Birkel leads Lincoln Southeast to LPS meet title
Katie Birkel went from a novice in the girls 100-meter dash to public schools city champion in a matter of two races.
The Lincoln Southeast senior added that race to her individual slate at Thursday’s Lincoln Public Schools Track and Field Championships at Beechner Field/Scott Track. After winning her heat in the preliminaries (Birkel’s first-ever open 100), she then won the 100 finals in 12.58 seconds, part of a sprint sweep for the North Dakota State basketball recruit.
“I asked the coaches if I could run it just to see how I’d do,” said Birkel, whose three gold medals led the Knights to the girls team title by a 193-160 margin over Lincoln Southwest. Lincoln Northeast won the boys crown for the second straight year, outscoring runner-up Southeast 129-102.
“I’ve been running the 4x100 (400) relay for a few years, and I wanted to see what kind of time I could run individually,” Birkel said.
If Birkel has her way, she’ll run the 100 next week at the Heartland Conference meet and the district meet in two weeks.
“I like it because it’s shorter, I like anything less than a 400,” she said, smiling. “I need to improve my starts and get out of the blocks with more explosion. But there’s three weeks left to work on that in practice.”
Birkel also claimed gold in her more familiar events — the 200 and 400 — on the warm but drizzly day. She set the only meet record Thursday with her :56.83 time in the 400, erasing her own mark of :57.69 from last season. Birkel won the 200 in :25.56.
Birkel leads the state this spring with a :56.71 in the 400 and is second in the 200 with a :25.20. Birkel is eighth on the state’s 400 all-time charts with the :55.97 she ran at state last year.
“Katie’s way ahead of where she was last year,” Southeast sprints coach Carol Moravec said. “My goal for her is to break 55 (seconds, the state record is :55.36), and she has the potential to do that. She’s more powerful and much stronger than she was as a junior.”
KK Houser, a Super-State basketball player like Birkel, won both hurdle events. The junior won the 100 highs in :15.35, but her anticipated dual in that race against Southwest sophomore Joslyn Soucie never materialized. Soucie, who’s among the state leaders with a :15.15 this season, false started in the preliminaries and failed to reach the finals. Houser, the defending all-class gold medalist in the 100 hurdles, is eighth on the all-time charts in that event with the :14.57 she ran at state last year.
Houser then won the 300 hurdles in :46.41, her best time this season.
The Knights’ Ali Tewes also won two individual golds, the 1,600 (5:31.08) and 3,200 (11:53.54).
The Rocket boys were led to the team title by Trevor Vidlak, who won the 800 (2:02.02) and 3,200 (10:04.85). He was second in the 1,600 behind East’s Grant Duffy, whose winning time of 4:27.47 is the fifth-fastest in the state this spring. The only other individual boys double winner was East’s Harry Meginnis, who took the 100 (:11.18) and the 200 (:22.46).
Nebraska football recruit Cole Pensick (55 feet, 4 inches) and Northeast teammate Jeff Bohlken (50-11) went 1-2 in the shot put. Bohlken tops the state charts this spring with a 56-8, while Pensick is third at 55-9¼.
Other Northeast gold medals came from Porter Groves in the long jump (21-10¾) and Tyheime Pleasent in the 300 intermediate hurdles (:41.49). Groves is first in the state long jump charts this spring with a 23-1.
In perhaps the best race of the day, Southeast’s Mike Pettiford edged Lincoln High’s Paul Pape by four-hundredths of a second (:49.95 to :49.99) in the boys 400. Those two times are the third- and fourth-fastest in the state this season.
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.
The Lincoln Southeast senior added that race to her individual slate at Thursday’s Lincoln Public Schools Track and Field Championships at Beechner Field/Scott Track. After winning her heat in the preliminaries (Birkel’s first-ever open 100), she then won the 100 finals in 12.58 seconds, part of a sprint sweep for the North Dakota State basketball recruit.
“I asked the coaches if I could run it just to see how I’d do,” said Birkel, whose three gold medals led the Knights to the girls team title by a 193-160 margin over Lincoln Southwest. Lincoln Northeast won the boys crown for the second straight year, outscoring runner-up Southeast 129-102.
“I’ve been running the 4x100 (400) relay for a few years, and I wanted to see what kind of time I could run individually,” Birkel said.
If Birkel has her way, she’ll run the 100 next week at the Heartland Conference meet and the district meet in two weeks.
“I like it because it’s shorter, I like anything less than a 400,” she said, smiling. “I need to improve my starts and get out of the blocks with more explosion. But there’s three weeks left to work on that in practice.”
Birkel also claimed gold in her more familiar events — the 200 and 400 — on the warm but drizzly day. She set the only meet record Thursday with her :56.83 time in the 400, erasing her own mark of :57.69 from last season. Birkel won the 200 in :25.56.
Birkel leads the state this spring with a :56.71 in the 400 and is second in the 200 with a :25.20. Birkel is eighth on the state’s 400 all-time charts with the :55.97 she ran at state last year.
“Katie’s way ahead of where she was last year,” Southeast sprints coach Carol Moravec said. “My goal for her is to break 55 (seconds, the state record is :55.36), and she has the potential to do that. She’s more powerful and much stronger than she was as a junior.”
KK Houser, a Super-State basketball player like Birkel, won both hurdle events. The junior won the 100 highs in :15.35, but her anticipated dual in that race against Southwest sophomore Joslyn Soucie never materialized. Soucie, who’s among the state leaders with a :15.15 this season, false started in the preliminaries and failed to reach the finals. Houser, the defending all-class gold medalist in the 100 hurdles, is eighth on the all-time charts in that event with the :14.57 she ran at state last year.
Houser then won the 300 hurdles in :46.41, her best time this season.
The Knights’ Ali Tewes also won two individual golds, the 1,600 (5:31.08) and 3,200 (11:53.54).
The Rocket boys were led to the team title by Trevor Vidlak, who won the 800 (2:02.02) and 3,200 (10:04.85). He was second in the 1,600 behind East’s Grant Duffy, whose winning time of 4:27.47 is the fifth-fastest in the state this spring. The only other individual boys double winner was East’s Harry Meginnis, who took the 100 (:11.18) and the 200 (:22.46).
Nebraska football recruit Cole Pensick (55 feet, 4 inches) and Northeast teammate Jeff Bohlken (50-11) went 1-2 in the shot put. Bohlken tops the state charts this spring with a 56-8, while Pensick is third at 55-9¼.
Other Northeast gold medals came from Porter Groves in the long jump (21-10¾) and Tyheime Pleasent in the 300 intermediate hurdles (:41.49). Groves is first in the state long jump charts this spring with a 23-1.
In perhaps the best race of the day, Southeast’s Mike Pettiford edged Lincoln High’s Paul Pape by four-hundredths of a second (:49.95 to :49.99) in the boys 400. Those two times are the third- and fourth-fastest in the state this season.
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.
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