Volleyball Players That Are Killing it In Track and Field
If you’re in the volleyball community, you’ve heard it all before. “Club volleyball doesn’t let kids be multi-sport athletes.” Or, maybe it’s, “volleyball is a year-round sport, so you have to specialize.” You’ve likely also heard, “volleyball is keeping kids from…
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Continue ReadingIf you’re in the volleyball community, you’ve heard it all before.
“Club volleyball doesn’t let kids be multi-sport athletes.” Or, maybe it’s, “volleyball is a year-round sport, so you have to specialize.” You’ve likely also heard, “volleyball is keeping kids from playing other sports.”
False, false and, uh, false.
During basketball we outlined how many of the state’s top volleyball players were also playing in the state basketball tournament. Well, here we are on the cusp of May, and several of the top track and field athletes in the state are – wait for it……….. – volleyball players.
Here is a look at how some of the top volleyball players in the state are having great success on the track.
Michaela Bartles of Bennington, an incredible athlete that is headed to Nebraska-Kearney to play volleyball, is one such shining example.
Let’s remember, she’s a 6-foot middle. And, she also has 8th fastest time in the 100 so far this year at 12.43 and – oh ya – she was the fist girl in the state to run a sub-58 second 400, when she was clocked at :57.99 while winning the Mike Lehl Invitational in Blair last week. She also won the 100 and 200 at that meet, just for good measure.
Josie Puelz, who helped lead the Lincoln Lutheran volleyball team to the Class C-1 state championship match, has one of the top 100 hurdles times in the state at :15.25 and has the third-fastest time in the state in the 300 hurdles at :45.74. She also happens to be second in the state in the pole vault at 12-6. Waverly volleyball standout Abigail Clarke is fourth in the state in the 300 hurdles at :46.02.
Nebraska volleyball recruit Kalynn Meyer of Superior leads the state in both the shot put (45-5) and discus (174-2) while Hastings St. Cecilia stud volleyball player Tori Thomas is third in the state in the shot put at 44-1 and fourth in the discus at 140-10. Sara Huss of Fairbury is probably a name volleyball people don’t recognize as much as some of the others, but the girl is legit on the volleyball court and at least two colleges are well aware of that and have offered her. Huss is 9th in the state in the discus at 139-6.
It would make a lot of sense to see several volleyball player among the best high jumpers in the state, and that is exactly the case. Papillion-LaVista middle Erica Broin leads the entire state at 5-7 while Platteview’s Anna Koehler is among those second in the state at 5-5. Coming in at 5-4 are a couple more volleyball standouts in Papillion-LaVista’s Norah Sis – a Creighton recruit – and Kalli Jurgensmeier of Bishop Neumann.
Two of the most athletic volleyball players you will find are also among the top 10 long jumpers in the state this year as Sadie Millard of Millard West has gone 17-9 ½ and Lauren Meyer of Syracuse has leaped 17-9 ¼.
The list of the top triple jumpers in the state is loaded with volleyball players, led by Meyer of Syracuse at 37-11 ½, Wayne State recruit Taya Beller, Humphrey/LHF is at 37-10 ¾, Broin of Papillion-LaVista comes in at 36-3 and Kearney’s Adi Wood has jumped 35-8.