The 2024 State Track and Field Championships had a dramatic finish in the girls Class A team race, which came down to the final event at Burke Stadium.
Westside’s 1600 meter relay team of Jaydyn Macklin, Olivia Elbert, Claire White and Stella Miner won the gold medal to give the Warriors their first state team championship. Miner passed the leader in the final lap to take first place. Westside edged Papio South to win the state title with 68 points, while the Titans ended up with 66.5 points.
“To win the state championship, it’s huge, it hasn’t even sunk in yet,” Miner said. “I just, I’m so proud of us and I’m so glad this is the group of girls it’s going to go down in history as.”
Miner had a busy day on the track. The Kansas State recruit won the 800 meters in 2:06.41. She also took the gold medal in the 1600 meters, where she finished in 4:59.02. Miner was the runner-up in the 400 meters to finish with three golds and one silver medal.
“I had three events today and I just knew I had to execute every one perfectly for the team. I think I did what I had to do and I’m really proud of it,” Miner said.
After three years as a medalist in the 3200 meters, Westside’s Claire White won the gold medal in the event with a time of 10:37.62. The Iowa State recruit was the runner-up last year. White also finished fourth as a sophomore and sixth as a freshman.
“It feels awesome, getting both of these championships is really cool and the 3200 championship is something I was just really hoping for,” White said.
After finishing as the runner-up in last year’s state meet, Westside took home the school’s first girls state track and field championship. It was an amazing journey for Westside’s longtime track coach Jon Preister.
“It means a lot, ever since we started we talked about,” Preister said. “We’ve come close and been in that top three and finally get it done.”
The Westside boys team finished with 25 points. The Warriors were led by Preston Okafor’s runner-up performance in the 100 meters. The Husker football recruit lost in a photo finish to Bellevue West’s Asher Jenkins. Okafor finished in 10.59 seconds, while Jenkins won in 10.58.
