The AHS Track and Field team headed to Omaha on May 18-19, where they competed in the Class B state championship.
“All the kids competed hard and left everything on the track or the runway. The competition was extremely tough and many records were broken in the races that our kids were competing in,” said Coach Nate Lanik.
Isaiah Martinez placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 154-00.
“I think I performed well because I did badly in the shot and then I came back and placed in the discus. I was thrilled. I almost cried,” said Martinez on his performance at state.
Martinez is a senior and will not be returning next season. He earned a sixth-place medal to add to the collection as he had a spectacular final track and field season, where he learned a valuable lesson.
“The lesson I learned during track is that no matter how bad you do, people will be there for you and support you and that’s what kept me going to try to get a new personal record every time,” said Martinez.
Lanik was proud of Martinez and his accomplishments and noted that Martinez will have a lasting impact in years to come.
“I am super proud of Isaiah and his accomplishments this season and during his career at Alliance. He will have a lasting impact on Alliance track and field for many years to come,” said Lanik.
In the Women’s Varsity, some underclassmen will be returning next season and some seniors are competing in their last track and field meet of their high school career. Macala Hood ran a great race in the 100m hurdles where she placed 18th in the preliminaries with a time of 16.80a.
“She kept her composure and found a way to finish in the 16’s,” said Lanik.
Amauri Browning came in 16th with a jump of 15-05.50.
“Amauri didn’t necessarily have a PR in the LJ and wished she could have made the 16-foot mark again. It would have taken a PR to get to finals,” said Lanik.
Lanik is excited for Browning and Hood as they head to college to compete at the next level.
“I am excited for those two senior girls as they head off to college to compete at the collegiate level in track and volleyball. They ended their high school sports career with a great memory at Burke Stadium,” said Lanik.
The future for the Bulldogs looks promising. They will have returning qualifiers for next season.
“The future is bright with what our other qualifiers were able to accomplish. Macey Seebohm finished her freshman season with a good 800m race but had some hamstring tightness that didn’t allow her to compete at 100%. She still gutted it out and finished with a respectable time of 2:29. And our other freshman competitor was Josie Sanders in the 300 hurdles. Josie ran her second fastest time of the season, breaking the 49-second barrier, but the race was too fast for her to make the Finals. These two freshmen will be fun to watch and coach the next three years,” said Lanik.
The last competitor at the meet was Jaelynne Clarke and she ran in the 400m and qualified in the triple jump.
“TJ proved again to be an extremely tough competition and Jae made it into the 33’ range. However, it took a jump of 34’ to get to the finals. In the 400m, Jae was able to run a personal best time of 60.60. However, that was the 11th best of the day,” said Lanik.
The meet had been a success as student athletes enjoyed their experience at Burke stadium.
“Now that these girls have been down to Burke, hopefully, they enjoyed what they experienced and work harder to get back in even more events! Challenging their teammates to join them on the way. It was a great couple of days of competition and I look forward to what next year offers,” said Lanik.
The following are the results for the class B state track meet:
Men’s Results
Shot Put – 12lb Class B – Finals
10. Isaiah Martinez 50-07.75
Discus – 1.6kg Class B – Finals
6. Isaiah Martinez 154-00 PR
Women’s Results
400 Meters Class B – Prelims
11. Jaelynne Clarke 1:00.60a PR
800 Meters Class B – Finals
19. Macey Seebohm 2:29.70a
100m Hurdles – 33” Class B – Prelims
18. Macala Hood 16.80a
300m Hurdles – 30” Class B – Prelims
11. Josie Sanders 48.37a
Long Jump Class B – Finals
16. Amauri Browning 15-05.50
Triple Jump Class B – Finals
14. Jaelynne Clarke 33-02.50