By Marisa Dawson, Photos by Jeff Douglas
The Bennington High School track and field team competed against some of the strongest programs in the state at the Waverly Invite on April 10, an event often referred to as a “mini state meet” due to the depth of competition. Despite missing several key athletes, the Bennington girls delivered a strong performance to finish second overall, while the boys placed fifth in a tight battle for the top spots.
Girls Team Highlights
The Bennington girls were without four of their top performers but still challenged for first place before settling for runner-up honors. Several underclassmen stepped up with standout performances.
Sophomore Kennedy Portwood made an immediate impact in the 300-meter hurdles, winning the event in her first attempt of the season with a personal-best and meet-record time of 45.85 seconds. She also placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdles.
Sophomore Addison Nguyen had an outstanding day, claiming first place in the 100-meter dash with a season-best 12.46 seconds, finishing second in the 200-meter dash (25.44 seconds), and taking sixth in the long jump (16-02.50).
Paige Gargano continued her strong season in the jumps, winning the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 36-02.00.
Additional strong showings included Georgia Behlen placing second in the 400 meters (1:00.42), Lauren Schmidt taking fourth (1:00.98), and the girls’ 4×400 relay team finishing third. The squad also placed 10th in the 4×100 relay.
Boys Team Highlights
The Bennington boys finished fifth overall, just 13 points out of a higher position in a highly competitive field. Several athletes delivered medal-worthy performances despite lingering injuries.
Senior Keagan McElwain had the standout individual performance for the boys, shattering the school record in the discus with a throw of 169-08 (personal best), moving past Andrew Christensen’s mark that had stood since 2004. He also placed seventh in the shot put (48-01.50).
Lane Molacek had a strong sprint day, finishing fourth in the 100 meters (11.09) and fourth in the 200 meters (22.76). Knox Naughton earned silver in the 110-meter hurdles (14.89, personal best) and placed fourth in both the 300-meter hurdles (41.51) and long jump (21-02.25). Parker Douglas took second in the 400 meters (51.12, personal best) and third in the triple jump (41-04.25).
The boys’ 4×100 relay team placed third, and the 4×400 relay finished sixth.
Bennington Track & Field Coach Jocelyn Suing described the Waverly Invite as one of the toughest meets of the year, calling it a “mini state meet” because of the quality of the competing teams. She noted that the winner here typically goes on to have strong success at the state meet.
Suing was especially pleased with how the girls performed despite missing four top athletes. “Our team was missing four of our top athletes and we still finished 2nd place, and for a while, we were fighting for first,” she said. “This allowed some of our youth to step up and boy, they did!”
She highlighted standout efforts from sophomores Kennedy Portwood, who won the 300 hurdles in her first try of the season while breaking the meet record, and Addison Nguyen, who took first in the 100m, second in the 200m, and sixth in long jump. Suing also praised Paige Gargano for another championship performance in the triple jump.
Looking ahead, Suing said the girls should be closer to full strength at Tuesday’s meet in Plattsmouth, though Thursday’s partial squad at Elkhorn will keep pushing for more personal records.
On the boys’ side, Suing said the team stayed right in the mix, finishing just 13 points behind several squads battling for second. She singled out Keagan McElwain’s breakthrough: “He broke the school record in the discus. Andrew Christensen has had it since 2004. He has put a ton of time into this offseason, so it was fun to see all his efforts come to fruition.”
Suing added that Parker Douglas, Knox Naughton, and Lane Molacek all had excellent days with multiple medals. Despite some lingering injuries, she is excited to see the group at full strength.
“We are hopeful for some warm weather so we can get some quality practices in,” Suing said. “We have two meets this week, Tuesday at Plattsmouth and Thursday at Elkhorn.”
