The Kimball High track coaches said they had some high points, and some disappointments, at the District Track meet this past week, qualifying five athletes in six events. Heather Dickson will close out her high school track career with a fourth trip to the state meet in Omaha, qualifying for the fourth consecutive year in both the long jump and 100 meter dash. At the district meet she won the long jump with a leap of 15’11.5”, and ran second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.0. She also teamed with Kaitlin Moritz, Hannah Stull, and Tori Hager to win the 4x100 relay, running their fastest time of the season of 51.5, which is also the fastest time of all classes in the region. Miss Dickson also is listed among top contestants in all of her events in the regional listings. A great district meet for sophomore Kaitlin Moritz as she qualified as an individual in the 100 meter hurdles running second with a time of 16.6, and then stepping up to run an outstanding leg on the 4x100 relay when Whitney Lockwood was unable to compete because of leg problems. Miss Moritz has continued to improve on a weekly basis in the hurdles and her hard work and dedication has paid off. Kimball’s lone qualifier for the boys is Mark Mietus and it was no surprise that the talented senior middle distance ace is going in his two favorite events, the 400 and 800, where he ran in both events at the district meet. Mark clocked 51.8 for a career best in the 400 and ran 2:05.4 in the 800. He also ran outstanding legs in two relays. In Class C District competitions, the top two individuals and winning relay, are automatic state meet qualifiers along with additional number of fastest times from all districts regardless of place, plus some automatic marks in the field events. The Kimball girls scored 60 team points with Perkins County winning the District team title with 92.5 points. Gordon/Rushville 84, Bridgeport 79, Morrill 73.5, Bayard 64.5, KIMBALL 60, Hemingford 37, Chase County 35, and Creek Valley 1.5 Other non-qualifying places for Kimball saw Tori Hager run fourth in 100 in 13.5, and fifth in the 200 in 28.0. Diane Baluska ran sixth in the 400 in 1:06.8, and Kayli Rageth third in the 3200 in 14:07.4. Tori Reader was sixth in the triple jump at 30’7”, and Jaclyn Christensen fourth in the shotput at 35’0”. The 4x400 relay team of Diane Baluska, Kayli Rageth, Tori Hager, and Heather Dickson ran fourth in 4:25, and the 4x800 relay team made up of Kayli Rageth, Sadie Sullivan, Cierra Pedersen, and Megan Woods ran fifth in 11:22.3. Coach Larry Pahl said, “In hind sight we probably should have Heather in the open 200 meter dash, rather than in a relay, but the time comparisons coming into the meet dictated the direction coaches decided upon.” “I was pleased with Heather for the way she performed once again and pleased that she is making it in the long jump and 100 for the fourth straight year. I’m excited that our 4x100 relay team ran their season fastest time. I thought our 4x400 team ran well and thought our 4x800 team might run better than they did. I thought they might qualify,” he said.“I am glad that Kaitlin Moritz can realize a dream she had of qualifying in the hurdles and am so proud of the way she stepped in and ran such a great leg on the relay. I felt Diane (Baluska) ran a good open 400, and Tori Reader and Annie McCloud both making the finals in the triple jump and Tori placing as a freshman. Jaclyn threw well in the shotput but it was such a tough field this year,” said Pahl. Gordon/Rushville won the boy’s team title with 118 points followed by Bayard with 85.5, Morrill 85, Perkins County 77, Creek Valley 50, Chase County 43.5, KIMBALL 40, Bridgeport 18, and Hemingford 9. Other non-qualifying places for the Kimball boys saw Trevor Petersen place fifth in the pole vault at 8’0”, Tyler Weisbrook sixth in the shotput at 42’0”, Daniel Evertson fifth in the 3200 in 11:36.9, and Shawn Nagel sixth in 11:40.8, and Jake Daum sixth in the 110 meter high hurdles in 16.5. Charles Ferguson ran fourth in the 400 in 53.8. Kimball’s 4x400 relay team of Ferguson, Mietus, Lyle Janicek, and Colton Daum ran third in 3:42.2, and the 4x800 relay team of Janicek, Nagel, Evertson, and Mietus ran third in 9:11.8. The 4x100 relay team of Anthony Muneio, Jake Daum, Dalton Lockwood, and Brad Weisbrook ran sixth in 48.0. Coach Tom Perlinski said, “I was very proud of the way Mark (Mietus) ran. I thought we competed hard and I have no complaints on the effort of our boys.” The Kimball coaches and the state qualifiers will leave Thursday for Omaha where they will compete along with Class A in the early session on Friday. Dickson will compete at 9 a.m. Friday in the long jump, and she, along with Moritz, will run prelims in the 100 and 100 hurdles on Friday. Mietus will run prelims in the 400 on Friday. The girl’s relay and Mietus in the 800, will compete on Saturday, plus Dickson and Moritz in their running events if they make it to the finals.