News Channel Nebraska to televise Gothenburg's Nebraska Championship Meet

GOTHENBURG, Neb. — News Channel Nebraska is showcasing the state's most talented up and coming track stars on live TV.

NCN is televising the Nebraska Championship Meet live from Gothenburg on Saturday, May 17.

The Nebraska Championship Meet annually features 600 of the state's top junior high track athletes representing more than 150 middle schools throughout Nebraska.

"News Channel Nebraska loves to support communities and highlight kids across the state, and this is an awesome way to do that," NCN Chief Executive Officer, Andy Ruback said.

The meet, held at Gothenburg High School, is the only middle school state track championship in the country that has participants compete without being divided by class.

"Gothenburg is a track community and we take pride in putting this one-of-a-kind event on each and every year," Nebraska Championship Meet Director, Jim Clark said. "We couldn't be more excited to have it televised to the entire state."

News Channel Nebraska's live coverage will start at 10:50 a.m. CT.

NCN's statewide TV coverage of the Nebraska Championship Meet is presented by Cindermates.

HOW TO WATCH

• STATEWIDE TV: Dish (30 or 35), Allo (181 or 190), Spectrum (98, 99, 715, or 1233)
• LOCAL CABLE: Find out what channel NCN TV is on in YOUR area!
• NCN APP: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire
• ONLINE (Live Link): https://northeast.newschannelnebraska.com/watch

ABOUT THE NEBRASKA CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

Planning for the first Nebraska Championship meet began in 2005 with a group of track enthusiasts from Gothenburg known as the Cindermates. The meet organizers wanted to  provide an opportunity for junior high kids to compete at a high level, statewide, all-class meet run by officials adhering to standards set for championship competition.

The first meet was held on May 13, 2010. The support from coaches, athletes, parents, and schools from across the state was tremendous. In 2010, 145 schools posted their athletes' season marks, 64 schools qualified team members for the first all-class, top 16 individual and relay competition competing for titles in 13 events.

In 2011 the 4 X 800 relay was added to the list of events, and the individual field size was expanded to 24 qualifiers, and in 2015 medals were awarded to the top 8 in all events.

In 2023, the Nebraska Championship Meet hosted 682 competitors qualifying from 181 schools. Team and runner-up titles are awarded from the point totals of the 16 events and most valuable athlete medals are presented to the boy and girl who score the most points in the meet.

The outstanding meet performance is recognized at the end of the season and awarded to the highest nationally ranked performance in the Nebraska Championship Meet according to results posted to athletic.net.