Contributor: The Nerd
There are so many races today that it's easier to summarize them in one post instead of a bunch of tweets:
Metro conference, Papillion South
Class A #1 Gabe Hinrichs and #3 Sam Kirchner went out hard but Hinrichs had a sizable lead by 2000 meters. He won in 15:31, a new course record, topping the 15:33 set by Joe Harter of Millard West in 2012, as well as beating Seth Hirsch's Metro 2015 meet record of 15:42. Kirchner of Millard West cruised to second place in 16:14. Unranked Evan Liewer of Gretna had a five-meter lead over #5 Piercze Marshall with 300 to go, and then extended it with Liewer finishing in 16:21 and Marshall in 16:25. #8 Cole Haith was the third Millard West runner in the top 5 with 16:34 and watch list Luke Johnson of Elkhorn South continued his great season with a 6th in 16:38.
On the girls side, Class A #2 Jaci Sievers of Elkhorn South had gapped the field by 2000 meters, followed by Westside's #4 Claire White running alone in 2nd, and then Millard West's #7 Isabelle Hartnett alone in 3rd. They were followed by a pack of Reese Young-Oestmann, Noelle Abels, #10 Molly Caruso and #15 Isabelle Bricker. Sievers pushed hard to the finish, running 18:58 to break 19:00 for the third time this year. White finished in 19:17 and Hartnett in 20:02. Caruso won a tight race for 4th in 20:07 followed by Young-Oestmann in 20:11 and a hard-closing Oliva Rosenthal of Papio South in 20:12.
Of note, Class A #5 Deavion Deleon of Papio South did not run. Pre-season watch list Zack Schulz of Millard North made his season debut after incurring a stress fracture over the summer, finishing 24th in 17:25. Class A #6 Colby Erdkamp of Gretna did not run at UNK last week due to a sprained ankle, and he finished 33rd today in 17:47.
HAC, Kearney
This meet had no shortage of ranked runners, which is usually the case at the HAC meet. Class A #1 Ellie Dahl, who ran her season-best of 18:22 at a table-flat Augustana Twilight meet, ran the challenging UNK course in 18:32. #3 Mia Murray of Lincoln East was 2nd in 18:46, matching her time from last week's LPS meet, and #6 Brianna Rinn of LSW was 3rd in 19:12. Watch-list Kennedy Bartee of Lincoln High continued her impressive season with a 19:41 for 4th, edging #12 Izzy Apel of Lincoln East in 19:44. Lincoln East had girls finish 2/5/7/9/10 to win with 33 points over Fremont's 51. These two teams are expected to fight for the State title.
We expected to see a great battle between #2 Daniel Romary of Lincoln Northeast and #4 Isaac Ochoa of Norfolk, and they did not disappoint. Romary won in 16:02, just off his season best of 15:52 from the flat Kearney Meadowlark course, and Ochoa was 2nd in 16:03, five seconds slower than his season-best of 15:58 at Yankton. #9 Juan Garcia of GI was 3rd in 16:17, and #12 Carter Waters and #10 Braden Taylor of Fremont both finished in 16:21. Fremont placed five boys in the top 10 and won with 33 points; Lincoln East continued its strong season with a 2nd place finish and 79 points, led by Joe Volkmer's 7th-place finish.
EMC conference, Boystown
Results: https://timerhub.com/get_web_index.php?page=blacksquirrelresults.com/LIVE/21EMCConferenceXC/
Norris won both team titles and both individual titles at this meet. Riley Boonstra backed up his Class B #1 ranking with a 17:00 and a 19-second win over #14 Dawson Fricke of Blair. Watch-list Zach Pittman of Norris was third in 17:28 and Watch-list Kai Olbrich of Bennington was 4th in 17:31.
On the girls side, Class B #3 Kendall Zavala and #7 Ellie Thomas, teammates at Norris, continued to have a close finish, with Zavala in 20:08 and Thomas in 20:10. #4 Gabriela Calderon of Bennington was 3rd in 20:19 and #15 Britt Prince was 4th in 20:27.
Capital Conference, Arlington
Class C #1 Keeli Greeen remains undefeated at winning the conference title in 18:50, her second sub-19:00 effort this year. C #13 Danie Parriott of Conestoga was 2nd in 20:22, #12 Hailey O'Daniel of Arlington was 3rd in 20:39, and #6 Olivia Malousek was 4th in 20:49.
For the boys, Arlington's Nolan May continued his hot streak and will keep his #4 ranking with a 17:02 win. C #14 Ely Olberding of Fort Calhoun was 2nd in 17:12 while his twin Lance (Watch list) picked up 3rd in 17:22. Their teammate, #8 Jacob Rupp, was 4th in 17:24 and #12 Parker Gaston of DC West was 5th in 17:31.
Mid-States conference, Pierce
Class D#1 Jordyn Arens of Crofton continued her undefeated season on Nebraska soil, winning easily in 19:13 (I'm scheduled to interview her next Monday). Class C #15 Callie Arnold was second in 20:40. Class C defending champ Alexus Sindelar of Pierce, whom I was reliably informed was out of the season due to a spring knee injury - and who I think I saw at the UNK meet in a restrictive knee brace - finished an eye-popping 3rd in 20:44. Class C Watch-list Kyla Krusemark of Wayne was 4th in 20:59.
Norfolk Catholic's Ben Hammond, ranked #9 in Class D, won the boys' title in 17:25, followed by Class C Watch-list Jesus Zavala of Wayne in 17:31. D #13 Trey Foecking of Norfolk Catholic was 3rd in 17:36, while O'Neill's Brady Thompson was 4th in 17:39.
Trailblazer Conference, Wahoo
Class B #13 Olivia Lawrence captured the title in 20:21, followed by Natalie Briggs of Plattsmouth in 20:42 and Lydia Steward of Platteview in 20:49.
Class B Watch-list AJ Raszler completed Platteview's helped sweep the individual titles with a 17:23 win, followed by Carter Moss of Plattsmouth in 17:31 and Sabir Musa of Nebraska City in 17:39.
Central Conference, York
Class B #2 Kassidy Stuckey, whom I will interview on Sunday, won the conference title in 19:55. Class B Watch-list Lexie Lilienthal of Northwest was 2nd in 21:03, B #14 Marisol Deanda of Schuyler third in 21:04 and Class C #14 of Elena Kuehner was 4th in 21:11.
Class C #2 Luke Bonifas of Adams Central won a competitive race in 16:41, followed by Lexington's Ian Salazar, ranked 9th in B, in 17:04. B #3 Colin Pinneo of York was 3rd in 17:09 and Nathan Nottingham from Seward was 4th in 17:10. Lexington had boys finish 2/5/6/7/8 to easily win the team title.
McCool Junction Invite
Class D #11 Peyton Gerken of McCool Junction takes the win in 21:14, followed by Lacey Schmidt of Deshler in 22:47 and Jadon Hess of McCool Junction in 23:01. Class D #14 Trent Neville of McCool Junction won the boys race in 17:54, followed by D Watch-list Wes Havelka of Freeman in 17:11 and Watch-list Jake Brugger of McJ in 18:43.
SPVA, Perkins County
Class D #4 Jarrett Miles of NP St. Pat's wins by a large margin in 17:23, followed by D #8 Coulton Pouk of Perkins County in 18:07 and Dax Connick of NPSP in 18:27.
Class D #9 Kate Stienike gave NPSP a second title with a 21:42, edging freshman teammate Braelyn Gifford in 21:45. Jordan Jablonski of Chase County was 3rd in 22:42.
Sidney Invite
On the far west side of the state, a group of very good runners fought it out at the Sidney Invite. Class A #11 Evan Caudy of North Platte won the boys' race in 17:11, followed by Sidney teammates Class C #7 Daniel Bashtovoi in 17:38 and #3 Cameron Brauer in 18:12.
On the girls side, North Platte's Class A #9 Zarah Blaesi and #8 Marissa Holm finished in 20:41 and 20:51, reversing their order from the UNK Invite. Sidney's Talissa Tanquary, ranked 3rd in Class C, was 3rd in 21:52.
RPAC, Bertrand
Class D #7 Damin Luedke of Paxton wins the RPAC title with a 17:35, followed by Griffin Stemper of Alma/So. Valley in 18:47 and Marcus Hernandez of Bertrand in 19:01.
Mariah Gardner of Wallace wins the girls title in 22:14, followed by Class D Watch-list Rachel Harris of Cambridge in 22:31 and Ashley Robertson of Alma/So. Valley in 22:37.
SWC, McCook
There was no shortage of talent at the SWC meet, with at least 11 athletes either ranked or on the Nerd Watch list. McCook's Class B #1 Samantha Rodewald, who told me last night that her home course is her least favorite course, won the title in 20:32. Class C #10 Jessie Hurt of Minden was 2nd in 20:53, and D #6 Katherine Kerrigan and #5 Emma Kennedy of Ainsworth were 3rd and 4th in 21:09 and 21:26, respectively. Class C #9 Mallory Applegate of Cozad was 5th in 21:0, followed by C Watch-list Karyn Burkholder of Cozad in 22:08 and C Watch-list Makinley Tobey of Broken Bow in 22:29.
The boys' race also featured a top-ranked runner. Class D #1 Ty Schlueter of Ainsworth won the SWC title in 17:21, followed by three Class C Watch-list athletes: Ethan Olsen of Gothenburg in 18:04, Noah Osmond of Broken Bow in 18:18 and Cooper Land of Minden in 18:23. Minden's Konner Verbeck also finished in 18;23, and Class C #5 Daine Wardyn of Broken Bow was 6th in 18:26.
EHC, North Bend
Class D #12 Chaney Nelson of Oakland Craig wins the EHC title in 20:45, followed by D Watch-list Kairece Morris of Pender in 21:02 and Sydney Emanuel of North Bend Central in 22:08.
Class D #6 Abraham Larson of Stanton wins the boys' title followed by teammate and D #11 Kolter Van Pelt in 17:29. Edward Pena of West Point Beemer is 3rd in 17:41.
SNC, Thayer Central
Class C #5 Lilly Kenning wins the SNC title in 21:00, followed by Sydney Escritt of Thayer Central in 22:021 and Hallie Verhage of Fillmore Central in 22:18.
Milford sweeps the top four spots of the SNC boys' race for a perfect score. Class C #8 Kaleb Eickhoff wins in 17:08 followed by C #15 Elliott Reitz, Maddox Baack in 17:35 and Carter Roth in 17:36. Milford appears to be rounding into the form that has them ranked 2nd in State by the coaches.
Frontier Conference, Swanson Park (Bellevue)
The Frontier course appeared to measure long - at least 5100 meters if not more, and that was reflected in the results. Class D #15 Justin Sherman of Cornerstone Christian captured the conference title in 20:22, just edging Nicholas Milner of Heartland Christian in 20:27. Ashton Hughes of Corner Christian was 3rd in 21:20.
For the girls, Class D Watch-list Brekyn Kok of Cornerstone Christian won in 24:40, followed by Reece Quinlivan of Boystown in 25:46 and Grace Steinmetz of Heartland Christian in 26:00.