Washington County athletes Kailynn Gubbels, Jacob Rupp, Keelianne Green, Jesse Thompson, Kali Thomsen, Chase Andersen and Kiersten Taylor earned Nebraska Capitol Conference (NCC) championships Saturday at Syracuse High School.
Gubbels — a three-event record-setter — Green, Thomsen, Andersen and Taylor led the Arlington girls to a second-place finish behind the host Rockets, while Fort Calhoun finished eighth.
Thompson, meanwhile, pushed the Eagle boys to fifth in the NCC. Rupp's Pioneers were 10th behind the champion Douglas County West boys squad.
Gubbels ties state record
Gubbels, an AHS junior, won every event she competed in Saturday, sweeping the high jump, 100- and 300-meter hurdles and the 1,600-meter relay. Her high jump effort was almost good enough to win gold in the boys' event, tying the Class B record.
The Eagle's 5-foot, 10-inch jump pulled her even with Albion's Sue Lind, who set the state mark in 1980. The conference-record leap tied or bested every boy but one — Raymond Central's Andrew Otto — in Syracuse.
Gubbels' championship 100 and 300 hurdle times also broke NCC records. She won the 100 hurdles in 14.69 seconds, destroying the previous mark by 0.5.
The Eagles standout's 100 hurdles time, 45.97, meanwhile, bested the 46.72 mark set by Fort Calhoun's Amber Linnenbrink in 2010.
Lastly, Gubbels won the 1-mile relay with three teammates. Green, Andersen — who was second in the 400 dash — Taylor and she finished that race in 4:14.16.
In addition, Green won the girls' long jump, clearing 16-6.25. The Arlington sophomore was also second in the 200 dash and the triple jump.
Thomsen won her discus title with a 105-foot effort. The Eagles' Taylor Arp was third, too.
Thompson was second in the discus, but also claimed first in the shot put to lead coach Steven Gubbels' boys. The senior's NCC championship throw covered 48 feet, 10.25 inches.
Nolan May earned a silver medal as well, finishing the 3,200 run in 10:45.41.
Rupp wins 2 races
Rupp was Fort Calhoun's lone conference champion Saturday.
The junior swept the day's long distance races for coach Mandy Taylor, finishing the boys' 1,600 run in 4:47.64 and the 3,200 in 10:24.71, respectively. The Pioneer was dominant, winning the 1-mile race by nearly 10 seconds and the 2-mile by almost 21.
Five sixth-place finishes by Wyatt Appel (high jump and 400 dash), Grayson Bouwman (triple jump), Michael Pratt (shot put) and the 3,200-meter relay team helped FCHS finish with 25 team points.
The Pioneer girls, meanwhile, scored 27. Freshman runner Bria Bench finished with two third-place medals and a fifth-place finish notched 14 team points on her own. She earned bronze in the mile and 2-mile in 5:52.61 and 12:35.98, resepectively, while also clearing 4-10 in the high jump.
The Fort Calhoun girls' 3,200-meter relay team, meanwhile, earned their own bronze with a time of 4:38.83. Team members were Angel Nelson, Tess Skelton, Dala Drowne and Bench.
