Riverside's Bloom Ends Historic Career On Top At State

​Riverside senior Alixzandra Bloom capped off one of the best track and field careers in the state at this past weekend’s Class D state track and field meet at Omaha Burke Stadium.

Bloom captured three state titles in her final high school meet. The senior sprinter defended her 100 and 200 meter crowns, while also winning the long jump.

“It feels amazing,” Bloom stated. “I’ve gone up every year. Sophomore, junior and senior year; I ended it out strong. That’s how I wanted it to go.”

Entering both the 100 and 200 as the two-time defending state champion, the Lady Charger held off a competitive field in both events. Bloom placed first in the 100 with a time of 12.55 and captured the 200 crown after crossing the finish line at 25.93.

Bloom also won the long jump with a leap of 17-7.75 and placed 11th in the triple jump after recording a jump of 33 feet.

After adding three gold medals from Saturday, Bloom wraps up her high school career with eight state championships (three in the 100, three in the 200, one in the 4x100 relay and one in long jump).

“Everyone in my family told me it’s so hard to get three championships in a row,” Bloom commented. “I wanted to do that here and break that.”

Also in Class D, St. Edward Lainey Werts took sixth in the 400 with a time of 1:02.19 and eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:29.66. Werts also competed in the high jump, clearing 4-8. The Beavers Jacob Riggs-Ramage cleared 6-0 to place 10th and Trevor Rasmussen ran a 17.64 in the 110 hurdles.

Riverside’s Jeffrey Schmeits placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 20-3.75 and was 10th in the triple jump with a jump of 41-0.5. Ryan Berger finished 15th in the 3200 with a time of 10:58.59. For the Lady Chargers Hope Schalk cleared 8-0 to place 15th in pole vault.

In Class B, Boone Central/Newman Grove had several medalists.

Jordan Soto-Stopak claimed two medals at state. Soto-Stopak was the runner-up in the 3200 (11:58.2) and placed fifth in the 1600 (5:29.93).

Jon Merten placed third in the shot put with a heave of 53-0.75.

The Lady Cardinals 4x800 relay team of Soto-Stopak, Autumn Simons, Lauren Pugh and Samantha Weeder finished seventh with a time of 10:24.6.

Also competing for the Cardinals were Dalton Rasmussen in the shot (46-4.5), Wyatt Nissen in the 100 (11.47) and 200 (23.86), Ryan Kramer in the 300 hurdles (42.92) and Lauren Hedlund in the 100 (13.26) and 200 (27.61)