Putting their best foot forward was better than most for many Elwood and Eustis/Farnam tracksters as they competed and earned hardware in the Nebraska Class D8 District Championships held in Cambridge on Wednesday.

Stepping into the limelight during her first district meet, Lady Knight Jessica Deterding won the half-mile gold with a stellar clocking of 2:32, a season best for her, “She is really starting to understand how her races are supposed to be ran,” expressed E/F head coach Caleb Wall.

Senior thrower Desirai Grassmeyer will step into the ring in Omaha in both the shotput and discus for the Pirates. Grassmeyer cruised to the crown in the shotput with a top effort of 38’2.75” and a runner-up finish in the discus, launching the platter past 93’4”.

Elwood teammate Anna Eggers was able to power the shotput past the 33’6” mark to earn the silver medal and earn a trip to the state meet.

The one-two sprinting punch of Taylor and Tobie Carlberg caused havoc for opposing runners in the sprint races for Elwood. Taylor was the silver medalist in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.9 seconds. Tobie punched her ticket to Burke with a time of 27.3 in third place.

Running the curve and conquering the timbers, Eustis/Farnam’s McKenna Rieker took home the bronze medal in the 300-meter hurdles in 50.5.

In her first year of high school competition, Lady Knight Melanie Johnson launched the discus 86’7” to finish fourth overall.

Going skyward, Lady Pirate Tiffany Finkral was fourth overall in the pole vault, clearing 7’7”.

The Lady Knights 1600 (4:25) and 3200-meter (10:38) quartets, both finished with bronze medal accolades.

Showcasing their depth in their sprint contingency, Elwood was third overall in the 400-meter relay in 53.6. The distance runners for the Lady Pirates combined to tote the baton around eight laps in 10:57 to finish fourth overall.

On the boys side, Jordan Wetovick had a phenomenal day on the oval. Wetovick improved his Knight school records in the hurdle events. Jordan was the silver medalist in both the 110 and 300-meter timbers with record times of 15.7 and 41.3, respectively.

Elwood’s Billie Smith displayed great endurance and explosive kick to finish as the silver medalist in the 800-meter run, stopping the watch in 2:12.

Just missing out on a trip to Omaha, was Knight thrower Jared Rupp, who launched the discus past the 121’9” mark to finish third overall.

Elwood showcased outstanding depth with their 3200 (8:53), 1600 (3:49) and 400-meter (47.9) relays finishing second, third and fourth in their respective events.



For the complete story, please see the print edition of the TRIBUNE