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By Samantha Stuefer and Angel Tran -Senior Sydney McAlister, named the LHS Female Athlete of The Year, has been leading the girl’s sprint team this spring.

    “Personally, I’ve been able to improve a lot but also, it’s been great being a part of a team that’s been doing so well as a whole!” McAlister said.  McAlister is a state-known sprinter and she also competes in the high-jump.  She is planning to go to the University of Nebraska – Omaha to run for their team.

    Another tremendous athlete for the boys’ track and field team at LHS is senior Bayley Schuman.

    “A long time ago I used to be a really good track athlete, then stopped for a little bit,” Schuman said. “Freshman and Sophomore year was me rebuilding my form and everything.”

    “Every year, we either place or do really good,” Schuman said. “We have a lot of high performance athletes.”

    At the Omaha Bryan Invitational, Sydney McAlister, Halle Burton (12), and Nyajok Kong (11) won first in their events, with McAlister winning first in the 100M Dash at 12.87 seconds and jumping 4’8” feet in High Jump.  Burton won at 122’2” in the Girl’s 1kg Discus Throw, her first meet of the season.  Kong triple-jumped a total 36’3.25” feet at first place, with Nyabuony Gatluak (12), just behind with 36’1.75” feet.  This was the first meet of the season, and it was only 44 degrees outside.

At the annual Grand Island Invitational, both boys and girls finished off at 2nd, just behind Fremont High School.  McAlister, once again, struck gold in the 200M Dash with a time of 26.26 seconds and in High Jump with a jump of 5’2”.  The Girl’s 4×100 team made their first meet appearance with a time of 53.01 seconds.

    State is May 20th and 21st at Omaha Burke.  This year, there are 18 state qualifiers:

Girl’s Qualifiers:

1. Halle Burton (12)
2. Nancy Flores (12)
3. Nyabuony Gatluak (12)
4. Nyajock Kong (11)
5. Sydney McAlister (12)
6. Angelina Tran (9)
7. Kalli Novak (11)
8. Raelynn Burkinshaw (11)
9. Kiara Winston (10)  (11)

Boy’s Qualifiers:

1. Amiah Jackson (12)
2. Terry Jones (12)
3. Dauntavis Lawrence (10)
4. Darius Luff (9)
5. Elijah Mfinanga (11)
6. Farrakhan Muhammed (11)
7. Zion Perry (10)
8. Bayley Schuman (12)
9. Taliq Ellis (10)