Lyndon's Niemack takes 4 titles at LCL Championships
By Michael Ashford (Contact)
Friday, May 9, 2008
Photo by Michael Ashford
Lyndon’s Keene Niemack competes in the long jump at the Lyon County League Championships on Thursday at Welch Stadium. Niemack won the event, one of his four titles on the day.
A little bit of paranoia helped Lyndon sophomore Keene Niemack put the finishing touches on a standout day Thursday at the Lyon County League track and field championships at Welch Stadium.
With three gold medals already in hand, Niemack blew away the field in the 400-meter dash to win his fourth event title of the day, winning in a meet-record-tying 50.1 seconds to out-pace his nearest competitor by more than 3 seconds.
And he did it all while thinking he was on the verge of losing his lead.
“I envision people right behind me in my head,” Niemack said. “That’s about all you can do when there’s nobody in front of you.”
In all actuality, Niemack was rarely challenged all day long.
He began his day with a pair of victories in the jumps, winning the long jump by a half foot with a leap of 21 feet, 1/2 inch, before taking the triple jump title with a distance of 41-1 1/2.
He then anchored Lyndon’s title-winning 4x100-meter relay squad, teaming with Jesse Filburn, Quinn Kirsop and Matt Janssen to win in a time of 46 seconds.
But none of his titles were as dominating as his 400, where he easily made up the stagger by the 200-meter mark and then turned it on from there. His time tied that of Waverly’s Joseph Herron, who ran a 50.1 in 1997.
Photo by Michael Ashford
Madison’s Morgan Stout sprints toward the finish line during the 200-meter dash at Thursday’s Lyon County League Championships at Welch Stadium. Stout won the event.
“I’ve been working on coming out of the blocks faster and getting out of my first 200 quicker,” Niemack said. “My last 100, I just push it as hard as I can.”
Niemack paved the way for the Lyndon boys to capture the Lyon County League boys title. The Tigers distanced themselves from the runner-up, Madison, by 26 points, 106-80. On the girls side, Madison won the team title by a 115-103 margin over Olpe.
Niemack was far from the only multi-event champion, though. In fact, 11 athletes won multiple events.
On the girls side, Madison sophomore Morgan Stout barely missed out on a four-title day of her own, placing first in three events while taking second in another.
Stout ran away from the field in winning both the 100 and 200 in times of 13.14 seconds and 26.93 seconds, respectively. She also won gold in the triple jump with a leap of 33-7 1/4.
Her runner-up finish came in the high jump. Stout and Waverly’s Megan Steward each cleared 5 feet and missed all three attempts at 5-2, but Steward took the title because Stout missed her first attempt at 4-10, while Steward cleared it on the first try.
Photo by Michael Ashford
Chase County’s Alec Wold, center, sprints in front of Hartford’s Cody Barrett and Lyndon’s Jesse Filburn in the finals of the 100-meter dash at Thursday’s Lyon County League track and field meet at Welch Stadium. Wold won both the 100 and 200.
“I’ve got to give props to my coach (Fred McClain), because I wouldn’t be like this if it weren’t for him,” Stout said. “He’s a really good coach. He pushes me to do well.”
Waverly’s Kale Hamm also came through with three event victories. He won the high jump with a leap of 6-2 before sweeping the hurdles events, winning the 100 hurdles in a time of 16.13 seconds and the 300 hurdles in a time of 42.33 seconds.
Chase County’s Alec Wold proved to be the top sprinter on the day, winning both the 100 (11.24) and 200 (23.17), each in personal-record time.
“I really wanted to come in and win both,” Wold said. “Both of them are my strong events, and it feels good to win them.”
Flinthills’ Carley Dunham won the girls 100 hurdles (17.02) and 800-meter run (2:27.03) while Lyndon’s Andrea Hoke won both the girls discus (117-9) and javelin (130-7).
Chase County’s Julie Dorneker swept the girls distance events, winning the 1,600 in a time of 5:31.62 before capturing the 3,200 title in a time of 12:16.10.
Photo by Michael Ashford
Chase County’s Julie Dorneker, right, runs ahead of Olpe’s Katelyn Henderson during the 1,600-meter run at Thursday’s Lyon County League track and field meet at Welch Stadium. Dorneker won both the 1,600 and 3,200 titles.
Madison’s Ashley Martell won the pole vault with a meet-record clearance of 8-3 1/2 and then teamed with Malacie Bybee, Jennifer Finch and Tina Ratcliff to win the 4x100-meter relay (56.41 seconds).
Olpe’s Bradley Argabright and Flinthills’ Jacob Ritter each won an individual event and then ran on a title-winning relay team. Argabright won the 800-meter run (2:03.34) and joined Ethan Hall, Josh Klumpe and Trey Stead on the 4x400 relay team that took first in a time of 3:38.20. Ritter took the title in the 3,200 (10:37.17) and then helped Flinthills’ 4x800 relay team, along with Logan Fullerton, Grant Vogt and Ethan Eisenbarth, to a victory in a time of 8:28.16.
Olpe’s Natalie Kuhlmann, Kelsey Camien and Katelyn Henderson were the final athletes with hands in two event victories, as the three teamed with Katie Krueger to win the 4x800 relay in a time of 10:44.38, then teamed with Kathryn Flott to win the 4x400 in a time of 4:30.47. Kuhlmann also won the girls 300 hurdles in a time of 52.87 seconds.
On the boys side, the other event champions were: Matt Baysinger of Madison in the discus (116-0 1/2), Ben Dains of Madison in the pole vault (11-6), Henry Ott of Madison in the javelin (169-5), Cody Peterson of Chase County in the shot put (44-1 3/4) and Aaron Thomsen of Hartford in the 1,600 (4:48.01).
Other individual champions on the girls side were: Samantha Wilkerson of Hartford in the long jump (15-3), Megan Woods of Olpe in the shot put (36-8) and Shelby Woods of Waverly in the 400 (1:02.10).
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