Class C boys season preview

jayslagle
Aug 25
9 min read

Contributor: The Nerd

2024 State results (max possible returners)

1. 50 Holdrege (6 returners)

2. 69 Lincoln Christian (5 returners, 4 of top 5)

3. 79 Gothenburg (4)

4. 81 Syracuse (top 5)

5. 106 Fort Calhoun (top 5)

6. 111 Chase County (3)

7. 120 Aurora (3) (moving to Class B)

8. 130 Arlington (3)

9. 131 Lincoln Lutheran (3)

10. 157 Wayne (3)

11. 160 Battle Creek (3)

12. 163 Minden (3)

13. 179 Omaha Concordia (6)

14. 211 Milford (4)

15. 226 Bloomfield-Wausa (5)

Top returners (notable 2025 track results)

1 Trevin Opp, 11, Lincoln Christian 4:33, 9:50

2 Avery Carter, 12, Milford 4:32, 9:50

3 Tyler Hetz, 11, Gothenburg 2:02, 4:26, 9:35

4 Haven Hauxwell, 12, Chase County 4:33, 10:02

5 Dayton Graves, 12, Syracuse 4:29, 9:57

7 Payton Day, 12, Omaha Concordia 52, 1:58, 4:31

8 Samuel McQuistan, 10, Holdrege 1:57, 4:25, 9:58 (two attempts)

9 Nolan Engel, 12, Lincoln Christian 9:59 (limited races)

10 Koang Deng, 12, Cozad 4:47, 10:21

12 Bryson Neels, 10, Gothenburg 50, 1:58, 4:27

13 Nolan Gartner, 12, Syracuse 49.76 (3^rd C), 1:54 (1^st C), 4:26 (converted)

15 Christophe (Taylor) Widwick, 11, Holdrege 2:03, 4:48

17 Michael Golus, 12, Holdrege 2:03, 4:49

18 Roman Urbom, 12, Holdrege 2:08, 4:50, 10:41

20 Max Prochnow, 11, Lincoln Lutheran 4:42, 10:23

21 Shawn Arnold, 12, Lincoln Christian 2:03 (limited races)

22 Jayden Slagle, 12, Aurora (44-5.5 and 6-00 jumper) (to Class B)

23 Miles Clausen, 11, Battle Creek 2:03, 4:29 (7^th C), 9:52 (6^th C)

24 Sawyer Laflan, 12, Ogallala 2:15, 4:49, 10:35

25 Gannon Hubbard, 12, Palmyra 2:05, 4:34, 10:03

26 Evan Odvody, 12, Wilber-Clatonia 2:03, 4:49, 10:41

27 Chris Post-Whiteowl, 12, Fort Calhoun 2:05

28 John Morrison, 12, Arlington (limited races)

29 Merritt Olberding, 11, Fort Calhoun 2:09, 5:05

34 Kendall Shada, 10, Pierce 2:08, 4:47, 10:27

35 William Dennis, 12, Fort Calhoun 2:01, 4:58

36 Owen Ramaekers, 12, Palmyra 2:03, 4:31, 10:24

37 Xavier Apel, 12, Syracuse 53, 2:09

38 Darian Dorsey, 11, Gibbon 2:15, 5:08, 10:42

39 Ashton Vollmer, 10, Arlington 2:15, 5:10

40 Luke Woockman, 12, Bloomfield-Wausa 5:06, 10:42

42 Gage Thull, 11, Minden 5:00, 10:44

44 Emmanuel Gonzalez, 11, Wayne 2:10, 4:58, 11:04 (limited racing)

46 Dominic Deaver, 12, Holdrege 5:05, 10:57

48 Seth Waters, 12, Fort Calhoun 1:57

Class C had several classifications change this fall. Aurora is moving from Class C to B while Mt. Michael falls from Class B to C. Mount Michael’s enrollment has fallen by 90, from 324 to 234, in the latest classification report so we expect to see them in Class C for quite some time. In addition, Omaha Brownell Talbot and Madison have moved up from Class D to Class C while Ord and Hershey have dropped from Class C to Class D.

As a reminder, Class C teams are allowed to run up to six athletes at Districts and State, and the placement of the top four athletes is used to calculate a team’s point title.

The 2024 team title race was relatively close with the top five teams separated by just 31 points. All five of those teams return at least four of their six competitors in 2025, and Gothenburg is the only team of the five not returning their top four runners from 2024. Twelve of the fifteen 2024 medalists – and twenty-three of the top twenty-nine finishers – return this fall, so there are no easy paths to winning a medal or team plaque this season.

Holdrege won the title in 2024 and returns its entire squad. The Dusters’ top four boys finished 8^th, 15^th, 17^th and 18^th in 2024, and they’ll probably need to have four boys in the top 25 to repeat as champions. Samuel McQuistan had an exceptional track season, with PRs of 1:57, 4:25 (8^th place) and 9:51 (in just two attempts). While McQuistan is the headliner, Christophe (Taylor) Widwick (2:03, 4:48), Michael Golus (2:03, 4:49) and Roman Urbom (2:08, 4:50) had productive track seasons, and they teamed up with McQuistan to finish 8^th in the Class B 4x800 with a time of 8:11. The two other returners are senior Dominic Deaver (46^th, 5:05, 10:57) and sophomore Hunter Mueller (76^th, 2:10, 5:00).

Lincoln Christian had three boys in the top twenty-one finishers including Trevin Opp, the 2024 champion. While Opp (4:33, 9:50) had a strong track season, Nolan Engel (9^th, 9:50) and Shawn Arnold (21^st, 2:03) had a limited racing schedule in the spring. Two other returners had track results similar to Holdrege’s #2-4 men; Andy Carson (58^th, 2:13, 4:49, 11:05) and Amos Glenn (94^th, 2:08, 4:50, 10:42). Emmett Cooley (91^st, 5:42) rounds out the list of returners. Lincoln Christian should add Griffin Opfer, a freshman who finished 21^st at the Junior High State XC meet last year before running 2:13 and 5:11 in the spring.

Gothenburg finished 3^rd in 2024 after winning the Class C titles in 2022 and 2023. The Swedes return two medalists and both could compete for the individual title. Junior Tyler Hetz finished 3^rd last year, set PRs of 2:02, 4:26 and 9:35 in the spring and finished 6^th in the Class B 1600. Bryson Neels finished 12^th as a freshman, qualified for State in the 800, and had PRs of 1:58 and 4:27 (third fastest 1600 of all returners behind Hetz and Nolan Gartner of Syracuse). Their third returner, Carson Reiman, finished 59^th at State before running a 2:05 split at State to help the Swedes finish 7^th in the Class B 4x800. The fourth returner is Jackson Reidy, who finished 104^th in 2024 and who ran a 2:25 and 5:34 in the spring. Of note, the Gothenburg junior high program is always strong, and the top four finishers from the Swedes 16^th place team (out of 38) are now freshmen who may join the XC team. They include Landen Feather (73^rd of 318 finishers at JH State XC, 2:27, 5:12), Ryun Tonniges (111^th, 2:37, 5:41), Jade Most (139^th, 2:30) and Kamron Hecox (151^st, 1:02, 2:28).

Like Holdrege, Lincoln Christian and Gothenburg, Syracuse also returns two medalists in Dayton Graves (5^th in 2024, 4:29, 9:57) and Nolan Gartner (13^th). Gartner might have had the best spring of any returner after his 49.76 (3^rd at Class C State), 1:54 (1^st at State) and a post-season 4:26 (converted) at Midwest Night of the Stars. The other four returners are Xavier Apel (37^th, 53.04, 2:04 split on 3^rd-place 4x800 team), Elliot Harden (52^nd, 2:10, 4:59), Nate Wemhoff (85^th, sprinter) and Isaac Hestermann (88^th, no T&F results). The Rockets finished 3^rd in the Open division at the Junior High State meet with two 8^th graders finishing 2^nd and 3^rd for the team. They are Barrett Schmidt (37^th, 5:35 in limited spring racing) and Nate McWilliams (40^th, 2:26 split).

Fort Calhoun returns the top four boys from last year’s 5^th-place team. While they don’t have a prior medalist, they do have depth with Chris Post-WhiteOwl (27^th, 2:05), Merritt Olberding (29^th, 2:09, 5:05), William Dennis (35^th, 2:01, 4:58) and Seth Waters (48^th, 1:57). Fort Calhoun’s junior high team finished 7^th in the Open division at the State XC meet, so they may add Paxtyn Wagner (39^th, 2:35, 5:44) and Mavrick Donahoe (47^th, 1:06, 5:27).

There are a number of teams that are not expected to be in the top three this season but do have boys who should be in the mix this season:

· Avery Carter, a senior at Milford, has qualified for all six State XC and T&F meets in his career. He was the runner-up in 2024 after finishing 4^th in 2023. He ran 4:32 (just off his 4:31 PR) and a PR of 9:50 during the spring. I’d expect him to be in the top five again this year.

· Haven Hauxwell, a senior at Chase County, also has two State XC medals after finishing 4^th in 2024 and 9^th in 2023. He improved his track PRs by 8-9 seconds with times of 4:33 and 10:02 this spring.

· Payton Day of Omaha Concordia earned the first State XC medal of his career by finishing 7^th in 2024. He set PRs of 1:58 and 4:31 during the spring and ran a 10:25 in his one 3200 race.

· Koang Deng, a junior at Cozad, finished 10^th last year in his first State meet, running a season-best 17:07, before setting PRs of 4:47 and 10:21 in the spring. He appears to be in fine form going into this season; Koang’s athletic.net profile reflects a 16:58 5k road race during a July cross country camp.

· Miles Clausen won seven of his first eight races last fall, never losing to a Class C competitor, and he climbed to 7^th in our pre-State rankings. He didn’t quite have the State meet he was expecting, finishing 23^rd, but he came back with a vengeance in the spring. He dropped his 1600 PR by 40 seconds from the prior year, and finished the track season with PRs of 2:03, 4:29 and 9:52. Those last two marks were good for 7^th and 6^th place, respectively, at the Class C State meet. Look for Miles to challenge for a top-ten finish.

· Palmyra did not qualify for State last fall, missing a berth by 6 points, but the team returns two boys who excelled during track season. Gannon Hubbard (25^th in 2024, 2:05, 4:34, 10:03) and Owen Ramaekers (36^th, 2:03, 4:31, 10:24) should both be medal contenders. The team’s path to a State berth doesn’t get any easier this fall since they’re still in the same District as Syracuse, Lincoln Christian and Lincoln Lutheran, although Lincoln Lutheran graduated three of their top four runners. Palmyra’s next two returners from Districts, Kaden Moody (5:09, 10:44) and Grady Vasa (54.6, 2:06, 5:03) both made significant improvements during track season, so the Panthers should challenge LL for that final berth.

· Brenden Bolling of Pierce had quite a junior year, winning the Class C 150-pound title in wrestling before running 51.88, 1:55 (6^th at Class B State) and 4:32 in the spring. He’s joined the cross country team for his senior year and should be a medal favorite, if for no other reason than the mental toughness he’s developed in wrestling. He joins junior Kendall Shada, who finished 34^th at State XC last and has PRs of 2:08, 4:46 and 10:25. Kyle Abler also qualified for State XC last year and ran 5:59 and 11:15 in the spring. Pierce last qualified as a team in 2021 but they should have a good chance this year with Bolling’s addition.

· Trevin Huskey of JCC did not qualify for the 2024 State meet but finished 13^th in Class C at Burke with a 10:11 PR. That puts him into medal play if he carries that momentum into the fall.

· Jack Steinbach, a sophomore at DC West, missed State XC by three spots last season after finishing 18^th in a tough District. He ran 4:39 and 10:06 this spring and finished 17^th in the Class B 3200. He had four 3200’s under 10:20 during the spring so look for consistent results from him this fall.

· Among incoming freshman, look for the following boys to be competitive: Javier Perales of Minden (4^th at JH State XC, 2:23, 5:07), Will Kaczor of Malcolm (13^th at JH State XC, 2:17, 5:18), Owen Ericson of Boys Town (14^th at JH State XC, 5:03), Yanathan Perez of Wood River (2:20, 5:05) and Quin Armstrong of North Bend Central (2:10, 5:16).

Team predictions

The Class C coaches will issue five or six polls during the season. As is our custom, we only issue one team ranking, and that is our pre-season prediction. You’ll notice we’re not straying far from the 2024 results, but we do think the 31-point gap between 1^st and 4^th will be even smaller this year.

1. Holdrege

2. Lincoln Christian

3. Gothenburg

4. Syracuse

5. Palmyra

Individual rankings

We’ll post our preseason rankings on the Rankings tab at www.preprunningnerd.com, and we’ll update them almost every week during the season.

Errors and omissions

Our season previews are based on prior results and an assumption that underclassmen competing at State in 2024 will run again this year. If you’re aware of an error in the article above, or have information on an impactful runner not listed above, please email jayslagle@hotmail.com so we can determine whether the article should be updated. Our goal as volunteers is to be a resource for fans of Nebraska high school country, but we readily acknowledge that we need feedback from followers and coaches to provide accurate information.

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Originally written and published in August 2025 at www.preprunningnerd.com.

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