ELWOOD – The Fort Kearny Conference track meet was in full swing Friday in Elwood.
The Pirates, along with the Overton Eagles, were on hand for the event, as they looked to capture the conference crown.
On the girls’ side, both squads saw their fair share of success, as Elwood finished in eighth position, while Overton took ninth.
Brittany Kubert of Elwood took a fourth place finish in the 200-meter dash with her time of 28.6 seconds. Katie Morten of Loomis was the winner at 26.9 seconds.
Overton’s Kayla Stauffer was the one of only two double gold medalists from Dawson County on Friday, capturing both distance races. Stauffer smoked the field in the 3200-meter run, winning in a time of 13:28.
Stauffer took first ahead of Elwood’s Lexie Remmenga in the 1600-meter run, as Stauffer ran in a time of 6:13, while Remmenga finished in 6:19. Fellow Pirate Cheyenne Beck took sixth place in a time of 7:02. Beck also took fifth in the 3200 in a time of 15:22.
Pirate hurdler Molly Weissert was a sixth place finisher in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles, finishing in a time of 18.2 seconds. S-E-M’s Sara Simmons was the FKC champ in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.3 seconds.
Elwood freshman Rachel Mahlberg received a fifth place medal in the 300-meter low hurdles, finishing in a time of 54.2 seconds, falling out of fourth place by just .10 seconds.
Rachel’s older sister Bailey took sixth place in the long jump with a leap of 14 feet, 11 ½ inches. Simmons of S-E-M took a third FKC gold Friday with the winning jump of 16 feet, 1½ inches.
Elwood was able to medal in all three relay races, taking fourth in the 4×100 and 4×400 relay and took second place in the 4×800 relay race with a time of 11:09.
At the end of the day, Elwood finished with 35 total team points for eighth place overall, while Overton tallied 20 team points for ninth place.
On the boys’ side, Elwood and Overton battled for position back and forth throughout most of the day, with Elwood finishing a half a point better.
Overton senior Jared Hodgson nears the end of a storied high school career for the Eagles, taking third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.8 seconds.
Also for Overton, Chuck Else was a fifth place finisher in the 1600-meter run with his time of 5:34.
Elwood’s Walter Flint took a sixth place medal in the two mile run with his time of 12:27, while Overton’s Ethan Enochs took fourth place with a time of 11:46.
Overton’s weight team of senior Jared Shafer and sophomore Jacob Olmstead  took medals in the shot put, as Shafer took fifth with a toss of 44 feet, 9 inches, while Olmstead took sixth with his toss of 42 feet, 4 inches.
The Olmstead brothers both took medals in the discus, as Zach Olmstead captured silver with his throw of 148 feet, while brother Jacob took fourth with a throw of 138 feet, 5 inches.
Elwood’s Braeden Banzhaf was only able to take one medal on the day, finishing in a tie for sixth place in the high jump with his leap of 5 feet, 8 inches.
Elwood senior Jesse Roberts also was a dual medalist on Friday, capturing silver in the long jump with a bound of 19 feet, 5 ¾ inches. Roberts also captured bronze in the triple jump with a jump of 40 feet, 4 ¾ inches.
Overton and Elwood both took two medals in the relay races, as Overton took fourth in the 4×100 relay and third in the 4×400 relay, while Elwood took second in both the 4×400 and 4×800 relay.
Elwood finished with 39.5 points to finish in fifth place overall, while Overton fell .5 points short, taking sixth with 39 points.
Overton will travel up Highway 30 for the Elm Creek Invite on Thursday, while Elwood will take part in the Alma Invite on Friday, May 7.

• Elwood Pirates
• Overton Eagles

Support your favorite teams and athletes by leaving a comment below