Track might be an individual sport, but the state meet was all about team for the Lincoln Southwest girls squad.
RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, May 23, 2009 12:00 am
OMAHA - Track might be an individual sport, but the state meet was all about team for the Lincoln Southwest girls squad.
The Silver Hawks won the first team track title in school history Saturday at Burke Stadium. They built their foundation on gold-medal performances from junior hurdler Joslyn Soucie in the 300-meter lows and junior Kayla Frazier in the shot put.
But it was Soucie's second-place finish in the 100 highs, third-place efforts from senior sprinter Sammy Hansen in the 100 and 200 and third-place points in the long and triple jumps by sophomore Tina Fantroy that finished the project. Coach Ryan Mahoney's team racked up 67 points, four more than runner-up Omaha Central.
Hansen, Soucie and Fantroy also ran on the 400 relay team that finished fifth and the 1,600 relay that took sixth.
"I'd rather have a team title than an individual gold medal," Hansen said. "I had no idea before the season anything like this would be possible. But once we started winning meet after meet, it bonded us together as a team and this (a state championship) became our big goal."
Soucie ripped off a personal-best 45.42-second time to win the 300 hurdles as Lincoln Southeast's KK Houser took second in :46.39. Soucie was part of a historic 100 high hurdle race in which Omaha Central's LaQue Moen-Davis won in a state-record :13.99 and the Soucie finished in :14.84.
Soucie wasn't considered a Class A favorite in the 300 lows heading into state. But she had the fastest qualifying time Friday and continued to be the front-runner Saturday.
"Here at the end (of the season), I finally got my stride down and didn't stutter at all between hurdles," Soucie said. "It (the team race) put a lot of pressure on me to win, but I think I do well under pressure. I've learned to focus my attention even more in those situations."
With her uncle, former Husker quarterback Tommie Frazier, looking on, Kayla Frazier uncorked a personal-best 43-feet, 113/4-inch throw to win the Class A shot put. She was wearing a boot on her sprained left foot before the competition, then took it off to throw.
"A lot of girls were asking me, 'Are you OK, are you OK?' I think it psyched them out a little," said Frazier, who was undefeated in the shot put this season. "I was so nervous. Everyone had high hopes for me, and I don't like those kinds of expectations. Fortunately, it worked out."
The all-class team title went to Millard South by a 45-42 margin over Omaha Central, with Southwest third with 41. Freshmen Clara Nichols and Morgan Woitzel went 1-2 in the 400 to pace the Patriots as Nichols came from behind to run a :56.06, while Woitzel finished in :56.14.
It was a reversal from Friday's preliminaries, when Woitzel moved up to a tie for sixth on the state's all-time chart by tying the Class A state-meet record of :55.76.
Trailing with 100 meters left, "I just told myself not to give up," Nichols said. "We just seem to trade places every meet. It's so great having Morgan on the team because I'd never be this fast without her pushing me."
Woitzel and Nichols were part of a 400 relay that took second in Class A with a :48.27, third on the all-time chart. Omaha North won in a state-record time of :47.93.
Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.