Nitek headed to State for a chance at repeat titles

By Ginna Young  Sending just two athletes to compete at Sectional action May 23, in Cameron, the Cornell-Lake Holcombe track program was nonetheless done proud. Senior Trent Nitek qualified to return to State, May 31-June 1, in La Crosse, by placing first in the 200-meter dash, in a time of 22:48, and also by taking second in the 100-meter dash (10.85) and 400-meter dash (50.21). “Trent had a fantastic day,” said coach Sean Schmidt. “There were some things about his performances yesterday, he knows he has to tweak, to get a little more speed and edge-out the competition for wins, so we’ll be focusing on those minute details…” Senior Lauren Samardzich also was in action, competing in the 800-meter run, finishing in 12th place (2:37.38). Although it was a season-best time, the time was not enough to advance her farther. “Both seniors will be quite difficult to replace next season,” said Schmidt, “but there’ll be some promising upand-coming athletes vying to fill those shoes next year, who just barely missed Sectionals this year, which is exciting to think about.”