OMAHA — Area athletes came away with more medals during the final day of the Nebraska State Track an Field Championships at Burke Stadium.
First to the meal stand Saturday was Tri County Northeast junior Joslyn Mackling, who finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in a talented Class C high jump field with a height of 5 feet, 1 inch.
There was a log jam during the event as 20 of the 25 competitors were still in the hunt as the bar hit the 5-1 mark. Thirteen girls survived at that height, but only four would clear 5-3. Ord senior Trinity Chatfield cleared the winning height on her first try, while the other three needed two or three jumps to move on. All four failed at 5-5 and Chatfield finished as the gold medalist.
Mackling tied Natalie Hoffman of Lincoln Lutheran and Piepyr Klinginsmith for seventh place. All three were spotless through the first three heights at 4-7, 4-9 and 4-11, and all three made 5-1 on their second attempts. She also finished 18th in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.55 seconds.
Ponce junior Ava Brennan finished an outstanding weekend for herself, placing fourth in a close race in the Class C girls 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:19.85.
She stayed in the front of the pack as the field ran a quick clip. She was less than a second out of third place and finished six seconds behind state champion Avery Arens of Creighton.
Brennan was part of the Indians’ fourth-place finish in the 3,200-meter relay on Friday and added an eighth-place finish in the 3,200-meter run.
Homer senior Aayden Harris, who competed in the 110-meter hurdle prelims on Friday, came through in his final race, notching a sixth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles on Saturday with a time of 40.43 seconds. He ran in the fastest heat in the competition, which saw Wakefield’s Cael Johnson set a new state and meet record with a winning time of 37.93 seconds.
Other action saw Homer junior Jessup Snowball finishing 19th in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:03.32, and Ponca junior Gannon Pfister just missed the medal stand with a ninth-place time of 4:30.74 in the boys 1,600. Freshman teammate Kole Krusemark was 20th in 4:42.29.
Photos and more are coming in next week’s edition of the Dakota County Star.
