RAPID CITY-- Traxton Priebe had never won a state track title in a hurdling event until Saturday.
He won a region title earlier this year in the 300-meter hurdles event with a time of 42 seconds flat and was one of the best hurdlers in Class A, but had never managed to bring home state championship hardware entering the season.
Last year at the state meet, he finished in ninth place in the preliminaries with a time of 42.89 seconds, but did not advance to the finals.
He changed all that, however, when he ended his high school track career with a title in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class A state track meet Saturday in Rapid City. He took first place with a time of 40.22 seconds and said he couldn't think of a better way to end his senior year of high school.
"It feels pretty good... it's quite a way to go," he said of his win.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hudson Priebe, who is a sophomore and Traxton's little brother, also took home a state title Saturday winning the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.30 seconds. Hudson was also supposed to compete in the 300 hurdles but was disqualified because of a false start. Traxton was supposed to compete in the 110 hurdles with Hudson but did not qualify during the preliminary race on Friday.
Traxton said he was disappointed that he wasn't able to compete with his brother on Saturday.
"It was kind of a disappointment because I was hoping that we could battle it out for first and second (place)," Traxton said.
Hudson said the 110-meter hurdles is his favorite race and he was looking forward to it. He blew away the competition, finishing a half a second ahead of second place.
"I knew I had to get out of the blocks faster," Hudson said, "I surprised myself getting that far ahead of everyone."
Chamberlain track coach Jerry Rhodes said that the brother's performance at the state track meet over the weekend was bittersweet.
"'They battled each other the whole year in both events," Rhodes said.
"I know Traxton wanted to be in the finals in the 110 event but he hit a few hurdles and couldn't get into finals, and we were hoping to maybe go 1, 2 in the 300 with both brothers but things happen. I'm happy for both of them."
ADVERTISEMENT
Rhodes said Traxton was a great athlete to have on his team for the past four years and his absence will definitely be felt next year. He said it's sad that the brothers won't be able to compete together anymore and that they were both really good at challenging each other in the hurdling events. On the bright side, however, he said he's looking forward to having Hudson on the team for a couple more years.
"(Traxton) is a really good athlete and a great person to coach," Rhodes said.
"I don't think (Hudson) realizes what type of talent he has. We call him the greyhound. Overall, it was a very good weekend for the Chamberlain track team."
The Chamberlain boys' track team finished in fifth place in Class A with 32 points.
