Class D boys season preview

jayslagle
Aug 24
9 min read

Updated: Sep 3

Contributor: The Nerd

2024 State teams (max possible returners in 2025)

1. 28 Perkins County (4 of 5)

2. 28 North Platte St. Patrick's (4)

3. 46 Nebraska Christian (4)

4. 47 Cornerstone Christian (3)

5. 59 Freeman (3)

6. 66 Tri County (5)

7. 67 Doniphan-Trumbull (4)

8. 70 Bertrand/Loomis (1)

9. 84 Norfolk Catholic (4)

10. 91 Boyd County (4)

11. 97 Hemingford (4)

12. 101 Homer (4)

13. 113 Ponca (3 of 3)

14. 127 Creighton (4)

15. 148 South Loup (top 3)

16. 157 McCool Junction (2)

17. 172 Alma (4)

18. 194 Elkhorn Valley (3)

Top 50 returners and notable 2025 track results

2 Elijah Goodell, 11, Perkins County 2:02, 4:24 (2^nd C), 9:25 (2^nd C)

3 Kaser Johnson, 11, Doniphan-Trumbull 2:06, 4:29, 9:51 (4^th D)

4 Jacob Swanson, 12, Nebraska Christian 2:07, 4:33 (3^rd D), 9:58 (1^st D)

5 Colton Ham, 11, NP St. Patrick's 4:28 (4^th C), 9:47 (4^th C)

6 Dimitri Pettit, 12, NP St. Patrick's 2:02, 4:48

9 Samuel Holsing, 11, Tri County 1:59, 4:32, 9:41 (5^th C)

10 Andrew Kastl, 10, Norfolk Catholic 4:45, 10:13

12 Sullivan Jackson, 11, Cornerstone Christian 5:15, 10:33

14 Benjamin (Will) Nelson, 12, Boyd County 52.74, 1:56 (3^rd C), 4:39

15 Austin Benda, 11, Hemingford 4:49, 10:06

18 Kael Garrett, 12, Medicine Valley 53.09, 2:01 (3^rd D), 4:32 (1st D), 10:09 (2^nd D)

19 Jaiden Anderson, 11, Archangels Catholic 4:59, 10:31 (8^th D)

20 Cade Hays, 10, Bertrand/Loomis 5:28, 11:25

22 Gannon Pfister, 11, Ponca 4:37, 10:13

23 Emmanuel Muthiani, 11, Freeman 25.16, 55.85, 2:06

25 Carter Trambly, 12, Franklin 5:08, 10:55

28 Hector Bonilla Betancou, 12, Wood River (limited T&F)

30 Luke Powell, 11, Nebraska Christian 2:06, 4:46 (6^th D), 10:38

31 Ethan Zeisler, 12, Boyd County 5:07, 10:34

33 Carter Fritz, 10, Centennial 5:04, 11:05

38 Drew Siems, 12, Tri County 2:02, 4:43

39 Aayden Harris, 12, Homer (hurdles)

40 Broderick Hogan, 11, Ponca 2:10, 5:09, 10:57

41 Connor Sutton, 12, Sandhills 23.58, 52.55, 2:02 (7^th D) – 9 second PR from 2024

42 Micah Cuevas, 12, NG/SE 2:05, 4:40, 10:12

43 Everett Hunnicutt, 12, Nebraska Christian 4:53, 10:41

44 Henry Kapke, 12, Tri County 53.68, 2:02

45 Max Hanson, 11, Wallace 2:11, 4:57, 10:42

46 Jessup Snowball, 11, Homer 2:05

48 Jaden Baker, 10, South Loup 5:12, 11:37

49 Charles Steffen, 12, Crofton 24.44, 55.59, HJ/LJ

50 Tobin Klassen, 11, Cornerstone Christian 4:50, 10:15

We have four changes in classifications that impact Class D. 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 D teams are allowed to run up to five athletes at Districts and State, and the placement of the top three athletes is used to calculate a team’s point title.

The 2024 meet has more than its share of drama. After Creighton Prep won the Class A title 2023 on a tiebreaker last year, Perkins County denied North Platte St. Patrick’s repeat and won its first State XC title by having a faster non-scorer than NPSP.

Two-time defending champion Mason McGreer of Perkins County has graduated, but life doesn’t get much easier for Class D competitors. His teammate Eli Goodell enters his junior season as an early favorite: he’s finished second at State XC the past two years and was 2^nd behind Mason in the Class C 1600 (4:24) and 3200 (9:25) in May. His 3200 PR is twenty-two seconds better than the rest of the field. Perkins County also returns junior Ethan Swesey, who finished 62^nd at State XC but was one of only six Class D XC boys to run sub-10:00 this spring, as well as junior Logan Berry (5:03 PR). Senior Cooper Kroeker wasn’t on the State squad but logged over 300 miles this summer (the Nerd knows these things) after running 2:12, 5:01 and 11:23 in the spring. As good as Perkins County is this year, they might be even better when current 8^th grader Andrew Goodell enters high school. Andrew’s seventh-grade marks are running ahead of what brother Eli recorded.

Kaser Johnson of Doniphan-Trumbull also had an impressive spring, running PRs of 2:06, 4:29 and 9:51. He’s finished 6^th and 3^rd in his first two State XC meets, and we will not be surprised to see him challenging Eli. Kaser loses his training partner Tice Yost to graduation but the team returns Bladen Rainforth, Rylen Soundy and Jacob Zakrzewski.

Jacob Swanson (Nebraska Christian) and Kaser Johnson (Doniphan-Trumbull)

Jacob Swanson of Nebraska Christian has finished 5^th, 4^th and 4^th at the State XC meet. He’s been one of the most consistent Class D runners over the past three years, only finishing lower than 5^th twice in his 20+ high school meets. He’s also entering the fall with serious momentum after he won the Class D 3200 in 10:07 (his first State title) and finished 3^rd in the 1600 with a 4:38. Jacob is joined by three other returners: senior Luke Powell (6^th in the 1600 in 4:46), senior Evan Hunnicutt (4:53, 10:41), and sophomore Tucker Schreiber, who competed in sprints and hurdles this spring.

Speaking of momentum, Kael Garrett of Medicine Valley had an exceptional Class D State track meet. He finished 3^rd in the 800, 1^st in the 1600 and 2^nd in the 3200, which might have blunted his disappointment of just missing a medal last fall. Look for Kael to be in the mix for a top-three finish.

North Platte St. Patrick’s has been in the teeth of the competition the past four years, finishing 4^th in 2021, 2^nd in 2022 and 2024, and winning in 2023. Junior Colton Ham is looking for his third medal after finishing 10^th and 5^th the past two years. He had an outstanding track season, running PRs of 4:28 (1600) and 9:47 (3200) to finish 4^th at the Class C State meet. His senior teammate Dimitri Pettit is also looking for a third medal after finishing 11^th and 6^th; he had PRs of 2:02 and 4:48 in the spring. They should both challenge for top-five finishes, so NPSP will be looking for a third scorer who can finish in the top thirty.

Sammy Holsing of Tri County had a strong sophomore season, finishing 9^th at State XC followed by PRs of 1:59, 4:32 and 9:51 during track season. He’ll be joined by freshman Dawson Siems, who finished eighth at the Junior High State XC meet before running 2:16 and 5:02 this spring. Dawson would be a nice addition to the Tri County squad that finished 6^th at 2024 State and potentially returns all five qualifiers. Those returners include senior Drew Siems (38^th at State XC, 2:02/4:43 in the spring), senior Henry Kapke (44^th, 53.58/2:02), senior Ethan Rosenthal (56^th, 5:10, 11:22) and sophomore Devon Rasmussen (75^th, 2:08, 4:54, 10:32).

Norfolk Catholic returns four boys from its 9^th-place team, led by sophomore Andrew Kastl (10^th, 4:45, 10:13). Freshman Teddy Haake should make a quick impact; he finished 11^th at the Junior State XC meet and his 4:51 at the Gothenburg State T&F meet was the third-fastest 1600 by a Nebraska 8^th grader this spring. By our estimation, less than 30 boys competing in Class D ran a faster 1600 time this spring. Norfolk Catholic also returns three seniors who finished 78^th, 79^th and 80^th at State XC last fall - Blaise Kann (2:10, 4:54, 11:34), Zachary Foecking (2:19, 5:22) and Omar Contreras (2:21, 5:31) - as well as senior Jonah Ash (16th at Districts, 4:47, 10:22).

Sullivan Jackson (Cornerstone Christian)

Cornerstone Christian won the 2022 Class D title, was 7^th in 2023 and 4^th last year. They return Sullivan Jackson (12^th, 5:15, 10:33), Tobin Klassen (50^th, 4:50, 10:15) and Benjamin Gutz (59^th, 5:13, 11:27). Cornerstone has an excellent junior high track program so I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two freshman challenge for a varsity spot.

Will Nelson (listed as Benjamin in the 2024 State XC results) of Boyd County was on our watch list for the entire 2024 season (as Will) before finishing 14^th at State (as Benjamin). Posing as Will, he had a great track season, highlighted by his 3^rd-place finish in the Class C 800. Boyd County also returns senior Ethan Zeisler (31^st, 5:07, 10:34), senior Brook Strom (87^th, 5:25, hurdles) and Issac Jensen (114^th, 55.59, 2:09).

Austin Benda of Hemingford took the last medal in 2024 after finishing 46^th in 2023 as a freshman. He had a strong spring, running PRs of 4:49 and 10:06; by our estimation, he appears to have the 7^th-fastest 3200 time of the field this fall. Hemingford also returns seniors Keirith Yale (97^th, 2:17) and Cody Penaluna (123^rd, 2;53, 5:59) and sophomore Kaiden Casey (118^th, 2:21, 6:25), all of whom will need to make big strides if Hemingford is to improve upon their 11^th-place finish in 2024.

Other athletes to watch:

· Conner Rohr of Creighton has finished 58^th, 26^th and 52^nd in his first three State meets. He had the best track season of his career last spring, running PRs of 4:35 and 10:18, and he finished 4^th at State in the Class D 1600 and 3^rd in the 3200. By our count, he’s got the 7^th-fastest 1600 in the field and should be a solid medal contender.

· Seniors Hayden Karr of Silver Lake and Conrad Kaminski of Kimball didn’t qualify for State XC last fall but their spring results suggest they’re in the hunt this year. Karr ran 2:11 and 4:50, finishing 10^th in the Class D 1600, while Kaminski ran 4:52 and 10:42 and qualified for State in both events.

· After finishing 58^th at State XC last fall, Parker Wellnitz of Hays Spring had a breakout track season, lowering his 3200 PR by 29 seconds to 10:27, good for 7^th place at State. He may be joined by freshman Arian Mata, who finished 17^th at the Junior High State meet and then ran 2:13 and 4:56 in the spring. Arian recorded the fifth-fastest 1600 among all Nebraska 8^th graders during track season. Hays Spring did not qualify as a team in 2024 but they have a good chance if Parker and Arian run well.

· Hayden Jansen, a junior at Freeman, is running cross country this season after playing football his first two years. He finished 6^th in Class C in the 800 with a 1:58. Freeman finished 5^th last season but lost their 1^st and 3^rd finishers. Their chances to qualify for State improve dramatically with Jansen’s addition. The team may return Emmanuel Muthiani (23^rd, 25.16, 55.85, 2:06), Beau Miller (99^th, 5:39) and Luke Van Cott (105^th, 54.96, 2:14).

· Freshman Davis Rutjens of Elkhorn Valley ran 2:15 and 4:58 as an 8^th grader, and his athletic.net profile reflects three sub-5:00 1600s in four attempts last spring. If he runs XC, he would join a squad returning three athletes from the 2024 State meet: juniors Evan Decker (93^rd) and Landon Rutjens (119^th, 5:36, 12:11) and sophomore Abe Johnson (112^th, 5:29, 11:46). Look for Elkhorn Valley to improve up on their 18^th-place finish in 2025.

Our preseason picks

The Class D coaches will issue periodic rankings during the season but this is our pre-season projection based on the information above:

1. Perkins County

2. Nebraska Christian

3. North Platte St. Patrick’s

4. Tri County

5. Norfolk Catholic

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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