Opening jump at state ends high school career

OMAHA - The track and field season has ended for the Randolph Cardinals and the individual career of senior Bailey Beal has also wrapped up.

Beal, the lone representative at last weekend’s Class D state finals was able to make it back to the final weekend for another season and her goal of finishing with a high jump medal was thwarted among a top field.

“Unfortunately, she didn’t make opening height in the high jump, but it’s still an accomplishment to make it to state two years in a row,” Randolph head coach Eric Brown said. “I’m proud and honored to have coached her these last three years in track.”

The season was full of some top performances from both the boys and girls as well as a litany of personal bests over the course of the spring.

“Some of the biggest highs for us is the amount of promise we have from the younger athletes,” Brown said.

“We believe that they will continue to improve every year and I’m excited to be a part of it. The lows were that we had a few athletes be within a few milliseconds or a few inches of qualifying for state.

“Fortunately, they all have at least one year left so there’s potential and momentum going into next season. “

Athletes like Nicole Haselhorst, Jacey Bartels and Ella Scott will be back in 2024 on the girls side and the boys can also offer plenty of potential storylines next season.

“The future of the program is as promising as it has since I’ve been here,” Brown said. “Once again, we have multiple underclassmen who showed us a lot and the junior high team who will be coming up next year or in two years did great as well. As long as we get everyone on board - both coaches and athletes - there’s no telling what we can accomplish.

“I look forward to all our new coaches coming in next year for both high school and junior high and working with them to make these kids the best athletes they can be in their respective events.”