The Class B-2 District track and field meet landed on Wyatt Appel's 16th birthday, delaying his ability to acquire a driver's license by a day.
The Fort Calhoun Pioneer didn't mind. The sophomore instead celebrated by qualifying for the NSAA State Championships in the high jump.
“I've been waiting to be 16 for awhile, but this is pretty cool,” Appel said.
The high-jumper was one of four FCHS athletes to earn their state spots at Krantz Field in Blair. Appel will be joined by two-time district champ Jacob Rupp, Bria Bench and Lance Olberding at Omaha Burke, which will host the Class B state meet Friday and Saturday.
The Pioneers' birthday boy set a goal to clear 6 feet, 1 inch during the district meet and exceeded it, clearing 6-3 to finish with a silver medal just behind Elkhorn high-jumper Trevor Bills. It was the 6-1 leap, though, that booked Appel's state trip and calmed him for his next attempt.
“I was a lot less nervous because I'd sealed the deal for making it to state,” he said.
Appel added a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter run, contributing nine points to the FCHS boys' 32 overall. He'll compete at state in that event as well.
“It was definitely the best I've felt all year,” the 16 year old said.
Rupp, meanwhile, felt good enough to sweep the B-2 distance races. He won the 1,600 and 3,200 runs with times of 4:36.63 and 9:58.08, respectively.
The two-mile race was hotly contested with Rupp and Blair's Dawson Fricke gunning for the gold medal. The former teammates at BHS finished within 0.07 of each other, topping the third-place runner by nearly 20 seconds.
“It was a great race,” Rupp said. “It was fun to run with people I actually know and have trained with in the past.”
After Fricke ran at the Calhoun runner's hip for most of the race, Rupp created some space over the final two laps. The Bear closed that distance, however, making for a close finish.
“I was looking at the clock and just focused on that because I didn't hear him behind me,” Rupp said. “And then, right a the end, I saw him out of the corner of my eye and had to lean.”
The Pioneer succeeded at the finish line and earned a state qualification by gold-medal effort.
“It makes it easier to push the entire time when you know there's someone right behind you versus just racing the clock,” Rupp said.
Also qualifying during the boys' 3,200 was Olberding, who finished fifth in the race with a time of 10:29.99. He scored two team points with the effort and earned a state spot as an additional qualifier based on his time.
Meanwhile, coach Mandy Taylor's lone female qualifier Thursday was Bench. The freshman set a new personal best in the high jump, finishing second with a 5-1 leap.
Bench's silver medal was just one of two places earned by the FCHS girls. Rianna Wells, Kierra Weaver, Kylie Perfetti and Tess Skelton earned sixth in the 3,200-meter relay as well.
The boys 3,200 relay team — Ely Olberding, Lawson Tjardes, Johnathon Schwarte and John McKennan — earned a team point with a sixth-place finish, too.
