2026 NSAA track and field championships recap: Classes C and D

By Tony Chapman – For the Nebraska School Activities Association

After the rain went away, the stars came out to shine on Friday and Saturday in the Class C and D state track meet at Omaha Burke Stadium. And shine they did.

While the Chase County boys and Kearney Catholic girls (Class C) got record-setting performances on their way to titles, the DCS boys and girls were dominant in their second straight sweep of the team events.

No matter the weather, records went down.

With a cool and rainy Friday, five records were broken in the prelims and a couple more just missed due to wind readings. On Saturday, the hurdlers came out with multiple 100- and 300-meter records that set new marks. In all, 13 state or meet records were broken over the weekend.

Class C boys: Chase County back on top

A massive crowd had come to see Chase County’s Noah Rau take one last crack at moving the state discus record.

And, while his Class C championship meet throw of 196-04 did set a new Class C meet record, it was well short of his all-class state record that he set early this spring of 219-06. But, Rau was most interested in the roar that came during his post-competition interviews if he is being honest.

So he stopped to turn around and see teammate Tate Hubbard – down in the Burke bowl – set a new school record of 15-06 to win the pole vault. The two wins gave the Longhorns an important 20 points on their way to the Class C team title.

“It was so fun,” Rau said of the atmosphere at the discus ring. “We knew there was a chance it might be like that. Overall it was a fantastic day to come out with the meet record.

“And, then I am getting interviewed and I turn around to look at the scoreboard and it’s Tate Hubbard going 15-06 with a circle by his name. I just threw my hands in the air. He has been preparing all year for that. We wanted to get a team championship today.

“That was the goal.”

It was the third consecutive Class C championship for the Longhorns – though Perkins County won last year, while Chase County bumped up to Class B. It was also the third in school history and was the closest of the four team titles decided on Saturday as the Longhorns topped Battle Creek 55.33-37.33.

The Longhorns set their pace on Friday when Lukas Fries tied for second in the long jump and Rau added a sixth-place finish in the shot put. The 3,200 relay also earned precious points.

“You just never know,” Chase County coach Carl Zuege said. “For us, it’s a six-hour travel day (on Thursday), you aren’t in your own bed and you aren’t eating your mom’s food. There are a lot of variables when we come down here. We hoped to have 10 points Friday morning and we got 9.33.

“We felt good about that.”

Then Saturday morning came, with Rau and Hubbard performing at the same time.

“For both of those kids to win all-class golds was huge for us,” Zuege said.

With the good stuff in hand, the Longhorns added more points on the track on Saturday afternoon to keep the Braves – with record-setting sprinter Andy Ricchio – just far enough away.

Fries added a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles and a fourth-place mark in the 110 hurdles, while Austin Smith was sixth in the 200 and seventh in the 100. Chase County capped the meet with a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:24.79.

All in a recent weekend’s work for Chase County, which has turned into one of the top programs in the state. Zuege said it’s a program that has built a strong culture and one that he also credited the girls program – which won titles in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022 – to help develop.

“Our kids don’t leave for a lot of club sports, we don’t have a baseball team until Legion in the summer,” the coach said. “Track is a big deal. It starts early. If you come to the Chase County Invite, our kindergarten kids are out there cheering for us on a Tuesday. We had 400 people at a sendoff for our kids before we came down here.

“And, then coach Hauxwell and our girls just really set the tone for us. We saw how to put a team together and it just got better. In 2022, we came here and scored six points with our boys and in 2023 scored 66.”

Record setters: Andy Ricchio, Battle Creek (100, 10.64; state record); Ricchio (200, 21.63; state meet record); Noah Rau, Chase County (discus, 196-04; state meet record); Drey Puppe, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (110 hurdles, 14.00; state meet record); Cael Johnson, Wakefield (300 hurdles, 37.93; state record)

Notebook: Battle Creek’s Andy Ricchio blazed to new heights in the 100 and 200 over the weekend. He set the Class C record in the 100 prelims at 10.64 before winning gold with a 10.79 on Saturday. In the 200, he bettered the previous meet record twice with times of 21.63 in the prelims and 21.71 in the finals. Ricchio was also a member of the Braves’ third-place 400-meter and fourth-place 1,600-meter relay teams, accounting for 30 of Battle Creek’s 37.33 points in their team runner-up finish.

Doniphan-Trumbull’s Kaser Johnson and North Platte St. Pat’s Coltan Ham staged two epic battles in the Class C distance races. Johnson, the Class C state cross country champion, tracked down Ham in the last 15 meters of the 3,200 to win in 9:27.21. On Saturday in the 1,600, Ham returned the favor and held off Johnson over the final lap to win in 4:23.07.

Wakefield’s Cael Johnson breezed to the Class C 300-meter hurdles title with a state record time of 37.93. It was part of a four-medal weekend for the Trojan senior. He also finished third in the 400 on Friday, fifth in the 110 hurdles, and was a member of Wakefield’s 1,600 relay that finished sixth.

Class C girls: One last time, the Stars shine

For a final time at Burke Stadium, the Kearney Catholic girls let their stars shine.

And it led to a third straight Class C girls state championship for the Stars behind the state’s top sprinter – Hazel Haarberg – and top pole vaulter – Alyssa Onnen. The duo, who will both compete at Nebraska next year, combined for three all-class golds – Haarberg in the 100 and 200 and Onnen shared the pole vault crown.

But in Class C they and their Star teammates were too much. They scored 79 points to outdistance conference mate Bishop Neumann by 22 points in the team race.

“Believe and achieve, is what we told them in the hotel on Thursday,” Star coach Todd Russell said. “Those kids were shining on Friday. And, we did today as well. We have very good seniors (both girls and boys) and they have just been fantastic for us.”

On Friday, Onnen won her fourth Class C pole vault title. There were no meet records this year; she did that in 2025 as a junior and the all-class title was shared, but it was still a fourth consecutive win in the event that will take her to the next level.

As for her coach? He was more impressed with the two points she scored in Saturday’s 100-meter hurdle final.

“All year, she just said, ‘I want to run the hurdles,’” Russell said. “She wanted to do it for her first three years, but we just didn’t think she was healthy enough. This year, we said she could do it. Today, she passed her final two jumps in the triple jump (finished third) so she could do that hurdle race.

“To medal in that last race was amazing; a personal best for her. She wanted to do that for her team. That is on top of the mountain.”

Haarberg was her amazing self in setting the state record in the 100 meters and a state meet record in the 200, but the crowd really got to see what she can do in the 400 relay. Taking the baton near the back of the last exchange, she zoomed through a crowd of runners and cruised to the title for the Stars.

She joined Kynlee Ruyle, Lanie McGowen and Josephine Luther for gold. Distance star Jaelyn Witter added a third-place finish in a rainy 3,200 on Friday and was fifth in the 1,600 for Kearney Catholic.

Russell said the tone that this senior group set for their program and school will last.

“We just have great culture, we have great leadership and we have great coaches,” he said. “And it’s just setting us up to have a great program right now.”

Record setters: Anisten Wortmann, Hartington Cedar Catholic (100 hurdles, 14.06; state record); Hazel Haarberg (200, 23.88; state meet record); Haarberg (100, 11.45; state record); Shaydyn Rasby, Ogallala (300 hurdles, 42.83; state record); West Holt (1,600 relay, 3:55.68; state record).

Notebook: Despite being in Haarberg’s shadow, Lincoln Lutheran’s sophomore Atley Janecek, delivered a 32-point weekend for the Warriors. She won the long jump on Friday with a state record jump of 19-09.25 that was deemed not wind legal. On Saturday, she finished second to Haarberg in both the 100 and 200 while also anchoring the Warriors 400-meter relay team that finished third from the first heat.

Both state hurdle records fell over the weekend. Hartington Cedar Catholic’s Anisten Wortmann set the state record in Friday’s prelims with a time of 14.06 before winning gold on Saturday in 14.19. Wortmann also set a Class C record in the 300 hurdles, but was bettered by Ogallala sophomore Shaydyn Rasby who ran a 42.83. The pair were the first-ever Class C girls hurdlers to break the 43-second barrier. Rasby now owns the class record in both Class B and C.

Class D: Tigers dominate again in boys, girls sweep

While Dundy County Stratton was not as perfect as many thought they would be on Saturday, the Class D state track championships had well been decided by the time the final event of the four-day meet came around just after 6:00 on Saturday evening.

And, to end on a good note, both teams added a 1,600-meter relay gold to their impressive weekend. The girls ran a state record time of 4:00.84, while the Tiger boys held off Wilcox-Hildreth in 3:27.16. In capping their Class D sweep, the boys outpaced Anselmo-Merna 75-52 and the DCS girls pulled away from Wausa 70-49.

In winning titles in 2025, the Tigers had scored 87 (boys) and 86 points, respectively.

“The goal is a team title, that was the expectation,” said DCS coach Mike Spargo. “Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but I think a lot of that has to do with the other teams and the competition that was down here this weekend.

“You have to tip your cap to the other kids and teams. We knew that teams were going to come after us. It has been fun to see kids come in, compete and some to knock us off the top, that’s what this weekend is all about.”

After things went mostly to plan on a soggy Friday – Ethan Latta won the high jump (6-07), Brock Bailey (62-07.5) won the shot put and Kennedy Bailey (147-01) won the discus – things got a bit more interesting on Saturday, though the team races stayed well under control.

Kennedy Bailey was upended in the shot put by North Central’s Karlene Kepler, who threw 45-06.75. On the girls side in the 400-meter relay, the Tiger girls were disqualified after the baton was not exchanged in the final zone.

Then hurdler Kevin Garcia-Guzman came up on the short end of the race of the day when he finished third in the 110-meter high hurdles. The photo finish went to thousandths of a second as North Central’s Trey Anthony and Leyton’s Alec Watchorn finished in 14.88 and Garcia-Guzman in 14.89.

“All three kids just ran a heck of a race,” Spargo said. “That’s what makes this sport so great.”

How did the Tigers respond? You can be the judge of that.

Abi Spargo – second leg on the 400-meter relay – won both hurdle races with the 300 meters in a state record time of 43.23 seconds. Sister Clara was second to Central Valley’s Taylor McIntyre in the 200. Garcia-Guzman got an elusive individual gold in the 300 hurdles in 39.35.

And, all three were on those final relay teams that ended the meet with gold.

“In the middle of the day, our kids were disappointed and that’s okay,” Coach Spargo said. “They had high expectations, but heartbreak is part of this meet, too. We just told them to win the 4×4 and end the meet on a high note and they were able to do that.”

Wausa’s sprinting Gillian twins – juniors Reagan and Kennedy – led the Vikings to their best finish in school history on the girls side. Reagan was second in the 400 to Clara Spargo on Friday, second in the 100 and third in the 200, while Kennedy finished third in the 100 and fourth in the 200. Senior MacKenzie Suhr added a third-place finish in the high jump.

The trio then teamed with Avery Stevens to win the 400-meter relay. Four athletes; one new team trophy for their school.

Record setters: Taylor McIntyre (100, 12.09; state record); Abi Spargo, Dundy County Stratton (300 hurdles, 43.23; state record); Dundy County Stratton girls (1,600 relay, 4:00.84; state record).

Notebook: Central Valley’s Taylor McIntyre fell just short of her four gold medal quest, but ended as the Class D champion in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. She bettered her class record in the 100 prelims on Friday (12.06) before cruising to the championship on Saturday in 12.13. Later in the 200, she edged DCS’ Clara Spargo, who edged her in the race in 2025, with a time of 24.93. She finished second in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump.

In the Anselmo-Merna boys team runner-up finish, Destrey White and Colin Wright did the heavy lifting. Wright earned three individual medals in the 200 (second), 100 (fifth), and high jump (seventh), while White was third in the high jump and seventh in the long jump. Both were members of the Coyotes 400-meter relay that won gold in 43.53.