The sky is the limit for the North Platte girls’ track and field team who is coming off its first state championship in program history.
North Platte sprinters Olivia Rogers (#1157) and Lindsay Ramsey (#1156) both earned four state medals each last season.
Before the 2022 Class 2 State Track and Field Meet, North Platte had never hung a state championship banner in any girls’ sport but has now done so twice in the last 10 months. After winning it all in comfortable fashion last spring – scoring 29 more points than the second-place team – the Lady Panthers closed out last fall with a state championship in the cross-country season.
“Hopes are high after bringing home a state championship last spring, as well as in cross-country last fall,” North Platte head track and field coach Brendan Cary said. “We’re blessed with a great group to provide senior leadership and high-level meet experience, but also have a lot of new faces looking to make contributions to the team as well.”
With eight state qualifiers coming back, Lindsay Ramsey and Olivia Rogers bring back the most experience, and speed. They were both on the first place 4x200-meter relay that finished 3.55 seconds faster than College Heights Christian.
“Our sprints group is extremely strong once again, with multiple state champions and medalists to provide a lot of depth and scoring options in those events,” Cary said.
Ramsey set the program record in the 400-meter run with a time of 58.9 seconds at sectionals – before finishing second place in state – and became the first North Platte freshman to medal in four events. She took second in the 4x400-meter run and sixth place in the 200-meter dash.
Rogers put the team on her back at state, going a perfect four-for-four in her events as she became the first North Platte athlete to earn four gold medals. She won the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash – setting the school record time of 25.24 seconds in preliminaries – along with a first-place finish on the 4x100-meter relay.
“The distance group will look to transfer their success from the course last fall to the track this spring. There’s an increased emphasis on field events, with lots of athletes looking to make increased contributions,” Cary said.
North Platte finished just outside of qualifying past preliminaries in the 4x800-meter relay, but will look for vengeance this spring as Brianna DeBord, Shelby Lingle and Jessa Cassity are returning from the ninth-place team. DeBord also ended her sophomore campaign with a seventh-place finish in the 3,200-meter run.
Freshman Chloe Heckman is looking to add depth to the long-distance events as she finished in seventh place at state cross-country last fall. Kylee Sipes is a two-time sectional qualifier in 100-meter hurdles, while Lonee French, Bella Kitmitto and Kalli Schuster have all been state qualifiers in the relays.
“It can be tempting after having success to believe that things will just happen automatically, but that hasn’t been the case for our team. They’ve come in with a tremendous mindset that we still have lots of room to grow and that we will be prepared to compete with anyone when the opportunity arises,” Cary said.
On the boys’ side, Noah Heckman and Josh Schaffart are looking to lead the way. Heckman finished in 14th place at state in the 3,200-meter run each of his first two track seasons and Schaffart was an all-state cross-country runner last fall.
“The distance group, after a fourth place showing at state cross-country last fall, will look to translate that success to the track this spring. The sprints group has a large group of freshmen to work with the upperclassmen to compete in those events,” Cary said.