overall,” Ohnoutka said. “It’s been a fun season and a fast one as well. We’re excited with the kids we have out, not only the kids we are taking down, but with everyone on the team. They gave everything they have and want to do well for the school.”

For the Scotus girls, they are led by senior Kellie Korth and freshman Amber Ewers, who each qualified in four events. Korth qualified in the 100 and 300 hurdles, while Ewers earned berths in the 100 and 200. Both are members of the 400 and 1,600 relay teams, with Monica Boeding and Ashley Paprocki.

Korth is looking to bring a home a gold medal in the 300 hurdles, where she was beaten at the tape last season by Wahoo Neumann’s McKenzie Fujan. Going into the race, Korth is in a three-way tie for the fourth fastest time run in districts at 47.7. Shamrocks coach Janet Tooley said it would be nice to see Korth end her career with a first-place finish, but even if she doesn’t, the senior still had a great career.

“Kellie as well as the other seniors, have done a great job throughout their careers,” Tooley said. “She’s competitive enough, but it’s not something you dwell on. You can’t control what other people do. But she still ran a great race last year and just fell short. I have no doubt that she will do the best she can do.”

Boeding and Paprocki will also compete in the 200, while Emily Jarecki and Kelli Schumacher also qualified. Jarecki qualified in the 3,200, while Schumacher earned berths in both the long jump and the triple jump.

Tooley said the entire team has had a good season.

“Our sprint core has been consistent throughout the season,” Tooley said. “Amber has had a great freshman season, but I have to give Monica and Ashley credit because they have been great to Amber in teaching her the ropes during the course of the season. And Emily and Kelli have had great seasons for us as well. Emily has had to battle shin problems during the course of the season, but did enough to qualify for state. Kelli jumping 35-feet in conference has boosted her confidence and she jumped very well at districts, and I think she has a shot to medal.”

For Columbus High, Zack Lindsley and Michael Gross lead 11 qualifiers for both the boys and girls teams. Lindsley earned two runner-up finishes in the shot put and the discus, while Gross won the long jump at 22-1.75, while finishing second in the triple jump and fourth in the 100.

For most of the season, Lindsley had the best throw of the state when he threw a 171-1 at the Norfolk Invite April 18. He hasn’t had a chance to come near that mark yet, but he said he feels it’s starting to get there and added his year in the discus has been a good one as he hopes to bring home his first medal. He was just missed making finals of the state meet as he had the best throw of anyone that didn’t get in.

“At the beginning of the year, it started off real good,” Lindsley said. “Then I missed up on a few things in the middle of the season and got sloppy. I feel everything is starting to click in practice, but I need to do that in competition. I know I can down at state. I would like to bring back a medal as I just missed making finals.”

As for Gross, the senior enters the long jump with the best jump from districts. He looks to bring another home medal in the event as he placed eighth last year. CHS coach Dan Steiner said Gross, as well as Lindsley, has a chance to make some noise at the state meet.

“Michael has been real consistent and has improved during the course of the season,” Steiner said. “He has gotten over 22-feet this year. He’s placed in almost every event he has been in. As for Zack, he’s been consistent all season long. He’s been kind of sick and that’s affected him a little bit. But in districts, he threw a 156-9 on his first throw, which was an automatic throw. That took some pressure off. He has had a pretty good week of practice with some good throws. And in the shot put, the event really isn’t the best at state, so if he happens to get a good throw, he has a chance to do very well.”

Dean Shurter and Trevor Urkoski will be making appearances at the state meet. Shurter qualified in the discus on his final throw in districts, while Urkoski will run in the 3,200.

The Discoverer girls will be led by the distance core as they qualified the 3,200 relay team for the 12th consecutive season. The team consists of Jena Schwalenburg, Megan Weber, Bridgette Schneekloth and Carrie Wiese.

“It’s been a long time for us in that event and that’s neat to see,” CHS girls coach Bob Hopp said. “We knew they had a great shot as they finished fourth in the district. That also turns out to be the fourth fastest time ran in all the district meets. Hopefully, they can go relaxed and perform.”

Schwalenburg also qualified in the 3,200. Also making a trip to Burke were Lindsay Anderson (pole vault), Brianna Downs (pole vault), Becky Seidel (100 hurdles), Alecyia Watson (triple jump) and Elizabeth Wheatley (high jump).

For Lakeview, Christensen will be one of three seniors to qualify for the state meet. Judd Went and Jeremy Schreiber earned trips in the shot put and pole vault, respectively.

Christensen, who won both the 100 and 200 in the B-4 district meet, will look to bring home his second medal from the state meet in the 200 as he comes in a three-way tie for the third fastest time at 22.3. Lakeview boys coach Tom Lange said Christensen has had another great season.

“One of Kaleb’s biggest strengths is that he loves to compete and seeing Jordan’s time really fired him up and got him focused,” Lange said. “He is just a talented individual and is very competitive. He doesn’t like to lose. The same can be said about Judd and Jeremy as well and they have a great shot of doing well as well.”

Lange said the three seniors have been great leaders for his squad all season long.

“I can’t say enough about what those three seniors have done for us this year,” Lange said. “They have been our main scorers this year. It was nice to get them down to the state meet. We felt they had a shot and they did what they had to do to get down there.”

Ashley Wurdeman is the lone Lakeview girl to qualify for the state meet for the second consecutive season. She qualified in both the long jump, where she brought home a fifth-place medal last season, and the shot put. Viqueen coach Dave Green said Wurdeman, who was named the school’s female athlete of the year Tuesday night, has just been a great athlete to coach.

“She’s just a pure, natural all-around athlete,” Green said. “It’s not every day you see an individual qualify to the state meet in the shot put and the long jump. She also anchored the 400-relay team this year where they came home with a medal from the district meet. With a medal in the discus from the district meet �” what a combination. That right there tells you the athlete that she is.”