Nerdsletter 9/2/26
- jayslagle
- 2 days ago
- 13 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
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 is photographing high school meets, but we also cover junior high and collegiate meets. All of our photos are shared for free on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/. We also regularly post on our X account https://x.com/PrepRunningNerd.
We try to follow this schedule each week during the season:
Saturday - We ask our followers to respond with their meets for the next week so we can build the Nebraska-wide meet schedule.
Sundays - The Nerds pick the meets they plan to shoot that week.
Sundays - We track down results for all of the previous week's meets and post them on the Results tab of our website.
Mondays - Typically when we receive and share team rankings prepared by coaches.
Tuesdays - Updated individual rankings posted to our website and social media accounts.
Wednesdays - Nerdsletter published.
Every day - Nerds post meet photo albums to our Facebook page once they're edited.
Previews and rankings
If you don't think about cross country 24/7 like we do, you're probably a bit rusty on the top competitors and teams in each Class. Last week we posted a season preview for each of the eight fields, and they are available at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/blog. Whether you read all eight previews or just the one that impacts your athlete, it should be the most comprehensive season preview you'll find.
The coaches in each Class have issued preseason rankings that we've aggregated at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/rankings. Team rankings are issued every one or two weeks during the season depending on the Class. We'll also share those rankings on our socials.
This week we issued our individual preseason rankings at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/preseason-1. The rankings are subjective and pretty dang time-consuming, but preparing them is a responsibility we take seriously. As a reminder, we post individual rankings to generate increased interest in the sport, and we’re not out to hurt anyone’s feelings. We'll occasionally omit someone deserving, misspell athlete names, and rank athletes who are injured and out for the season. If you think you've found an error, shoot us an email at jayslagle@hotmail.com.
A different way to sport
In the midst of Norway's great run in this summer's World Cup, the Wall Street Journal published an article on July 11/12, "How Norway Created a World Cup Monster" in reference to Norway's best player, Erling Haaland. If you're used to American soccer development, you're probably wondering how this country of five million has used elite soccer academies to cultivate talent that is on par with much larger countries.
However, elite soccer academies were not Erling Haaland's path to the Norwegian national team. Haaland grew up in a low-cost, high-participation youth program in Bryne, his hometown of 14,000 people where volunteer coaches preach the philosophy of, "As many as possible, for as long as possible, and as good as possible." When Haaland was five years old, his town built an indoor athletic facility that was always unlocked and easily accessible. The players had organized practices twice per week throughout grade school, and they spent the rest of their time playing on their own. Weekend mornings were devoted to playing soccer in their towns - few youth teams make road trips - and Norwegian kids aren't sorted by talent level until they are thirteen. It seems to work. Two-thirds of the Norwegion boys are still playing soccer at age eleven. Within Haaland's age group of forty Bryne boys who started playing together at age five, thirty-five played to adulthood, six turned pro, and five were selected for youth national teams.
Norwegian youth soccer players are also encouraged to take part in other sports, including skiing, handball, and track and field. No specialization, low costs, limited travel, no early burnout. We're already doing it in track and field and we produce some of the best athletes in the world. Maybe we should give it a try in soccer, baseball and basketball.
Notable results
We do our best to track down the results to every high school meet in Nebraska. The Results page on our website at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/xcresults includes links to all of last week's meets except Fort Kearny, the results of which have eluded us thus far. A few notable results:
We knew his 4:32 1600 in 8th grade would translate well to high school cross country, but we were still surprised when Beatrice freshman Carter Ribble won his high school debut. Running against ranked runners from Class A, B and D, Carter took the Norris title on Saturday with a 16:10. https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/279026/results/all.
Lucy Zabloudil of Gretna won her home meet on Saturday, posting a 19:03 to finish ahead of defending State champ Cece Kramper of Duchesne (19:25) and Gretna teammate Sierra Regan (19:52). Kramper dominated the 2025 calendar year, winning State titles at 1600, 3200 and XC. However, this was her first race since her injury in March; she returned to running in mid-July so we don't expect her to be fully fit until October.
We had noted in our season previews that there would be impactful freshmen in all of the Classes, but quite a few of them would be surprises. At the North Platte meet on Friday, the first five finishers in the girls' race were freshman, led by Rinlee Blomstedt of McCook. While Rinlee was a freshman we highlighted in the Class B preview, the freshman domination at this competitive meet was unexpected. https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/277911/results/all
The Class of Metro changed its format to include boys and girls varsity races plus mixed 9/10 and 11/12 races instead of the traditional mixed-by-grade format. In the girls varsity race, second-ranked Maya Freyer of Marian won the 5K in 18:54, followed by Louise Walker (Marian), freshman Madison Scott (Millard West), and Harper Cowles (Marian). https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/276178/info
The Class of Metro did retain the 4000-meter race that is open to all grades, and that's where all of the Papio South girls competed. Emily Hegge won the 4K, which is actually closer to 3.9K per her coach, in 14:10. That translates roughly to a 18:10 5K time. This Saturday the Papio South girls will step up to the 5K distance when they host the Titan Classic. It should be a great race. In addition to top-ranked Hegge, the field should include Grace Berglund of Glenwood (18:15 5k last week), 3rd-ranked Ashlyn Carter and 14th-ranked Taylor Pier of Papio South, three ranked girls from Lincoln Southwest, and two ranked girls from Lincoln Pius. In addition, Omaha Marian will be sending part of their team to the meet, although registrations as of Tuesday night don't reflect whether their varsity top-ranked team (with three ranked runners) is racing in Seward on Thursday or at Papio South on Saturday.
Norfolk's Liam Gonzalez had a strong season debut at GINW last Friday after finishing 4th at State last year. He won the 4K in 12:43, thirty seconds of the field that included ranked runners from Class B and C. https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/276135/results/all
Summer news
The Nerd machine shuts down for the summer once we've posed State T&F pictures, so let's catch up on a few things that you may have missed:
Fremont and UNK alum Wes Ferguson, a five-time D2 national champion in the 800, finished 2nd in the 800 in 1:44.55 at USA nationals, finishing just behind high school phenom Cooper Lutkenhaus. Wes has previously finished 3rd at USA Indoors in 2025. Alas, the 2026 USA national meet was not a qualifying event since there is no Worlds meet this year. Wes has a pro contract with Under Armor and is an assistant coach at Nebraska Wesleyan. He also has a Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Ferguson that appears to be written by a Brit given the reference "After graduating from University, Ferguson signed..."
Two other Nebraska natives qualified and ran at USA nationals. Madison Seiler (Gering, Kenesaw State) competed in the 3000-meter steeplechase while Sara Reifenrath (Hartington Cedar Catholic, South Dakota, Garden State Track Club) competed in the 400 meters. Qualifying for nationals is a huge freaking deal.
By winning the 5000 at the USATF U20 meet on June 18th, Juan Gonzalez (Fremont, Oregon) qualified for the World Athletics U20 Championships in early August that was also held in Eugene. Juan finished 12th at U20 Worlds in 13:59, just off his PR of 13:47 that he ran at Stanford on May 1st. Seth Hirsch (Millard West, Wisconsin/Colorado) still holds the top 5000 mark for a former Nebraska high school athlete with his 13:37 at Portland in June 2021.
Austin Carerra, a Hastings alum now competing at Wichita State, finished second in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the USATF U20 meet and also competed at US Worlds in Eugene. He finished eighth in his heat to qualify for finals where he finished 16th.
Six-time State champ Gabe Hinrichs (Elkhorn South, Notre Dame) is now a grad transfer at UNL. Gabe won the Class A 1600 and 3200 as a junior and senior as well as the 800 and XC title his senior year. In the fall of 2021, he became the first Nebraskan to win the Nike Heartland XC Regionals; a few weeks later he finished 6th at the Eastboy (fka Footlocker) Midwest Regionals. Nike Nationals was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, but Gabe finished 31st at the 2021 Eastbay Nationals.
Niles Medcalf of Lincoln Southeast won the 2026 Class A 800 title with a time of 1:52.97. One month later, he ran 1:49.56 to win the championship division of Nike Nationals in Eugene. While Niles' Nike time was faster than the current Class A State record of 1:50.82 set by Brian Turner of Millard North in 2000, it doesn't qualify as a record since it was run out of season. Niles is now attending and competing for Kansas University.
I think we take it for granted how good our NAIA track teams are in Nebraska. At the NAIA National Championship meet on May 22, Nebraska women took the top two spots in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. In the 100, Adrianna Rodencal (Lincoln Lutheran) of Concordia took first with Jaida Rowe (Lincoln Southwest) of Hastings in second. In the 400, Rowe won with Rodencal second. Of the eight indoor and outdoor T&F seasons in which they competed, both were individual national qualifiers in all but their first indoor season. Rodencal also won the 60-meter hurdles indoor title in March and was 2nd (400), 3rd (100) and 5th (60) during her junior season. Rowe finished 8th and 5th in the 400 hurdles in 2025 and 2024, respectively, and finished 8th in the indoor flat 400 last March.
To our knowledge, both Rodencal and Rowe have exhausted their eligibility after competing in track for four years. The same can't be said for current D1 and D2 athletes, who have new eligibility rules starting this fall. As long as athletes enroll in college by the fall semester after they turn 19, they will have eligibility for the next five academic years. In theory, if an athlete stays healthy, he or she can compete all five years. 'Redshirts' are no longer a thing. There are a few exceptions where the five-year clock can stop: military service, religious missions and pregnancy. Barring those exceptions, the new rule means that the oldest an athlete can be when they enter their fifth and final year of competition will be 24. Given the recent rise in 'freshmen' over the age of 25, this should have a big impact on D1 recruiting. Of course, the cynics say that the rule change will just fuel a boom in counterfeit birth certificates for international athletes, but at least it's a start.
Creighton head coach Chris Gannon announced in early July that he would be stepping down to devote more time to his young family. As many of our followers know, coaching requires a lot of early mornings, late nights and weekend commitments. Creighton has announced that assistant coach Matthew Fayers has been promoted to interim head coach and that Taylor Somers has been hired as an assistant coach. Both Fayers and Somers competed at Oklahoma State. Fayers had a streak of at least five years of sub-4:00 minute miles while Somers excelled at OSU after winning two State XC titles and three State T&F titles at Millard South.
I was in the security line at the Oslo Airport a few weeks ago and noticed an older couple right behind us that were holding US passports. I asked if they were from the US and we started chatting. We exchanged hometowns, and the New York gentleman explained that he grew up in Omaha just north of Memorial Park on 58th Street. He told me he in the Omaha Central Class of 1961. I replied, "Did you happen to be in Gale Sayers' class?" He replied, "Actually, I tell people that Gale Sayers was in my class."
During our vacation, we spent two nights in a cabin on a working farm in Geiranger, Norway. The farmer had sheep, goats and llamas on the side of a steep hill. The farmer - who also runs the cabins and restaraunt on site - told me that the farm has been in his family for 400 years. This blew my feeble-minded American brain.
We also spent two nights in Andalsnes, Norway, a fjord-side town with a population of 2,500. I try to explore on my vacation runs and I found my way to the local sports club. In addition to a large indoor facility (see Norway sports discussion above), the site included a 400-meter track that was open to the public 24/7, including at 5:30 AM when I visited. The track infield held an artificial-turf soccer field while the end zones included a playground, two toddler-sized soccer areas, a sand volleyball pit, and a long/triple jump runway that ended in the volleyball pit. I don't think this type of 'play' facility exists in the US, but if anyone did it, it would probably the folks in Kearney.
Girls and running
I didn't hear about the session until a few days prior, but The Lincoln Running Company was instrumental in bringing the Wildwood Running clinic to Lincoln in mid-July. Focused solely on female runners and their coaches, the Wildwood instructors help female runners address the challenges and opportunities unique to their gender. In preparation for the Lincoln and Spokane clinics, the Wildwood organizers had the 115 attendees complete a pre-clinic survey. The results:
Have you ever been concerned about your body image? Yes - 60%
Have you ever restricted food? Yes - 42%
Have you ever lost your period or had an irregular menstrual cycle? Yes or maybe - 57%
Has your mental health ever suffered in and around your sport? Yes - 62%
Have you ever lost the joy of sport? Yes - 64%
Do you have a coach who talks about the unique journey of a female bodied athlete? Yes - 63%
Have you ever been in a setting where education around female physiology in sport (puberty, menstrual cycle, growth and development) is discussed or shared? Yes - 70%
Would you feel comfortable talking to your coach about your mental health, performance, period and nutrition? Yes - 82%
It heartens me that 82% of the female athletes say they are comfortable talking to their coaches, but that optimism is tempered by studies that reflect that up to 40% of female athletes have clinical or subclinical eating disorders. Even in my small Nerd world, I'm aware of at least a half dozen high school distance runners currently sidelined by eating disorders. I don't know how to help, but I'm all ears if a coach or mental health professional would allow me to share their useful guidance to athletes and their parents.
Nerd alert!
Our volunteers go by their Nerd monikers most of the year, but here's a shout out to our Fall 2026 inductees:
Brad Burke, Storm Nerd, Fort Calhoun parent
Michelle Mandeville, Cajun Nerd, Chase County parent
Brecken Shearer, Nerdolph, Randolph student
Wendy Dupre, Combat Nerd, Cornerstone Christian JH coach
Stephanie Claycomb, Eagle Eye Nerd, Waverly/Eagle parent
Crystal Kaster, Nerdster, Sterling parent
Brandon Hauff, Faithful Nerd, Kearney Faith Christian parent
Aurelia Mlnark, Dancing Nerd, O'Neill St. Mary student
Ethan Smith, Viking Nerd (RagNerd and Nerd Fairhair were voted down), GINW student
Danie Parriott, Name TBD, North Platte teacher, former Conestoga/Doane athlete now
Photos
This summer EBU Sport in Europe issued a guide called 'Raising the Bar' on how women should photographed and filmed during athletic events. The guide probably applies more to video than photography, but the Nerds have made a conscious effort to avoid posting revealing or embarassing photos of the athletes we follow. While a few photos may slip through each year, we're quick to remove them when asked. Whether we're shooting a male or female, our goal is to showcase the runner's athleticism and grace. Hopefully we hit that mark most of the time.
We had about a dozen Nerds out and about in the wild last week and their albums are posted on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums. We often hear feedback that we're not labeling the albums but, yes, they are all labeled; we can't control how Facebook delivers them to you.
All of Nerds have jobs and families so they edit photos when they have time, which is why photos are usually posted two to seven days after a meet. If you're looking photos from a specific meet, you can go to https://www.preprunningnerd.com/2022 to see if your meet is listed. We don't update the website as often as the Facebook page, but the website is a helpful resource is you're trying to find a meet that was held over a week ago. Here are examples of albums posted in the last week:
We lost a good one
It's with great sadness that we share that Holly Benish, aka CW Nerd, passed away on June 5th from a cancer-related illness. Holly was our sixth Nerd, and she is one of the reasons we have so many Nerds today. Nerd #4, Jaden Gebeke, was shooting for us for the first time at the 2022 State T&F meet, and Holly was thrilled to meet a Nerd when she saw him at the discus arena. She had the same reaction when I met her the next day, and her enthusiasm led me to believe that other photographers might join the Nerd team. Holly leaves behind her 'coolest farmer ever' Jed and her incredible daughters Axi and Zaili. Please keep the Benish family in your prayers.
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Originally written and published in September 2026 at www.preprunningnerd.com.
Like this coverage of the Nebraska T&F and cross country scene? There's more of this at www.preprunningnerd.com. Check out the Blog tab for our frequent stories and the Results tab for every Nebraska high school meet we can find. If you want to see meet photos or just need to kill a few hours on social media, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PrepRunningNerd or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/preprunningnerd.
Finally, if you think runners, jumpers and throwers are the best things on earth, you'll enjoy our two most popular articles. In 2018 we published "The Runner with the Broken Heart" about a high school boy who finished last in nearly every race he ran. In 2022 we published, "The Fall and Rise of Emmett " a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadripalegic after a swimming accident.
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