State is just different.

The atmosphere inside Burke Stadium sometimes acts like a weight, tugging at runners as they strain for the finish line.

“It’s not the teams,” explained Kelly Green after falling short in 100 meter dash prelims on Friday, clocking in more than half a second behind her district time. “It’s the crowds--how big it is.”

With one exception, Kimball’s athletes recorded slower marks than those posted at districts in Hershey just a week before. Brent Bussinger lost a tenth to Burke Stadium in the 110 hurdles. Dalton Lockwood’s time of 11.4 in the 100 meter dash prelims was four-tenths off his earlier pace--and it was the same story with the girls 4x100 team.

The exception was Lockwood, who shaved a tenth from his state qualifying mark in the 200 meter dash, earning him a spot in the finals. After faring well in the second of his two events, however, the senior sprinter could only shake his head.

“I ran okay,” he said. I was a little disappointed, but I’m not mad.”

Panhandle athletes say Omaha’s heat and humidity can be a factor. The sheer number of spectators simply adds to the tension of state competition.

In the 100 meter prelims on Friday, Lockwood finished a fraction behind the time posted by Travis Wright of Battle Creek, who earned the final transfer spot. Hastings St. Cecilia’s Blake Micek went on to win Saturday’s championship event, crossing the line in 11.0--within a thousandths of Lockwood’s time at Hershey.

Friday’s preliminaries were held on a day where temperatures soared into the 90s and wind gusted from the south.

“Wind is never fun to run against, but the heat was worse,” Bussinger reported. Panhandle athletes often suffer in Omaha’s stifling humidity.

Still, Lockwood ran a 23.3 in the 200, edging Kevin Knapp of Madison for the last finals position.

In Saturday’s medal round, he sliced another tenth off his pace, finishing with a time of 23.1--Micek captured gold with a 22.2--to earn Kimball’s only two points of the event.

“I’d prefer to go back to districts,” Bussinger said after a disappointing Friday in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. “You’re going against the best--the competition here jumps tenfold.”

Indeed, rival Sean Pille of Oakland-Craig blistered the 110 field the next day with a 14.3--a new class C state record. He also took gold in the 300, running 39.2.  The final qualifying position--awarded to Shelton’s Nathan Wilson--clocked in at 43.3.

Bussinger won C-11 districts with a 300 mark of 43.2.

“I’m a little disappointed, but it happens,” he observed afterward. “Now I’m done with high school.”



On the girls side, Green arrived in Omaha with a competitive 12.9 in the 100 meter dash. The eighth and final championship spot went to Arapahoe’s Alexa Whipple, who flashed across in 12.8--just a tenth of a second behind winner Michaela Mistl of Kearney Catholic. The 13.5 Green recorded on Friday came as a surprise.

“The look says it all,” she noted, admitting to some nervousness at the starting blocks. “But I made it here--that’s all that matters.”

She took part in Saturday’s action as part of the 4x100 squad, along with Annie McCloud, Shelby Vogel and Brooke Hager. While Green had experienced the Burke-inspired tension, her teammates were lining up for the first time--a moment Vogel called “intimidating.”

The Longhorns notched a time of 53.2, just over a second off the pace needed to score points. Yet they insisted nerves played little role in a respectable run.

“Before we ran it was like ‘oh my gosh,’” McCloud agreed. “And after it was ‘oh my gosh,’ but when we ran it wasn’t like they [the crowd] were here.”

In Hershey the quartet put together their best performance, topping the C-11 board. In Omaha, however, they faced a different level of competition.

“It’s tougher than anything we see in Kimball,” Hager pointed out.

Laura Flores, who ran the 3200 meter event, was perhaps the happiest of Kimball’s contingent. Despite a season cut short by injury, she qualified for state and finished 18th, gaining six positions over her 2011 performance.

“It was the first time I ran here not worrying about being last,” she said.

At the conclusion of the 3200, Flores helped an exhausted Gabrielle Feldner of Kearney Catholic off the track. She then spent a few moments handing out cups of water to her rivals.

“Sportsmanship--that’s what it’s all about,” she explained. “Now I have a lot of work to do over the summer.”