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Contributor: The Nerd The weekend of awesomeness I teased this a few weeks ago, but this Friday and Saturday combine for a dream weekend for the distance running fan. We have three big events that I'll cover in detail: Friday, 10/23, 12:00-4:30 - High school State meet at Kearney Country Club Saturday, 10/24, 10:00-11:30 - Blazing Tiger NAIA meet at Mahoney State Park Saturday, 10/24, 1:00-4:00 - Free FCA XC clinic featuring Olympian Jim Ryun FCA cross country clinic We're

A season of sweat and effort, of heat and rain, of victories and setbacks. Thanks to the editorial wizardry of Nauj Nerd, we're ready to reveal the video recap of the 2026 Junior High State XC meet. Our featured videographers were Nauj Nerd, drone operator Nerd Ricky Bobby, Nerdfoot, Faithful Nerd and Nerd Senior. Our photographers were Royal Nerd and Berry Nerd. Photo albums: A/B girls: https://facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1138342188590148&type=3 C/D girls: https://facebook

Contributor: The Nerd Free FCA Cross country clinic Bellevue University is hosting a free cross country clinic on Saturday, 10/24, from 1:00-4:00. There will be four presentations during the event, with the keynote talk by 3x Olympian and 4x world record holder Jim Ryun and his wife Anne. I had the opportunity to interview Jim and Anne last Thursday, and you can watch or listen to the video at this link. Our 75-minute interview included the following topics: Jim was unsuc

Contributor: The Nerd About 20 years ago I had a surge of motivation in early November and signed up for a mid-April marathon. I wasn’t anywhere near marathon shape when I signed up, but I figured that I’d be in amazing shape in five months. I wasn’t. My training was limited by the time demands of a young family, my winter was filled with accounting deadlines and overtime hours, and subzero temps kept me indoors on too many days. The day before the race, I drove six hou

Contributor: The Nerd The Nebraska Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is hosting a free cross country clinic for athletes, coaches and running fans on Saturday, October 24 from 1:00-4:00 at Bellevue University. The keynote presentation will be delivered by Jim and Anne Ryun. Registration is at https://fca.regfox.com/2026omahaxcclinic. Jim Ryun is a Wichita native who became the first American high schooler to break the four-minute mile barrier. He first ran 3:

Contributor: The Nerd With the UNK meet falling on a Monday, our normal publishing schedule is thrown off, so we're not issuing a Nerdsletter this week. However, we will knock out a quick analysis of the UNK meet results. Class A boys Aden Soto, Fremont, @ 3000 meters Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/276103/results/1100561 Aden Soto of Fremont may have delivered the biggest surprise of the day in the eighth and final race. A large lead pack was well for

Contributor: The Nerd Parents, play your role I attend several junior high meets each season, and they're a significantly different experience than the tension-filled environment of a competitive high school or college meet. The meets often start with a short race for younger kids before moving onto the 7th and 8th graders. At each of these meets, I usually see a few examples where the junior high runners aren't supported in a positive manner. I'm sure the comments made -

On Thursday morning, just before Jackson Einspahr rocked the Harold Scott meet, the Nerd sat down with Rich Barnett of McCook's High Plains radio station to talk all things cross country. We discussed returning State champs, the impact of reclassification, early surprises, the top teams in each Class, and why Rich Barnett is possibly the coolest radio guy ever. Well, we didn't talk about that last point, but I'm pretty sure it's true. Here's the audio file. I apologize in

Contributor: The Nerd Fast times at Ridgemont.... er, high school races I think next year we can just pencil in Week 3 of the cross country as the "Let 'er rip" week. With cooler weather plus meets at historically fast and mostly flat courses at Sioux Falls (Nike Preview), Fremont, Ashland (Platte River Rumble) and Kearney Meadowlark, we saw some amazing times last Friday and Saturday. Fremont Twilight - Class A#1 Emily Hegge of Papio South and Class D#1 Avery Arens of Cro

Contributor: The Nerd Sometimes the tank runs out At its core, cross country is a science experiment. The coach and athlete share the role of Victor Frankenstein, two mad scientists focused on creating the Creature. Over one season or an entire high school career, they tinker with the Creature to maximize the performance of the heart, lungs, and legs. They even dive into the soft sciences, tinkering with the Creature’s brain to create that perfect combination of motivation,

Contributor: The Nerd A nerd primer In case you're new to the Nerds, here's a quick review of who we are and what we do: We're a group of 40 or so volunteers who love Nebraka XC and T&F. We're mostly parents of current or former runners, but our ranks also include talented photographers ages 15 to 30 who want to use their creativity to support the running community. The Nerds began in Omaha but we've got Nerds in 25 different communities throughout Nebraska. Our main focus

Contributor: The Nerd Class D top returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 1, Avery Arens, 10, Crofton (2:18, 4:56, 10:31) 2, Delani Runnels, 12, Niobrara/Verdigre (1:01, 2:22, 5:03, 11:43) 3, Rarity Cournoyer, 12, Gordon-Rushville (2:22, 5:39, 12:25, not competing) 4, Sage Holtmeier, 11, Tri County (2:28, 5:28, 11:47) 5, Kayleigh Betka, 10, McCool Junction (2:23, 5:16, 11:37) 6, Reagan Moody, 10, Ainsworth (2:23, 5:26, 1

Contributor: The Nerd Class D top State returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 1, Kaser Johnson, 12, Doniphan-Trumbull (1:58, 4:17 mile, 9:27) 3, Colton Ham, 12, North Platte St. Patrick's (2:06, 4:23, 9:27) 5, Samuel Holsing, 12, Tri County (1:57, 4:29, 9:50) 7, Jaiden Anderson, 12, Archangels Catholic (2:16, 4:48, 10:16) 9, Sullivan Jackson, 12, Cornerstone Christian (2:12, 4:39) 10, Carter Hannon, 11, Doniphan-Trumb

Contributor: The Nerd Class C top returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 1, Scout Bell, 11, Gothenburg (2:33, 5:26, 11:35) 2, Tayla Hurner, 10, Wayne (2:22, 5:17, 11:11) 3, Jaelyn Witter, 12, Kearney Catholic (2:30, 5:19, 11:34) 4, Addison Hauxwell, 10, Chase County (5:20, 11:21) 5, Macie Carter, 10, Milford (2:28, 5:17, 11:37) 7, Emma Williams, 12, North Bend Central (2:26, 5:17, 11:39) 9, Adelyn Whitten, 10, Mind

Contributor: The Nerd Class C top State returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 1, Trevin Opp, 12, Lincoln Christian (1:53, 4:26, 9:29) 2, Tyler Hetz, 12, Gothenburg (1:59, 4:21, 9:51) 3, Bryson Neels, 11, Gothenburg (48.84, 1:53, 4:34) 4, Samuel McQuistan, 11, Holdrege (1:58, 4:21 mile) 11, Miles Clausen, 12, Battle Creek (1:58, 4:29, 9:52) 12, Christophe Widick, 12, Holdrege (1:58, 4:31, 9:50) 14, Amos Glenn, 11, Lin

Contributor: The Nerd Class B top returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 1, Cecilia Kramper, 12, Omaha Duchesne (4:57, 10:47) 2, Sophia Reynolds, 12, Hastings (59.54, 2:10, 5:01, 11:00) 3, Lucy Zabloudil, 12, Gretna (2:16, 5:05) 5, Haylen Holliday, 11, Seward (59.2, 2:15, 5:07) 8, Malia Woosley, 12, Lincoln Pius (2:24, 5:16, 11:16) 9, Kathryn Roberts, 12, Elkhorn (2:21, 5:23, 11:52) 11, Sierra Regan, 11, Gretna (2:2

Contributor: The Nerd Class B top State returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 3, Isac Portillo-Munoz, 12, Lexington (4:26, 9:33) 8, Samuel Schlautman, 12, Lincoln Pius (4:29, 9:39) 9, Jaxon Cushing, 11, Northwest (2:04, 4:32, 9:40) 11, Samuel Robinson, 12, Norris (52.08, 1:55, 4:40, 10:09) 12, Gavin Wemhoff, 11, Scottsbluff (1:57, 4:31) 14, Austin Koch, 12, Seward (1:57, 4:24, 9:54) 15, Ethan Smith, 12, Northwest (1:5

Contributor: The Nerd Class A top State returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 1, Emily Hegge, 10, Papio South (1:01, 2:18, 4:56, 10:37) 7, Ashlyn Carter, 12, Papio South (1:00, 2:16, 5:05) 8, Maya Freyer, 11, Omaha Marian (2:16, 5:04, 10:55) 9, Reese Lancaster, 10, Omaha Marian (no track times, out with injury) 11, Meredith Marsh, 12, Lincoln Southwest (2:23, 5:14, 10:59) 16, Hannah Soucie, 11, Lincoln Southwest (no trac

Contributor: The Nerd Class A top State returners ’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs 2, Aiden Gehring, 11, Papio South (1:54, 4:20, 9:27) 3, J'Shawn Afuh, 12, Lincoln North Star (1:54, 4:26) 4, Liam Gonzalez, 12, Norfolk (2:08, 4:32, 9:35) 6, Elijah Bickley, 12, Millard West (1:57, 4:24) 8, Isaiah Coleman, 12, Creighton Prep (4:29, 9:55) 11, Trey Crabtree, 12, Lincoln High (1:59, 4:25, 9:26) 12, Maddox Helgoth, 10, Kear

Contributor: The Nerd A few years ago, my daughter called in a panic to report that her parked car had been hit while she was at a friend’s house. The friend’s mother had hit our car when she was backing out of her garage, not expecting a car to be blocking her path so late at night. The mother was apologetic, and quickly offered to pay for any body shop repairs. We politely declined her offer. At the time, my daughter drove a 2001 Buick Century. It had a golf-ball sized hol