North Platte seniors Kalli Schuster and Olivia Rogers throw up two fingers and Bella Kitmitto points to her ring finger to signify winning the second straight Class 2 State Championship while standing at midfield on the podium at Jefferson City High School on May 20.
The North Platte girls’ track and field team’s quest to bring home a second straight state title came down to the wire with the Class 2 State Meet being decided by the final event at Jefferson City High School on May 20.
All weekend long, North Platte was in a battle with Father Tolton – who won the Class 4 Cross-Country State Championship last fall but was bumped down to Class 2 in track and field – with the Lady Panthers leading by one point ahead of the 4x400-meter relay. North Platte and Father Tolton were both in the relay ranked as the top-2 teams, so the state champion came down to who would win the 4x400.
“We couldn’t script the drama any better in terms of how the day kind of went with ups and downs and some different things,” North Platte head track and field coach Brenden Cary said. “Hat’s off to all the other teams, that’s what the state should be, it’s the best of the best. I’d love to be up 30 points and just get to relax and kind of let it all happen, but it happened the way it did.”
North Platte sophomore Linsday Ramsey and senior Kalli Schuster hug Olivia Rogers immediately after the 4x400-meter relay anchor crossed the finish line in first place to bring the Lady Panthers their second straight state title on May 20.
North Platte beat Father Tolton by 3.29 seconds in the 4x400 in prelims, so it got the best lane in the finals. Graci Williams was the lead leg and was in fourth place when she handed the baton to Linsday Ramsey who took off and put the Lady Panthers back in first place by the time it was Kalli Schuster’s turn.
“My coach was trying to tell me to run different, so I came out a little harder,” Lindsay Ramsey said. “I was just pushing and pushing but I know our team could go through.”
Schuster gave North Platte a comfortable lead ahead of Father Tolton and Olivia Rogers didn’t let up as the anchor. The Lady Panthers crossed the finish line in 4:03.22 – which wasn’t only 7.74 seconds faster than the Lady Trailblazers but broke the school record – to walk-off with another state championship.
“It was a lot more stressful, especially with it literally coming down to the very last race, there’s no making up points. We have a really good 4x400 team and I love running with them, so I knew we could do it,” Schuster said.
Lonee French holds up the Class 2 State Championship Plaque in celebratory fashion at Jefferson City High School.
North Platte has now won three state championships in the last year, counting cross-country last fall, but it wasn’t as easy this time. Father Tolton had 30 points to North Platte’s 19 points after the first day, due to a strong outing in the long-distance events.
The Lady Trailblazers won the 4x800-meter relay – with the Lady Panthers’ team of Shelby Lingle, Chloe Heckman, Jessa Cassity and Brianna DeBord taking second place – and had the top-2 runners in the 3,200-meter run. It was an absolute downpour during that race, but Heckman took third place with a North Platte record time of 11:36.13 and DeBord took fourth place in 11:43.65 to keep the Lady Panthers afloat.
“It was tough because of the weather, I wasn’t a fan of it, but it was okay because I was still able to get on the podium,” Brianna DeBord said. “I’m happy with the performance that my group and I have gave this year, we’re giving it our all to try and to get this championship.”
Graci Williams was the lead leg in the 4x400-meter relay that set a program record with a time of 4:03.22.
The Lady Panthers knew they had to make points up in the sprinting events and Rogers got them going on the second day. After she earned a gold medal in the 100-meter dash, she was on the second place 4x200-meter relay with Schuster, Williams and Lindsay Ramsey.
That put North Platte ahead of Father Tolton 37-30, but that was lead short-lived. With the relatively new MSHSAA rule of having the ability to have three individuals in one event, the Lady Trailblazers took advantage of that, having the top-3 finishers in the mile as DeBord took fifth place in 5:22.93.
Shelby Lingle ended her high school career with a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2:25.4.
“We talked all season about doing the job and controlling what we can control. This weekend we talked about finishing the job, being businesslike and doing what you’re supposed to do and trusting their teammates and they did that,” Cary said.
Father Tolton took a 13-point margin in first place at that point, but North Platte responded with a second-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay. South Harrison came away with the gold medal – beating North Platte for the first time all season – 0.09 seconds faster than Lonee French, Rogers, Schuster and Bella Kitmitto.
Ramsey put North Platte back in first place with a remarkable 56.93 second 400-meter dash time. That not only gave her a gold medal, but also set a new program record.
“I was just happy for the opportunity as a sophomore. I can’t wait to see how the next two years go,” Ramsey said.
Chloe Heckman and Brianna DeBord had to run the 3,200-meter in pouring rain as Heckman broke the school record and the duo finished in third and fourth places on May 19.
A 5-point North Platte lead turned into a 14-point deficit after the 800-meter run when Father Tolton once again had three runners earn some points in a long-distance race. The Lady Trailblazers had the first two finishers and the sixth-place runner as Lingle ended her North Platte career on a high note, bringing home a seventh-place medal after crossing the finish line in 2:25.4.
Rogers and Ramsey were in the 200-meter dash and both earned all-state honors, putting North Platte back in first place overall before the dramatic finish in the 4x400. Rogers won the race in 25.34 seconds and Ramsey claimed fourth place in 25.96 seconds.
“There was no way we were going to just walk in, show up and it was going to happen. It was going to take what we had to do today and I’m so proud of the girls not only today but all season. Some of these guys, it’s their entire career when you count fall and spring together, with a trophy everytime they’ve walked into a state meet and that’s phenomenal,” Cary said.
North Platte’s Bella Kitmitto hands the baton to Kalli Schuster in the second-place 4x100-meter relay at the Class 2 State Track Meet.
The Lady Panthers have done something special in recent years, slowly improving from contenders to champions. With some talented seniors putting on the North Platte uniform for the last time at Jefferson City High School, there are some impressive up-and-comers that are primed to help the team bring home even more banners in the coming years.
The North Platte boys had two athletes who made it to state: Corbin Britting and Noah Heckman. Britting was 0.18 seconds shy of qualifying for the finals in the 200-meter dash, taking ninth place with a time of 23.88 seconds in preliminaries and Heckman ended in 11th place in the 3,200-meter run in 10:20.9.