Archive for April, 2008
Track Season In Full Stride
By Will Cummings
Hit News from hithighlights.com
Omaha North’s Nic Johnson (4th from left) wins the 100 meter sprint at South High Invite.
Weather wise: this year’s track and field season has gotten off to a rather frigid start. Cold temperatures have caused several meet cancellations and have helped to produce some not so admirable sprint times and less than stellar throwing and jumping distances and heights. However, this past weekend’s 12th Annual South High Invtational Track and Field Meet showed signs of improving weather conditions ahead , as well as some athletes beginning to hit their strides.
The highlight performer of the meet was Millard North’s Emily Sisson , who broke meet records in both the 1,600 and 3,000 meter runs, with times of 5:03 and 10:49 respectively. Both times were excellent considering the rather windy and cool temperatures that inundated South’s Collins Field. There were several other strong performances and a few solid showings by some underclassmen that deserve to be noted: Nic Johnson, a senior out of Omaha North, looked impressive with his winning time of 10.80 in the 100 meters—where did he come from! Kirk Carter, also from Omaha North, was right on Johnson’s shoulder in that closely contested 100 meters. Carter too was timed in 10.80 but he had to settle for second . Carter countered that defeat by winning the 200 in a time of 22.30, while barely holding off Central sophomore, Stephon Washington, who placed a close second in the event with a time of 22.50.
Other notable performers were: Cody Linder of Plattsmouth with his meet record tripple jump of 46′ 9″; Papillion Lavista’s Josh Kage, who won the shot put event with a throw of 51′ 7.5″ and he placed second in the discuss with a toss of 142′ 8″; Sarah Gilbert of Papillion Lavista won the girls high jump with a leap of 5′ 4″—barley missing at 5′ 6″—she placed third in the long jump with a hop of 15′ 9″.
Like the weather, things are starting to heat up for these high school track and field athletes. it’s going to be interesting to see who improves the most during the next six weeks leading up to the district and state meets—stay tuned! See track meet video highlights below, courtesy of hithighlights.com:
If unable to see player click this link to see Hit News videos:http://youtube.com/hitblog
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elYIhRfotY4
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Freshman LeQue Davis Shines at Millard South Track Meet
Central's Laque Davis rests after her 200 meter victory at the Millard South Track and Field Invite.
By Will Cummings
Hit News from hithighlights.com
All Right, we all know about how good Millard North’s Emily Sisson is as she continues to shatter meet records week in and week out as she did again on Friday by posting meet records in the 800 meter run and 3,200 meter relay at the Millard South Track and Field Invitational. But there is another young lady—a freshman—in the house that may one day be remembered as one of Nebraska’s finest female track and field athletes.
Central freshman LaQue Davis, who currently holds the season’s best girls long jump (18′ 2″), possesses the kind of raw talent and physical presence and early successes that foreshadow great things to come. Davis won the Millard South Invitationl long jump with a leap of 17′ 9.75″ and the 200 meters with a time of 26.02. She also placed second in the girls 100 meter hurdles.
Keep in mind that the Girls Class A long jump record is 18′ 5″ and the state record is 19′ 5″ (set back in 1975). My bet is that Davis will certainly eclipse the Class A record and she will be all around—if not over—the state long jump record, before the end of her high school career. Moreover, she may even threaten to take the 200 meter state record (24.52). That’s how much potential this young lady owns.
LaQue Davis is our Highlight Performer of the Meet. Finishing a close second to Davis’ performance was Omaha Burke’s Dale Ervin, who won the boys 100 and 200 meter dashes with respective times of 11.07 and 22.63. Ervin also anchored Burke’s 4 x 100 meter relay team that blazed to a meet record time of 42.63. The other members of Burke’s record setting relay were: Ben McCaleb (Sr.); Jake Marousek ( Jr.); and Kelvin Johnson (Jr.). It’s still early in the season, but their performance clearly establishes Burke as having the state’s premier 4 x 100 team. In addition, also look for Ervin to hotly contend for the Class A 100 and 200 meter state titles.
Kudos to: Stephon Washington—another strong 300 meter hurdle performance; Josh Kage—continues to win and to add more distance to his shot throws; team event champions Fremont (boys) and Millard West (girls); and of course Emily Sisson, who we mentioned at the start of this article.
See Millard South Invite video highlights below:
If unable to see player click this link to see Hit News videos: http://youtube.com/hitblog
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIT8yNtLx0
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Sometimes It Snows In April
By Will Cummings
Hit News from hithighlights.com
Meet Newsman. Once he gets warmed up, he will be your video guide through our next video.
Due to the weather, which forced a number of meet cancellations, I was unable to cover any track meets this week. However, I did put together a short video featuring the top track performances to date (according to Omaha World Herald stats.) In addition, this video introduces Newsman to Hit News’ coverage of athletic events. Newsman is an avatar designed to liven up our news coverage and video presentations by providing various fan-like thoughts and comments as well as his own twist on things. About Newsman:
Newsman is an extraordinarily gifted ex-athlete who mysteriously first appeared on the scene back in the seventies. After receiving NBA and MLB first pick considerations and qualifying for the Olympic track team, he vanished. Who is he ? Or what is he? The only thing we know for sure is that he possesses super human powers.”
If you have film and you are a top performer we would love to feature you on our site: email us at admin@hithighlights.com and we will make arrangements to upload your video. Meet Newsman and check out some of this year’s best track performances below:
If unable to see player click this link to see Hit News videos:
http://youtube.com/hitblog
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sF0W9BfOkQ
Emily Wilkinson and Michael Burrus Set New ’08 All Class Marks At Titan Classic
By Will Cummings
Hit News from hithighlights.com
Westside’s Emily Wilkinson leaps 18′ 6 1/2″ to win Titan Classic at Papillion-La Vista South High.
You wouldn’t think that a track meet the Monday after spring break and following a week of cold wet weather would produce much in the way of top performances. But two athletes: Westside’s Emily Wilkinson and Papillion-La Vista’s Michael Burrus somehow managed to shatter this season’s All Class top performances in the girls long jump and the boys 100 meter.
Wilkinson performed her magic by leaping 18′ 6 1/2″ to claim first place in the girls long jump; thereby, beating this year’s longest recorded jump by 7 inches. The jump was no fluke as she consistently jumped close to eighteen feet on almost all her jumps with one traveling 18′ 2″, before recording her best leap. Right after filming her best jump, I spoke with Wilkinson’s jubilant coach, Steve Gordon. “I knew it was a good jump, but I was still surprised it went that far,” Gordon said. Gordan has helped in coaching Wilkinson for the past three years. And you could tell by the seemingly perpetual smile on his face that he knows that he has someone special in Wilkinson.
Michael Burrus, who may well have won this past football season’s rushing title if he had not injured his ankle, had fortune go his way on Monday in the 100 meter sprint when Burke’s Dale Ervin was disqualified for a false start. Ervin soundly beat Burrus a little over a week ago despite a bad start. This time Ervin over compensated and it cost him. Burrus took advantage and he burned the track to a time of 10.69 . His mark is 11 tenths better than the season’s previous best time. But right on Burrus’ heels was Burke’s Jake Marousek who ran his first open 100 meter of the season clocking in at 10.74.
Thus far, Marousek’s time is the second fastest time recorded in the state this year. Marousek continued to impress by winning the 300 meter hurdles in a time of 40.92. The 300 hurdles is a new race for Marousek who ran his first 300 just last week. Watch out for this kid as he continues to mature on the track and on the football field—he is the real deal! So too is Burrus, who picked up a second win in the 200 meters with a time of 22.17. Watching these two guys run—I can’t wait until the fall to see these two seniors to be on the football field.
Our Highlight Performer of the Meet goes to Michael Burrus. Other noteworthy performers were: Allison Jorgensen of Grand Island who set a new Class A season mark of 12.27 in the 100 meter. Jorgensen also won the 200 meter with a time of 26.84; Lincoln Northeast’s Porter Groves long jumped 22′ 9″ and triple jumped 45′ 6″ to win both events; Xavier Thompson from Papillion moves up the high jump chart with his hop of 6′ 4″. Team Champions— Lincoln Northeast (boys) and Grand Island (girls).
NOTE: Dale Ervin simply had a terrible day! After his false start, Ervin pulled up going into the third turn of the 400 meter. It’s most likely a hamstring injury: How severe? I don’t know. All I know for sure is that Ervin is on top of my list to win the All Class 100 meter title. Hopefully, he will be back to speed in a couple of weeks.”
See Titan Classic highlights below:
If unable to see player click this link to see Hit News videos: http://youtube.com/hitblog
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcIhAkWxgtA
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Sarah Gilbert works a triple/Schulte trumps Burrus at Thunderbird Track Invite
By Will Cummings
Hit News from hithighlights.com
Kohlman Adema-Schulte crosses finish line to win Thunderbird Invite 100 Meter.
Monday’s Thunderbird Invitational, held at Bellevue West High School, provided the venue to showcase some solid workmanlike performances by several area athletes. Leading the pack was Papillion-La Vista senior, Sarah Gilbert, who continues to rack up team points by delivering strong performances at each meet. This time, Gilbert pulled the hat trick by winning the high jump (5’2″); long jump (17′); and the triple jump (35′ 1.25″).
While Gilbert reigned supreme over the girls field events, Laura Brown of Papillion-La Vista South dominated the track. Brown won the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints with respective times of 12.30 and 26.06. Brown was also a member of Papillion-La Vista South’s wining 4X100 relay team that posted its season’s best time (50.86).
The highlight of the meet came in the boys 100 meter sprint, which featured the reigning season-to-date top 100 meter time holder Michael Burrus of Papillion-Lavista South . In the blocks next to Burrus was Millard West’s Kohlman Adema-Schulte (JR). Schulte, a stocky yet massively built sprinter, looked like a big fluid mass of explosive fast twitch muscles rolling down the track as he gained a little separation from Burrus over the last twenty meters to win the event in the time of 10.73 (electronic time). So now we have another contender for the boys Class A 100 meter title. And Schulte runs like he can deliver.
Bruised but not detered, Burrus went on to coast to an easy victory in the 200, clockng in at 20.26 Right now, it appears that the 200 meters is Burrus’s strongest event. Burrus—if pushed— is definttely capable of posting sub 22 second times in the 200.
The Hit News Highlight Performer of the Meet is Sarah Gilbert. Other notable performers were: Justin Combs of Bellevue West, who set a meet record in the triple jump with a skip of 45’11″(Class A best and All-Class second best this season); Matt Evers (Bellevue East) won the 400 (50.48) and 800 (2:00.10); Bellevue East’s Phil Collison won the Discus with a throw of 154′ 3″; Amber Lutmer of Millard West tossed the weight 41’11″‘ to win the shot put and Kelvin Johnson of Burke won his 100 meter heat but finished third with a time of 10.80.
Hopefully, the weather will start cooperating and we can start seeing times and distances improve even more. The boys Class A 100 meter title is really shaping up to be a shootout—it’s wide open! Weather permitting, I look forward to seeing some exciting competition and some low ticks during the metro, district and state meets!
I apologize for the delay in posting the this article and the accompanying video. The delay was do to the inability to obtain accurate event results—event results were not posted at the meet. Consequently, I needed to verify what was announced over the public address system and what I personally witnessed and heard versus what was posted in the paper. One case in point: At the meet, the announcer stated that the winning boys 100 meter time was 10.73. However, the Omaha World-Herald reports that the winning time was 10.8. This is the same time that was run by the third place finisher Kelvin Johnson, who ran in another heat. If Johnson ran a 10.8, he should have tied for first or finished second. Because Schulte clearly beat Burrus by at least .05. Therefore, I decided to post the winning boys 100 meter time as it was announced (10.73).”
Upon notification, any erroneous results posted on this site will be corrected as soon as possible.
View Thunderbird Invite video highlights below:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVnSxOqdTTE
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