GOTHENBURG – The inaugural Nebraska Middle School Track Championships were in full swing Saturday afternoon at Gothenburg High School.
The first ever state-wide meet brought in some of the best young talent not only in the state, but in the entire country.
Dawson County teams brought their heavy hitters along for the experience as most of them will make the next step in their young careers for the high school level.
One team that will contend for team championships in the next few years will be the Cozad Haymakers, who stole the show, winning the boys’ division, edging out county rival Lexington by a mere six points.
Cozad eighth grade boys head coach Bill Schaefer had high expectations from the start.
“I did expect them to contend,” Schaefer said. “When all the marks were put out as far as what the other teams were bringing to the table for that meet I thought we had a pretty good shot to win in it.”
One Haymaker that was in the spotlight was Jake Paulsen, who led the Dawson County teams, winning three individual gold medals.
Paulsen was the winner of the 100-meter dash, with Lexington’s Josiah Madison coming in fourth place. Paulsen also won the 200-meter dash, with Madison placing third. Finally, Paulsen capped off the hat trick, winning the high jump, with a school record best of 5 feet, 11 inches.
Paulsen broke the school record for the High Jump three times this season, capping it off with a state championship winning jump of 5 feet, 11 inches.
Minuteman thrower Luis Nunez was unable to medal in the shot put, scratching on all three attempts. However, Nunez did take home a silever medal in the Discus Throw, launching it 130 feet, 7 inches.
The Haymaker and Minutemen relay teams were neck and neck throughout the afternoon, with Lexington finishing third in the 4×100 and fourth in the 4×400. Cozad took fifth in both relay races.
Lexington finished runner-up to the Haymakers after finishing a perfect regular season. Lexington had defeated the talented Cozad squad in the final meet of the year in North Platte, so the State Meet proved to be exciting.
In the girls’ division, the Minutemaids put forth a good effort, finishing in 22nd place.
Mackenzie McKeone finished in sixth place in the high jump, while the 4×400 relay team took home a fourth place medal for their efforts.
On a side note, Tiani Reeves of Gothenburg was the star of the afternoon, winning three gold medals in the 200 meter dash, the 400 meter dash and the long jump, in which Reeves set a school record and leads all seventh grade girls in the country with a jump of 17 feet, 6 inches.
Here are the full results of the inaugural State Middle School Track Meet:

Girls Results

400m Dash-
10. Mackenzie McKeone (Lex)1:04.99

800m Run-
12. Katelin Schultze (Lex) 2:37.85

1600m Run-
9. Odaliz Santoyo (Lex) 5:57.21

100m Hurdles-
10. Jazmin Vazquez (Lex) 18.30
12. Kyra Goings (Cozad) 18.77

200m Hurdles
18. Sandra Gomez (Lex) 34.29

4×100 Relay-
13. Lexington 58.83

4×400 Relay
4. Lexington 4:29.98

Shot Put
18. Courtney Geiger (Cozad) 26’4”

High Jump
6. Mackenzie McKeone (Lex) 4’8”

Final Team Standings
22. Lexington- 5 pts.

Boys Results

100m Dash-
1. Jake Paulsen (Cozad) 11.35
4. Josiah Madison (Lex) 11.94
6. Giovanny Rodriquez 12.13

200m Dash-
1. Jake Paulsen (Cozad) 23.53
3. Josiah Madison (Lex) 24.84
5. Giovanny Rodriquez (Lex) 25.02
10. Erick Lemus (Cozad) 25.84

400m Dash-
4. Clay Trejo (Cozad) 56.23
12. Brody Lauby (Lex) 59.66
800m Run
7. Andres Pelaya (Cozad) 2:19.02
11. Abdi Gedi (Lex) 2:21.55
19. Garrit Geiger (Cozad) 2:26:65

1600m Run
8. Andres Pelaya (Cozad) 5:13.61
11. Garrit Geiger (Cozad) 5:19.51
14. Abdi Gedi (Lex) 5:22.53

100m Hurdles
5. Bryan Alvidez (Lex) 15.77
6. Alex Boryca (Cozad) 15.79
7. Colkin Wetovick (Cozad) 15.91
8. Marvin Flores (Lex) 16.05
12. Jacob Rush (Cozad) 17.17

200m Hurdles
8. Colkin Wetovick (Cozad) 28.9
9. Marvin Flores (Lex) 29.18
10. Bryan Alvidez (Lex) 29.25
11. Alex Boryca (Cozad) 29.5

4x100m Relay
3. Lexington 49.65
5. Cozad 49.87

4x400m Relay
4. Lexington 4:00.10
5. Cozad 4:02.46

Shot Put
6. Simon Rangel (Cozad) 42’2”
9. Slater Barela (Cozad) 39’                9.75”

Discus Throw
2. Luis Nunez (Lex) 130’ 7”

Long Jump
5. Giovanny Rodriquez 17’ 10.5”
12. Clay Trejo 16’ 10”

Triple Jump
13. Neftali Mejia 32’ 11”

High Jump
1. Jake Paulsen (Cozad) 5’ 11”
8. Josiah Madison (Lex) 5’ 4”

Pole Vault
11. Blaine Peterson (Cozad) 8’ 6”
14. Erick Lemus 8’ 0”

Final Team Standings
1. Cozad 40 pts.
2. Lexington 34 pts.

• Cozad Haymakers
• Lexington Minutemen

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