Centennial track will send six athletes to the state track championships beginning Friday, May 22.
“Centennial tracksters hit the right moment to perform their best as many hit personal best marks and times at the district meet,” Coach Rob Johansen said.
All of Centennial’s state qualifiers came in the field events. Kyle Gierhan and Hannah Tomes swept the boys’ and girls’ pole vault for the Broncos, with Cacey Vavra qualifying in the high jump, Krysta Haberman in the discus, Tanner Barth in the shot put and Stephen Yamber in the high jump and triple jump.
Gierhan won the pole vault at 14-9, nine inches higher than his previous best, Johansen said.
“Kyle has really done a great job the last few weeks and has to be loose to be leading Class C pole vault,” Johansen said.
Yamber has been battling injuries, so the coaches have limited his competitions as the season wound down. He passed the automatic qualifying mark in the triple jump with a jump of 43-0.25. He was also second in the high jump at 6-0 to qualify in that event.
Barth was competing against a “loaded field of talent” in the shot put and discus, according to Johansen. He hit the automatic qualifying mark with a throw of 51-5.5.
“He had some better throws after that but just brushed the top of the toe board causing it to be foul. Hopefully he can save the bigger marks for the state meet,” Johansen said.
Tomes vaulted 9-8, a new personal best, to win the pole vault. Vavra cleared 4-10 in the high jump to advance to state.
“Cacey Vavra made things interesting in the high jump by clearing 4-8 on her third attempt and going on to clear 4-10 to get second place and qualify for state,” Johansen said.
Haberman rounded out the field with her second-place toss in the discus.
“The surprise of the day came from Krysta Haberman getting second in the discus at 100- 1. She threw a great discus with little to no help from the wind to make it to state,” Johansen said.
Class C events begin Friday, May 22, at 9 a.m.
Tomes, Haberman and Yamber will be in action right off the bat with the pole vault, discus and high jump.
The shot put starts at 11 a.m. on Friday, with the triple jump beginning at noon. The pole vault will be Saturday, May 23, starting at 1 p.m.
