Nerdsletter 9/23/26
Contributor: The Nerd
Parents, play your role
I attended 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 - whether it's about not walking or the necessity to run faster - come from a place of love, but I suspect that they aren't necessarily received that way.
Distance running is not a sport that typically leads to lucrative professional contracts; I'd guess that fewer than 200 American distance runners earn enough through running-related income to not have an additional job. The odds improve for those simply wanting to land a roster spot on a collegiate team, particularly as a walk-on, and I suspect that nearly all committed high school distance runners could compete at some level of college if they explored all of their possibilities.
So if kids aren't going to get rich from running, why do it? In my opinion, the biggest benefits from running are improved physical and mental health, particularly for hormone-ravaged teenagers. Several studies have documented lower rates of depression and anxiety among distance runners, although those benefits quickly dissipate when a person takes a prolonged break from running. The benefits continue to exist as long as someone runs, and most of you know fit and happy lifelong runners. One of the reasons Prep Running Nerd exists is to convince students that distance running is 'cool,' and then get them to fall in love with the sport.
For most students, junior high XC/TF is the gateway drug into distance running. If they have a good experience through positive coaching, gradual improvement and supportive teammates, they're more likely to run at the high school level. If they run all four years of high school, they'll develop better self-discipline and will be surrounded by other kids making healthy choices. If they have a good high school experience, running may become a default hobby for them during or after college.
To be sure, some junior high kids want to be challenged, and they'll excel when the adults around them push the right buttons. However, the kids new to running may be more successful if we lead with compassion and support.
The key, then, is to make their junior high experience an enjoyable one. It shouldn't be about medals, although we fully support recognition of high achievers. There shouldn't be a dictum against walking; regular walking breaks are often the best tool for novice runners (or old ones like me) to extend their mileage, particularly during practice. If you scream, scream that they're doing something great. It's our job to give them the grace and space to enjoy the sport and to improve themselves on their timeline rather than ours.
Here's an example. My oldest son had most of the physical advantages of puberty by the time he turned fourteen. He ran extremely well during eighth grade and rolled onto his high school varsity team without missing a step. Conversely, my youngest son didn't hit his growth spurt until he was a high school junior. As an 8th grader he had the 99th fastest time at the JH State cross country meet. His junior high coaches didn't push him; they simply encouraged him to enjoy running. he kept running, and his times got progressively faster during high school. Despite his slow start, he had a rewarding collegiate experience, and as an adult he's shifted his focus to marathons and triathlons.
So what should you do if you're a parent that wants to support your child? Jeremy Haselhorst is the Papio South girls' coach and a certified mental performance mastery coach, and two years ago I asked him that exact question. He wrote this article that may be helpful to you.
Eyes up!
Every runner has a 'natural' way to run, and improving an athlete's running efficiency is a prolonged process that is often best led by a certified coach. The one piece of helpful advice on running form that I routinely hear on the course is "Eyes up," a phrase I've heard former Creighton coach Chris Gannon say dozens of times. This week I asked him why "Eyes up" is a useful cue for running form. His response:
When eyes or head are facing down,
a) We instinctively shorten our stride because our field of vision has shrunk;
b) We can't navigate as easily towards a goal ahead of us, and there is a sizable body of academic research that shows how field of vision impacts performance;
c) A head-down posture makes it more challenging to breathe;
d) A head-down posture triggers psychologically-negative tendencies.
From a figurative standpoint, Coach Gannon also believes the "eyes up" mantra is a reminder (e) that what's ahead of us is more important than what's behind us and (f) eyes toward heaven can be a powerful force for runners of faith.
Two meets and an Olympian
If you're a distance running fan, October 23rd and 24th may be the best weekend of your year. Here is your itinerary:
Friday, 10/23, 12:00 State meet at the Kearney Country Club
Sat, 10/24, 10:45 Blazing Tiger NAIA meet at Mahoney State Park
Sat, 10/24, 1:00 FCA XC clinic at Bellevue University featuring Olympian Jim Ryun
For the youngsters in the room, Jim Ryun is a Wichita native who became the first American high schooler to break the four-minute mile barrier. He first ran 3:59.0 as a junior, and then 3:55.30 as a senior to win the AAU Championship ahead of Olympic gold medalist Peter Snell. He set the world record of 1:44.9 in the half-mile and 3:51.3 in the mile as a 19-year-old, and he won the NCAA indoor and outdoor mile four times while at KU. He competed in the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics, winning silver in the 1500 in 1968.
After a post-competitive career that included hosting camps and giving motivational speeches, Jim served in the US House of Representatives from 1996 to 2006.
His Christian faith has been an important part of Jim's life story, and the Omaha chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is sponsoring the three-hour event. The cross country clinic will also include presentations by former NAIA athlete Aaron Yoder, former UNO runner Lily Jackson, and triathlete Lincoln Murdoch. Admission is free but pre-registration at this link is required so the event has adequate seating.
I've been offered the opportunity to interview Jim in the next few weeks, so I'll be publishing that interview prior to the clinic.
To Burke or not to Burke
Stu Pospisil of the Omaha World Herald reported that the September 17th meeting of the NSAA Board of Directors included a closed-door session regarding the contract for the 2027 State track meet. He subsequently reported that the NSAA board intends to work towards finalizing another one-year contract for Burke Stadium for the 2027 meet.
Stu's posts on X started a discussion of whether the State meet should be moved to the new UNL facility. With UNL's track stadium located adjacent to the Devaney Center, the facility offers far more onsite parking than Burke Stadium. However, there are other considerations:
Attendance: The NSAA reported that 26,172 fans attended the four-day meet in 2026.
Capacity: The Omaha Visitors Center website indicates that Burke Stadium has permanent seating capacity for 8,000 people in addition to seating on the hills next to the grandstands.
From what I can tell from the Internet, the UNL facility's current capacity is 2,500. That seems about right based on pictures of the facility.
The UNL stadium is awesome, but it's currently not built for huge crowds. The grandstand seating is the most dense near the finish line, while the area lining the start of the homestretch is primarily taken up by a building. More than half of the seating capacity is the metal seating on the first curve and on the backstretch. The parking lot on the south end of the track could be removed to add seating on the second curve, but that end zone seating isn't great for track meets.
I've been attending collegiate track meets for the past eight years, and here's something that most people don't expect; there are often more spectators at a small high school meet than at most college meets. The Big 10 meet in May was arguably the best track meet ever held in Nebraska, and there were plenty of seats available, with virtually no one sitting in the backstretch bleachers.
The UNL T&F operations team is brilliant at what they do, and I'm certain they could design more capacity. I'm not sure the UNL athletic department would want to pay for the larger stadium. My AI program says it would cost a minimum of $5 million to add 5,000 seats. If you add 5,000 seats, you also have to add more bathrooms, concessions and support areas. So... adding seats won't be cheap. With so many financial pressures to field a winning football team, most universities are not prioritizing Olympic sports like track and field.
If the UNL facility were to add seating, the backstretch would be the logical choice but... the backstretch abuts Antelope Creek, with an access road barely squeezed in between the existing seating and the creek. I assume that engineers could figure out how to use part of the creek land, but it might come at a high cost.
Drake Stadium has a capacity of 14,557. The Rock Chalk Park track stadium in Lawrence has a capacity of 7,543 but can add 3,000 temporary seats. Hayward Field in Eugene, which often hosts the NCAA championships and Olympic Trials, can seat 10,500. Would it make sense for UNL to dramatically expand the stadium for just four days per year? I don't know the answer.
Middle School Monday
Each Monday we're shouting out junior high kids who had great performances last week. Our highlighted athletes were:
James Wallace of Westside MS won the Liberty JH meet in 11:02, while Emi Mandago led the girls with her 12:21.
Boyd County swept the individual titles at the Neligh-Oakdale meet, with cousins Gage Schochenmaier (9:05) and Baleigh Koenig (9:38) winning their races.
Erick Mendez-Jimenez of Shelton won the large Minden meet in 10:45, while Fitzgerald Shipp of Kearney Sunrise took the girls’ title in 11:43, edging Quynn Andrews of Shelton by one second.
Mitchell swept the top three spots at the Run the Rocks meet in Bridgeport, with Henry Policky getting the 3K title in 10:59. Mitchell also had the top two finishers in the girls’ race, led by Paizlee Thomas in 12:36.
Josie Troester, a 7th-grader at O’Neill, won her home meet by 40 seconds in 10:17, while Blake Hansmeyer of Ainsworth won the boys’ title in 8:30.
On Saturday in Lincoln in a battle of Saint-named schools, Karter Giles of St. Joseph won in 11:36, but boys from St. Teresa and St. Peter weren’t far behind. On the girls’ side, June Ronhovde of St. John won in 13:09, followed by four seventh-graders from St. Joseph and St. Michael.
At Papio South, St. Margaret Mary swept the individual titles. Louie Smith won in 11:00 followed by PRR winner Giovanni Zotoglo of St. Columbkille in 11:15. Seventh-grader Josie Carey of SMM won the girls' race in 12:43, followed closely by Elana Sova (12:53) and Hazel Osterloh (13:05) of St. Patrick’s-Elkhorn.
Here are a few shout outs that our followers made:
Lainney Moeller, 8th grader from Thayer Central picked up her 4th consecutive 1st place finish this season. Matti Chesley (8th) also picked up her 4th top 5 finish for Thayer Central.
Niobrara Verdigre Jr high girls won their first ever in program history team title at the Neligh-Oakdale meet. They were led by Shaley Mahon in 3rd, Poppy Pease 4th, Tatum Mullanix in 6th and Faith Fuchtmann in 7th.
Gavin Pinneo ran his first race with no walking! He was determined. And a Nerd got a good pic of him showing that!
Ava Zuck, a 6th grader at Giles Creek Middle won the 402 XC meet with a time of 11:25 yesterday. It was her second XC race ever and a solid PR!
Blaine South is running for the first time this year as a 7th grader. He has improved his 3k PR by over two minutes in the first three weeks of the season.
The junior high season finishes with the JH State XC championship at Papio South on October 10 where JH athletes test their fitness against competitors from across the state. You can find out more info at https://jhaselhorst.wixsite.com/nestatejhxc.
Rankings
Each week we issue individual rankings for all four Classes and they can be found at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/week3rankings. This commentary below was included in this week's social media posts.
With many meets canceled last week and a number of teams taking an off week as they shift from late-week races to next Monday's UNK meet, the rankings changes this week are limited. Next week's individual rankings will be posted on Wednesday instead of the normal Tuesday so that we can incorporate head-to-head results from the UNK meet.
Boys
In Class A, 4 of the top 15 boys did not compete last week, and the top six rankings are unchanged. #1 Aiden Gehring of Papio South was the top Class A finisher in 15:40 at a muddy Pioneer Park course, while #2 Liam Gonzalez of Norfolk won his home (and muggy) meet in 15:41 with #3 J'Shawn Afuh in 2nd place in 16:24. The only addition to this week's rankings is Lincoln East's Dylan Linscott, who returns at #9 after finishing 4th at Harold Scott behind the #1, #4 and #7 boys. LSW and Fremont raced at the Heartland Classic in Pella on Saturday, and the meet featured a lightning delay, considerable mud and the consolidation of six races into two. #12 Mitchell Ripley of LSW was the top Nebraska finisher, followed by Logan Nielsen, Jasper Semrad and Aiden Soto of Fremont. Soto remains #15 in the rankings; we're not going to penalize him for finishing behind two teammates on a Tough Mudder course.
Jackson Einspahr of Seward ascends to the #1 spot in Class B after besting last week's A#1 and B#1 boys at Harold Scott; Sam Schlautman of Pius moves to #2. By my count, 7 of the top 15 boys didn't race last week. The Adams Central meet today features 6 ranked boys from Northwest, Beatrice, Lexington and North Platte; I'm particularly interested to see how #4 Carter Ribble, a freshman from Beatrice, performs against his older ranked competitors. (Spoiler alert: he won.) We have no new ranked boys in Class B, and Owen Muma of Norris made the biggest gain, improving from #9 to #7 after being the top Class B finisher at Norfolk. Last week's Fillmore Central meet featured 7 boys ranked in Class C and 3 boys ranked in Class D.
#2 Bryson Neels of Gothenburg won the meet and the rubber match with his teammate Tyler Hetz, and Bryson takes over the #1 spot. Samuel McQuistan of Holdrege slides into #2 after finishing 4th at Harold Scott behind the A#1, B#1 and B#2 and ahead of at least nine other ranked runners from B, C and D. Trevin Opp of Lincoln Christian came off the injured list to make his season debut, finishing behind Neels and Hetz at Fillmore Central. The boys ranked 6th through 12th did not change positions this week. Emmanuel Gonzalez of Wayne is the only new face this week with his debut at #15 after strong performances at Wayne and Sergeant Bluff.
The Ravenna meet last week was a good stress test for our Class D rankings. The top three finishers at that meet - Kaser Johnson of Doniphan-Trumbull, Coltan Ham of NPSP and Dutch Miller of Arcadia-Loup City - continue to be the top three boys in our rankings. Likewise, three ranked boys raced at Fillmore Central, and #8 Sammy Holsing of Tri County, #9 Carter Mierau of McCool Junction and #12 Carter Fritz of Centennial finished in their rankings order. Xander Cardoza of Dundy County-Stratton is the only new boy on the list at #15 after finishing as the top Class D boy at McCook.
Girls
In Class A, 8 of last week's top 15 girls raced at the Harold Scott meet. While A#1 Emily Hegge of Papio South won the race and retains the top spot, the meet led to a reshuffling in the rankings and added two new faces in the rankings. Caitlyn Olsen of Lincoln Southeast and Riley Kreisling of Elkhorn North join at #12 and #14 after finishing as the 6th and 8th Class A girls. #9 Aubrey Anderson of Norfolk and #11 Selah Carson of Bennington were the top two Class A finishers at Norfolk. Jenna Dahl, a freshman at Fremont, joins the rankings at #15 after being the top Nebraska finisher at the Heartland Classic meet on Saturday. Meredith Marsh of LSW finished behind Dahl but we've kept her at #5; the Pella meet featured a lightning delay, heavy mud and a consolidation of six races into two, and we're not going to penalize Meredith for Tough Mudder conditions.
The Harold Scott meet featured 6 ranked runners in Class B. Sophia Reynolds of Hastings affirmed her #1 ranking after finishing as the top Class B girl ahead of #3 Haylen Holliday, #7 Malia Woosley of Pius in Malia's season debut, #12 Sierra Regan of Gretna and #14 Nora Ivanov of Pius. Rinlee Blomstedt of McCook won her home meet to remain at #4, while Natalie Ramirez of Lexington jumped from #15 to #10 after finishing as the 2nd Class B girl at that meet. Jillian Schumacher of Skutt makes her debut at #9 after being the top Class B finisher at Norfolk ahead of #11 Ella Carlson and new #15 Lydia Dominy, both from Norris. With the possible exception of the Pius team, most of the ranked girls should be at the UNK meet next week.
In Class C, #1 Scout Bell won the loaded Fillmore Central invite in 19:19 over at least five ranked runners from Class C and D. #2 Tayla Hurner of Wayne won the Wayne and Sergeant Bluff (IA) meets last week, while #3 Mallory Robbins and her Plattsmouth teammates lost their second meet of the season due to weather. Four other ranked girls did not race this week, limiting the changes in rankings. #5 Addison Hauxwell of Chase County was the top C finisher at McCook, #7 Amelia Buhlke of Central City won the O'Neill meet, and #9 Neva Bauer of Arlington won her home road race just ahead of #10 Emma Williams. We have no additions to the rankings this week but we expect wholesale changes next week when most of Class C congregates at the UNK meet.
In Class D, four of last week's top six girls either did not race or did not finish their race. At the Fillmore Central meet, #3 Leah Dawson was the top D finisher followed by Stella Steele, a freshman at Centennial, who makes her rankings debut at #15. #2 Delani Runnels of Niobrara/Verdigre cruised to an easy victory at Neligh-Oakdale, #7 Aysha Neal of Alma won the Arapahoe title, Shylee Gonzales of Sandhills/Thedford won at Ravenna, and Faith Galvin of LCC won the Pender meet.
Team rankings
The coaches' team rankings for all four Classes were updated this Monday and are available at https://preprunningnerd.com/rankings
Photos
Each week our brave Nerd volunteers head out all over Nebraska - and sometimes even Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas - to provide thousands of free pictures for our followers on our Facebook page. The easiest way to find albums is to go to this Facebook address: https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums. The second easiest way is to go to our website at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/2022 to see the albums we've posted in chronological order. The reason that's the second easiest way is that I don't have time to update the webpage every day, so I can't keep up with the Nerds.
Here are examples of the great photos our Nerds have posted in the past week:
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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 Hassenstab," a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadriplegic after a swimming accident.
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