Burlington Central wins BNC title

On Monday, the Burlington Central girls track team tied with Byron for first place at the Big Northern Conference meet.

On Thursday at the BNC boys meet at Oregon, the Rockets scored enough points to avoid a tie and claim the conference championship.

Burlington Central used first-place finishes from Ryan Olsen in the 400 meters and Lucas Ege in the 300 hurdles to help the point total as the Rockets scored 95 points, barely outdistancing second-place Winnebago, which scored 91.

“We overcame a lot of adversity with kids being out with injuries and being sick,” said BC coach Mike Schmidt. “It was the best complete effort I’ve ever seen. From the field to the sprints, it was just a complete team effort. I’m really proud of the seniors, but also for all the guys on our team.”

Olsen ran the 400 in 50.42 to win the first-place medal, while Ege’s winning time in the 300 hurdles was 41.34.

Olsen, Alex Johnson, Jason Borango and Casey Matthews finished second in the 400 relay in 44.44 and Kyle Neubauer was second in the 800 in a time of 2:02.47 for the Rockets, who will compete at the Class 2A Sterling sectional next Friday.

Finishing third for the Rockets were Clay Musial in the 3.200 (10:00.01), Sean Kisch in the 110 hurdles (15.88), the 800 relay team of Jake Fox, Trevor Davison, Matthews and Travis Panariello (1:34.12) and the 1,600 relay team of Ege, Johnson, Neubauer and Fox (3:34.02).