Sports

Xavier Marburger had a stellar day of action at the D-6 District Meet at Sandy Creek High School, May 12, as the junior sprinter and jumper earned 28 of the Cardinals’ 35 team points with a pair of wins on the track and a second-place finish in the triple jump.

His efforts will take Marburger to Omaha Burke High School where he will compete in the 100 and 200-meter sprints, as well as the triple jump.

Kenesaw’s Tyson Denkert proved to be the winner of the triple jump, beating Marbarger by an inch and a half with his 42’ 7” jump. Marburger sailed 42’ 5.5” to gain his first spot in the state championship meet.

Marburger heads to Omaha with the fourth-best overall mark from Class D district competition.

On the track Marburger outlasted Kenesaw sprinter Trey Kennedy to win the 100-meter dash by five-hundredths of a second, winning the event in 11.4 seconds, while Kennedy finished with a time of 11.45 seconds.

A feat that Sandy Creek senior Micah Biltoft had been chasing for the past two seasons was finally reached during the C-7 District track and field meet in Superior May 12. Biltoft cleared the 6’ 10” mark in the high jump to break a 30-year-old record, held by Jim Lipovsky.

Lipovsky set the previous mark in 1992, clearing 6’ 9” back then. Biltoft’s new record still leaves him one more meet to push the Sandy Creek mark even farther, as he, along with teammate Sean Heaton, both advanced to the 2022 Nebraska State Championship meet at Omaha Burke this Friday where the Cougar pair will jump at 9:30 a.m. inside Burke Stadium.

Biltoft’s win, with his monster leap, led the field of C-7 jumpers. Only Doniphan-Trumbull’s Myles Sadd separated Biltoft and Heaton, as Sadd cleared 6’ 5”, while Heaton placed third overall with a personal best 6’ 3” leap, as the Cougars gained 16 of their 39 team points in the event.

In what turned out to be a wild finish to the 2022 Southern Nebraska Conference golf tournament, the host Sandy Creek Cougars wound up shooting an 18-hole 353 and had four top 15 medalists on their home course, Clay Center’s Crooked Creek Country Club.

The issue at hand, however, was Sandy Creek’s final score was also equaled by both Thayer Central and Heartland, as both teams scored a 353 with the final standings. Sandy Creek placed fourth due to tie-breaker rules.

Milford owned the outright SNC championship with a 344. Thayer Central placed second and Heartland, third.

Logan Sanders led the Cougar squad with an eighth-place 86, shooting an opening round 42, followed by a back-nine 44.

Jake Dane, Garrett Fischer and Connor Rempe all finished with scores of 89 to place 13th, 14th and 15th, respectively.

Sutton junior Nathan Baldwin continues his dominant run in the two throwing events for the 2022 track season. As the defending Class C state champion in both the discus and shot put, Baldwin opened the Southern Nebraska Conference meet, at Fairbury High School, by breaking his own school record in the discus.

Baldwin’s throw of 172’ 5” broke his record of 163 11” set last year at the state championship meet in Omaha.

Baldwin outdistanced second-place medalist Carson Fehlhafer of Centennial by over nine feet, as Fehlhafer hit the 163’ 3” mark to place second.

Baldwin then backed up his big discus win with another gold-medal performance in the shot put, hitting the 54-foot mark to edge out Superior’s Seth Schnakenberg for the win, as Schnakenberg hit a 52’ 5.5” throw for the silver medal.

Wilber-Clatonia proved to be the dominant team in the meet, outscoring second-place Milford by 50 points for the team title, holding a 131-81 edge over the Eagles.

The Sutton girls track and field team earned a total of 21 medals in action at the Centennial quadrangular Monday, April 25, in Utica. In all, 16 track medals and five field event medals were earned.

Junior Alivia Huxoll gained the lone field event win, claiming the high jump title with a 4’ 10” leap.

Daelyn Hofaker’s jump of 29’ 0.5” in the triple jump gained her second place overall behind event winner Catelynn Bargen of Centennial. Bargen sailed 30’ 3” for the win.

Freshman Avery Robinson claimed fourth place in the long jump with a 12’ 11.5” leap. Karley Naber of Centennial claimed the event title with a 13’ 4.25” jump.

Tori Peterson’s throw of 30’ 5” in the shot put placed her sixth overall, while event winner Halley Heidtbrink of Centennial claimed the win with a 33’ 5” throw.

Freshman Jacee Haight added a sixth-place finish in the discus with a 76’ 3” throw. Centennial’s Cora Hoffschneider won the event title with an 87’ 8” toss.

Jake Dane paced the Sandy Creek golf team in action at the Hastings St. Cecilia Invitational at the Southern Hills Golf Course, Thursday, April 28.

Dane finished in the top 15 of the tournament, gaining the Cougars’ lone medal of the day, as his 18-hole 89 placed him 12th overall.

Doniphan-Trumbull ran away with the team title, placing three individual golfers in the top four. The Cardinals outscored second place Grand Island Central Catholic by 16 strokes, winning the team title with a 323, while the Crusaders finished as the runner-up with a 339.

Sandy Creek wrapped up team play with a 397 to tie for ninth place with Wood River.

Dane began his day with an opening-round 39 while playing the back nine to start the day. His final nine holes of play produced a 50 to finish with an 89.

Following Dane was Garrett Fischer with a 98. Fisher logged scores of 55 on the front nine and 43 to wrap up play.

For the first time during the 2022 track and field season, the Sandy Creek boys team was held short of a gold medal performance, in action at the Superior Invite, Tuesday, April 16.

Despite the lack of gold, Sandy Creek placed fourth as a team, scoring 83 team points, while earning 10 medals on the track and seven during field event action.

Hastings St. Cecilia held off second-place Superior 136.5-130 for the team title, while Thayer Central gained third with 108.5 team points, followed by the Cougars.

Senior Micah Biltoft gained two field event medals to start the day, placing second in the triple jump and third in the high jump.

Biltoft’s leap of 39’ 9.75” placed him behind St. Cecilia’s Carson Kudlacek, as Kudlacek hit the 39’ 10.5” mark for the win. Teammate Jacob Petr placed fourth in the event with a 37’ 1” jump.

The Sutton trap squads wrapped up the 2022 conference trap shooting season this past Saturday at the Crooked Creek Gun Club, with two junior shooters gaining weekly honors, while four senior team members and three junior squad shooters were tabbed as all-conference selections.

Aniston Jasnoch and Elsa Andersen earned runner-up team honors with a 72, following only Fillmore County’s Alexis Saatman and Trinidi Oswald, who combined for a 77.

Jasnoch also gained a runner-up individual finish in the junior division with a 39, as Oswald of Fillmore County gained the top spot with a 40.

All-Conference honors for Sutton included two first-team selections, going to Ryan Tiemeyer and Leif Andersen, as Tiemeyer and Andersen tied for third overall with a 434.

Vance Smith was selected fourth on the second team with a 429.

Leah Cool gained fifth overall on the female all-conference list with a 406.

Weather elements have been a big part of the 2022 high school boys golf season, and a trip to Geneva for the Fillmore Central Invite Tuesday, April 12, proved to be no different for the Sandy Creek golf team.

The Cougars placed fifth as a team, falling eight strokes behind Sutton, as the Mustangs outscored the Cougars 423-441 in the 10 team meet.

Heartland earned the team title with a 396, Thayer Central followed with a 408, while Fillmore Central finished just ahead of Sutton with a 410.

Brady Claycamp led the Cougars squad, placing 12th overall to finish in the medal round and the tournament’s top 15 players.

Claycamp’s 18-hole 105 was carded by shooting a front nine 51, before wrapping up play on the back nine with a 54.

Following Claycamp for SC was Connor Rempe and Logan Sanders who both finished play with a 110.

Harvard junior Xavier Marburger had a big hand in the Harvard boys track team scoring in action at the Heartland Invite, April 14 in Henderson. Marburger indivdually tallied 28 of the Cardinals’ 33 team points, winning the triple jump and the 200-meter dash, while placing second in the 100-meter dash.

On the girls side of the meet, Delainey Gaughen proved to be the lone medalist in Henderson, placing sixth in the shot put with a 32’ 0.5” effort. JessaLynn Hudson of Bruning-Davenport/ Shickley earned gold in the event with a throw of 39’ 9.”

Marburger’s day for the boys began with a big win in the triple jump, sailing 40’ 3” inches to edge out McCool Junction’s Isaac Stark for the gold, as Stark hit the 39’ 9” mark for second place.

Teammate Cody Fishler added a fifth-place finish in the triple jump as well, hitting the 34’ 11” mark.