Some of the best athletes in the Pan Handle were on hand Thursday as 16 track teams competed in the Mitchell Invite. With 127 points, the Sidney boys won first in the team race. Scottsbluff was second with 113 points. The Bobcat boys from Hemingford were impressive again, ending in fourth place with 64 points. On the girl’s side, it was Chadron winning first with 83 points. Sidney was second with 77 points. With 30 points, the Lady Cats were 8th. Hemingford four first place finishers with sophomore Austin Benda leading the way with gold medal efforts in both the mile and 2 mile races. Junior Boady Hunter struck gold in the 800 for the Cats while junior Dakota Horstman won the girl’s mile. Hemingford were also solid in the boy’s relay races, taking third in both the mile and 2 mile relays. Placing second in the 2 mile relay on the girl’s side were the Lady Bobcats with a time of 10:28. Also taking second was Michael Helmink in the shot.
“Beautiful weather. We had a quick turnaround from our last meet. This meet was almost like a min-Best in the West. Great level of competition. Our kids did not back down from the competition. Proud of them,” said Coach Joshua Dean.
Girl’s results Hemingford 30 points 8th overall top 6 placers
800 Aurora Hinman 4th 2:33
mile Horstman 1st 5:58 Ainslee Woltman 3rd 6:07
100 hurdles Aurora Hinman 5th 17.32
2 mile relay Hemingford 2nd 10:28 Aurora Hinman Teagen Thompson Woltman Horstman
Boy’s results 64 points 3rd overall top 6 placers
400 Jayce Haas 6th 54.1
800 Boady Hunter 1st 2:08
mile Benda 1st 4:54
2 mile Benda 1st 10:33
110 hurdles Gavin Bell 3rd 16.8
mile relay Hemingford 3rd 3:42 Tayten Haas Boady Hunter Lucas Sulzbach Jayce Haas
2 mile relay Hemingford 3rd 9:15 Benda Grayson Hunter Keirith Yale Boady Hunter
shot Michael Helmink 4th 42’11
discus Helmink 2nd 145’2
high jump Yale 4th 5’7
New Hemingford High School ALL-TIME TOP 10 performances from the meet:
-Austin Benda, Keirith Yale, Grayson Hunter, Boady Hunter now #7 in 4x800m Relay, passing teams from 2014, 2007, and 2015.
-Aurora Hinman now #5 in the 100m Hurdles, passing Brookelynn Warner (2023).
-Aurora Hinman, Ainslee Woltman, Teagen Thompson, Dakota Horstman now #3 in the 4x800m Relay, passing team from 1988.
The Bobcats next meet will be Thursday in Alliance.