On Tuesday, May 3, the Bluejay track teams headed to Seneca to compete in the Nemaha Central Invitational going up against nine other teams.

The boys ended with 53.5 points, which was good enough for fifth place. While the girls earned fourth place with 55 points.

“The meet at Nemaha Central was a competitive meet and most of the teams we have not seen yet this year,” said Head Coach Dave Remmers. “We were able to put some kids in the JV division of the meet, which allowed them to have some success they maybe haven’t seen competing at the varsity level. Our kids competed well, and we used this meet to help decide events that some will be competing in at the league meet.”

Boys

Sprinter Nate Menold got some points on the board for the Bluejays with a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.85 seconds. Tyrese Bishop was booking it with a 2 minutes, five seconds time in the 800-meter run that was good enough for third place. Sophomore distance runner Kalvin Evans also contributed to his team with an impressive fourth-place medal in the 3200-meter race for a time of 10 minutes, 44 seconds.

Sophomore Joshua Grimm led the Bluejays in the field events. Grimm had a second-place finish in the discus throw with a distance of 131 feet, nine inches. He was also able to capture third place in the shot put. Nohl Niehues also put up a highlight with a first-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet, six inches.

Girls

Mary Lukert showed off her wheels getting fourth place in the 400-meter dash and third place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.69 seconds. Leah Lukert is showing consistent improvement in the 1600-meter run, receiving third place with a time of five minutes, 50 seconds. Laura Metzger beat all of her competitors in the 3200-meter run with a time of 13 minutes, 18 seconds.

To round up the running events, the Lady Jays captured the top spot with an impressive time of 11 minutes, one second in the 4×800 meter dash. Runners on that team were Aubrey Schmelzle, Lauren Bowles, L. Metzger and M. Lukert.

Olivia Saner had a stand-out performance in the pole vault, clearing a height of nine feet, six inches, which secured herself first place. A. Schmelzle had an admirable effort in the long jump to receive fourth place with a jump of 15 feet, two inches.