North Platte senior Olivia Rogers crosses the finish line in 12.34 seconds ahead of the rest of the Class 2 runners in the 100-meter dash at state.
Spending the last three years causing havoc on the track and stressing out sprinting opponents all across the state, North Platte senior Olivia Rogers walks away from a prolific high school career as a local legend.
En route to helping North Platte win back-to-back state titles – and the first two in program history – Rogers has imprinted her name into the record books time and time again. In each of her last four meets in her high school career, she set a new North Platte record.
The North Platte senior was the anchor in the 4x400-meter relay team that helped win the Class 2 State Championship on May 20. In the final event at state, Father Tolton and North Platte had a 1-point difference in the score with the winner of the relay bringing home the state title, and Rogers helped the Lady Panthers prevail.
“I was really nervous until I saw Kalli (Schuster) around the corner and I was yelling as she came, and she gave me the baton and in my head it clicked. I was like, ‘you got to go,’ and I just ran for my life,” North Platte senior Olivia Rogers said.
Olivia Rogers was also the state champion in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.34 seconds at Jefferson City High School.
Rogers helped the relay team win the race by nearly eight seconds, setting the program record with a time of 4:03.22. That was Rogers’ third gold medal of the day, going along with the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
“My goal at the state meet was repeat my individuals and just do as well as we can in our relays. I really wanted to come back out here with my teammates and win again and it’s just a lot of fun and I’m really going to miss North Platte track,” Rogers said.
The North Platte senior was also on the 4x100-meter relay team that took second place, and she won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.34 seconds. Rogers won the 200-meter dash in 25.34 seconds, a time that would have given her a silver medal in the Class 3 State Meet.
“Olivia did what she could do, she took care of the 100 and 200, even with some challenges and she didn’t buckle at all,” North Platte head track and field coach Brenden Cary said. “She knew exactly what she needed to do and did it and to watch her fly around and finish that 4x400, there was no looking back. She was just heading forward and that’s what I loved.”
Olivia Rogers takes the baton from North Platte senior Kalli Schuster in the 4x400-meter relay, as she was the anchor on May 20.
All postseason long, Rogers has set new school records as she broke the 200-meter dash record in districts in 24.63 seconds and did it again in sectionals, running halfway around the track in 24.54 seconds. She has the 11.88 second, 100-meter dash record – which she also broke at districts – and was on the 4x100-meter relay team that broke the KCI Conference record to close out the regular season.
“She takes care of business. She pushes herself to the extremes and it pays off for her,” Cary said.
Last season at state, Rogers went a prefect four-for-four in her events as she earned first place in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4x100-meter relay and 4x200-meter relay. Her speed and hard work have helped lay the groundwork for a program that has potential to continue the strong play in years to come.
Rogers was in the final class that dealt with COVID-19 in high school as she was a freshman in the spring of 2020 when all sports, including track and field, were cancelled. She will continue her academic and athletic career at Missouri State University.