Red Raiders take victory lap around Sidney upon returning home with state championship

SIDNEY – The Sidney state champion boys track and field team were welcomed home Friday evening with an escort through town from the Sidney Volunteer Fire Department, Sidney Police Department and the Cheyenne County Sheriff’s office.  

Red Raider fans followed the team in vehicles and lined the streets to cheer their state title team back to the high school from the Interstate 80 interchange. All 10 state qualifiers, who sat atop one of the fire engines, earned at least one medal at Burke Stadium in Omaha and Sidney outscored Waverly, 66-52, to win the Class B state championship. 

The 66 points is a lot of points at a state meet, according to Head Coach Matt McKay. He said the last time the boys won the state championship in 2015, they scored 42 points. 

“These guys are the hardest working group of guys I’ve ever seen,” McKay said. 

Helping the Red Raiders secure their fifth state championship in school history was their record-breaking 4x800 meter relay team made up of seniors Daniel Bashtovoi, Mitchell Deer, Treyson Johnstone and Cameron Brauer.  

“Most of us, we’ve known each other since sixth grade, some even preschool,” Deer said. “We’ve known each other for the majority of our lives.”  

Fresh off a second-place finish at the Nebraska School Activities Association State Cross Country Championships last fall, Bashtovoi, Deer, Johnstone and Brauer broke the school record in the 4x800 meter relay three times this spring, including Wednesday at the state meet with a gold medal winning time of 7:56.63.  

“Every single time we finished we thought, ‘just a little bit more,’” Bashtovoi said. “When we hit 8:02 at the Best in the West meet, that was super satisfying. That was the first time we beat the school record. Then we hit 8:01 at the district meet and as soon as I crossed the line, I just thought, ‘What if we hit sub-8?’ Then at state, we hit 7:56. Which was huge, because it was tenths of a second from the state meet record.” 

It was the first state title for Sidney in the 4x800 meter relay. 

“I’m super satisfied with how these guys ran,” Bashtovoi said. “We all ran personal record splits by ourselves. I’m super proud of these guys, I’m so happy I got to run with them.” 

Deer, Bashtovoi and Brauer added medals in their individual events. Deer won the 400-meter dash, Brauer was second in the 1600-meter run, and Bashtovoi finished fifth in the 800-meter run.  

“We were really motivated to come home with a first, it was a very satisfying conclusion to our senior year,” Bashtovoi said. “It also feels good to get a gold.” 

All four runners agreed, they were happy their last lap in high school was a victory lap.