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OMAHA — The Cedar Catholic track and field teams made the annual trek to Omaha for the 2023 Nebraska School Activities Association State Track and Field Championships last weekend and walked away with a pair of gold medals and several other big accomplishments.
The Trojans earned a spot in the top five in the Class C team race with 34 points, while the Lady Trojans ended in a three-way tie for 10th with Battle Creek and Centennial with 20 points.
Bishop Neumann edged Kearney Catholic 43-40 for the girls’ crown, while Chase County put up 66 points on the boys’ side, compared with 52 for runner-up Battle Creek.
“It was a fun couple of days as always for the State track meet,” Cedar Catholic coach Chad Cattau said. “I thought our kids performed really well overall — we had a lot of events that we were a part of and that really makes the two days even more enjoyable.”
As expected, Carson Noecker paced the Trojans by having a hand in 30 of the 34 points.
He earned gold medals in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays as well as won the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 19.35 seconds, to defend his State title in that event.
Noecker was able to break his own meet record in the 3,200 with a time of 9:07.73, which also earned him the All-Class Gold Medal at this year’s State competition.
He was joined by Matthew Loecker, Nolan Becker and Carson Arens to win the 4-by-800 relay in a time of 8:16.74 for that gold and the time was also a Cedar Catho lic school record.
Arens grabbed the other four points for the Trojans with a fifth-place finish in a loaded open 800 run.
He ran a 1:57.99, which was good enough to better his own school record, but the competition in that race was fierce — as it is in most events at the State meet.
Arens also competed in the 400 dash and ran a 52.75, which missed the finals and landed him in 12th.
Noecker also competed in that open 800 and wound up with a 2:01.05, which was 13th in the finals standings.
“Those are all really good times,” Cattau said. “It shows how much work all of these kids have put into the season and their careers.”
Jaxson Bernecker also improved over his career in the throws and James Fischer qualified for his first-ever State tournament in the shot put.
Bernecker finished 10th in the shot with a best of 47 feet, 1 inch, while Fischer tossed it 44-04.75.
“Jaxson has shown so much growth in those events; he should be proud of where he got to in his career,” Cattau said.
“And James improved tremendously throughout his career and this season and he had a great State experience,” he said.
The Trojans also qualified the 4-by-400 relay squad of Becker, Jaymison Cattau, Tyan Baller and Arens. They made four laps at Burke Stadium in 3:38.60, which put them in 16th.
Another Trojan, Aaron Wortmann, got some valuable experience in Omaha in the high jump, where he missed the opening height. He is only a freshman, though, and is expected to return to State before he ends his prep career.
For the Lady Trojans, their 4-by-400 relay won gold in that event.
Faith Christensen, Lauren Bernecker, Grace Reifenrath and Laney Kathol covered the distance in 4:02.00 for the title.
“They ran a great time,” Cattau said. “I knew they had a chance to win the race, but I honestly didn’t expect them to put that kind of time up - they almost broke the state record.”
The quartet also broke the school record which had stood since 1992.
Kathol also earned some hardware in the 800 with a time of 2:17.83, which was good enough for sixth despite the time being faster than the time she posted last season when she won the event.
She just missed the finals in the 400 with a time of 1:00.04 seconds which put her in ninth and out of the medal race. Bernecker also ran in the 400 and was 21st in the prelims in 1:02.73.
The Cedar Catholic girls’ 4X800 squad also got in the medals as Grace Reifenrath, Bernecker, Ava Noecker and Kathol covered the distance in 10:06.06 for third place and six teampoints.
“This group of seniors has provided us with so many great memories,” said Cattau. “I know they are going to do great things after high school because they are all very quality people with great work ethic - they will represent Cedar Catholic at a high level in their next endeavors in life and I am excited to see where they all end up in life.”
Lexi Eickhoff threw in the discus and the shot and had a hurl of 106-01 (21st) in the discus and a heave of 3701 in the shot (11th).
The 4X100 team of Bernecker-Christensen, G. Reifenrath and Sophia Reifenrath circled the track in 51.50 which was good enough for eighth.
“It was their best time of the season the coach said. “You can’t ask for any more than that. They put a lot of work into their hand offs and it showed, it was a smooth trip around the track.”
Christensen ran a 27.18 seconds in the preliminaries of 200 which put her in 18th overall.
NEBRASKA CLASS C HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS Girls Team Results: 1. Bishop Neumann 43; 2. Kearney Catholic 40.33; 2. Chase County 40.33; 4. Milford 39; 5. Superior 36; 6. Crofton 30; 6. North Platte St. Patrick’s 30; 8. Shelby-Rising City 29; 9. Aquinas Catholic 28; 10. Centennial 20; 10. Battle Creek 20; 10. Cedar Catholic 20; 13. Clarkson/ Leigh 18.33; 14. Arcadia-Loup City 18; 15. Wakefield 17; 16. Guardian Angels Central Catholic 16; 16. Sutherlan 16; 18. West Holt 15; 19. Norfolk Catholic 13; 19. Summerland 13; 19. Doniphan-Trumbull 13; 19. Hastings St. Cecilia 13; 23. Hershey 11; 24. South Loup 10; 24. Syracuse 10; 24. Thayer Central 10; 27. Elmwood-Murdock 9; 28. Fillmore Central 8; 29. Louisville 7; 30. Archbishop Bergan 6; 30. Centura 6; 30. Cross County 6; 33. Malcolm 5; 33. Grand Island Central Catholic 5; 35. North Bend Central 4; 35. David City 4; 35. Bridgeport 4; 35. North Central 35; 39. Conestoga 3; 39. Ainsworth 3; 39. Lincoln Lutheran 3; 39. Cornerstone Christian 3; 39. Southern Valley 3; 39. Palmyra 3; 45. Gordon-Rushville 2; 45. Oakland-Craig 2; 45. Baird 2; 48. Ponca 1; 48. Pender 1. Area Individual Results: 200: 18. Faith Chistensen (CC) (p)27.18.
400: 9. Laney Kathol (CC) (p)1:00.04; 21. Lauren Bernecker (CC) (p)1:02.73. 800: 6. Kathol (CC) 2:17.83. 100H: 23. Tali Erwin (LCC) (p)19.60 4X100 RELAY: 8. Cedar Catholic (Christensen, Grace Reifenrath, Sophia Reifenrath, Bernecker) 51.50. 4X400 RELAY: 1. Cedar Catholic (Christensen, Bernecker, Grace Reifenrath, Kathol) 4:02.00. 4X800 RELAY: 6. Cedar Catholic (G.
Reifenrath, Bernecker, Ava Noecker, Kathol) 10:06.06. HIGH JUMP: 14. Erwin (LCC) 5-0 TRIPLE JUMP: 24. Jade Ford (H-N) 31-09.50. SHOT PUT: 11. Lexi Eickhoff 37-01. 20.
Berniece McCorkindale (LCC) 34-08. DISCUS: 21. Eickhoff 106-01. Boys Team Results:
1. Chase County 66: 2. Battle Creek 52; 3. North Platte St. Patrick’s 46; 4.
Lincoln Lutheran 37; 5. Cedar Catholic 34; 6. Norfolk Catholic 33.5; 7. Elmwood-Murdock 28; 7. Stanton 28; 9. Hastings St. Cecilia 24; 10. Hi-Line 23; 11. Perkins County 21; 12. Gordon-Rushville 16; 12.
Pender 16; 14. Bishop Neumann 15; 15.
Oakland-Craig 13; 15. Sutton 13; 17.
Winnebago 12; 17. Tri County 12. 19.
Wakefield 11; 19. Elkhorn Valley 11; 21.
Centura 10; 22. Ponca 9; 22. South Loup 9; 22. Wilber-Clatonia 9; 22. Cornerstone Christian 9; 26. Bancroft-Rosalie 8; 26.
Mitchell 8; 28. West Holt 7; 28. Yutan 7; 30. David City 6; 30. Ord 6; 30. Milford 6; 30. Amherst 6; 30. Syracuse 6; 30.
Kearney Catholic 6; 36. Aquinas Catholic 5; 36. Sutherland 6; 36. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 5; 36. Ainsworth 5; 40. Alma 3; 40. Freeman 3; 40. Wisner-Pilger 3; 40. Doniphan-Trumbull 3; 44. Fillmore Central 2; 44. North Bend Central 2; 46.
Hartington-Newcastle 1; 46. Palmyra 1; 49. Bayard .5. Area Individual Results: 400: 12. Carson Arens (CC) (p)52.47.
800: 5. Arens (CC) 1:57.99; 13. Carson Noecker 2:01.05. 1,600: 1. Noecker (CC) 4:19.35.
3,200: 1. Noecker (CC) 9:07.73. 110 HURDLES: 4. Dan Puppe (LCC) 15.42. 300 HURDLES: 20. Puppe (LCC) 43.80.
4X100 RELAY: 15. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (Puppe, Shane Benson, Gibson Roberts, Carter Kvols) 45.85. 4X400 RELAY: 16. Cedar Catholic (Tyan Baller, Nolan Becker, Jaymison Cattau, Arens) 3:38.60. 4X800 RELAY: 1. Cedar Catholic (Matthew Loecker, Noecker, Becker, Arens) 8:16.74. HIGH JUMP: -- Aaron Wortmann (NH).
POLE VAULT: 12. Lane Heimes (H-N) 12-00; 15. Puppe (LCC) 11-06. LONG JUMP: 8. Cole Rosener (H-N) 20-02.50. SHOT PUT: 19. Jaxson Bernecker (CC) 47-01; 23. James Fischer (CC) 44-04.75. DISCUS: 10. Bernecker 149-11.
