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WAYNE — Hartington-Newcastle cross country traveled down to the Wayne Country Club to compete in the Wayne Invitational Sept. 11.
The Lady Wildcats finished third in the team race while the Wildcat runners placed fourth.
Pender was the girls’ champion with a perfect four-runner score of 10, Wayne was second with 34 and the Lady Wildcats used 44 points to take third.
The Lady Pendragons swept the top four places with Jala Krusemark winning, Megan Breitbarth second, Kyla Krusemark third and Hadley Walsh fourth.
The top Lady Wildcat finisher was Ava Noecker, who placed seventh.
“I’m happy with where I finished,” Noecker said. “I really want to break 22 minutes, but I haven’t yet — I’ll keep working towards that.”
Noecker ran the 5,000-meter course in 22 minutes, 54.77 seconds, and said she misses the company of her brother, Carson Noecker, who has taken his cross country talents to South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D.
“We ran together all the time; he was with me when I ran my first 5K at around eight years old,” Ava Noecker said. “He was right there every step of the way; sometimes he had to circle back because I got too far behind him. I really miss him.”
Claire Rolfes was right behind Noecker in eighth place and in time, posting a 22:54.92.
A trio of Lady Wildcats were led by Ryell Haug in 17th place.
“I was really impressed with the way Ryell stepped up at the Wayne meet,” HNS coach Mandy Hochstein said. “She finished in the third spot for the team — her summer miles are really paying off.”
Right behind Haug were Carmen Buschkamp in 18th and Isabel Rolfes in 19th. Abby Anderson was 29th.
The Wildcats were still missing their top runner, Cole Rosener, but still managed to get into fourth place in the team standings.
Adam Elks was the first Wildcat to cross the finish mat in 14th; Alex Elks also finished in the top 20 at 18th.
Isaac Hernandez-Santiago was in 28th and Aaron Wortmann was 32nd to round out the Hartington-Newcastle scoring.
Coven Joachimsen was 35th, while Sam Kuehn and Aidan Anderson were 48th and 49th, respectively.
Braeden Kleinschmit was 53rd, Harrison Kuehn was 56th and Gavin Joachimsen was 59th.
Norfolk Catholic was the top boys’ team with 16 points, Wayne was second with 33 and Pierce was third with 51.
The Wildcats scored 75. Brody Taylor of Ponca won the boys’ individual race with Dominic Liess of Norfolk Catholic coming in second.
Hartington-Newcastle will travel northwest for the Crofton Invitational on Sept. 21 and then compete in the University of Nebraska at Kearney Invitational at Kearney Country Club on Sept. 25 to familiarize themselves with the course where the State meet will be held in October.
WAYNE INVITATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY MEET Girls Team Results:
1. Pender 10; 2. Wayne 34; 3. Hartington- Newcastle 44; 4. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 70; Tri County Northeast 72.
Girls Individual Results:
1. Jala Krusemark (PEN) 21:35.41; 2. Megan Breitbarth (PEN) 21:41.44; 3. Kyla Krusemark 21:45.43; 4. Hadley Walsh (PEN) 22:08.62; 5. Tressa Bigbear (WINN) 22:44.04; 6. Ava Elliott (WAY) 22:47.41; 7. Ava Noecker (H-N) 22:54.77; 8. Claire Rolfes (H-N) 22:54.92; 9. Essynce Owens-Webb (WAY) 23:00.25; 10. Lilyan Hurner (WAY) 23:19.71; 17. Ryell Haug (H-N) 24:15.73; 18. Carmen Buschkamp (H-N) 24:19.17; 19. Isabel Rolfes (H-N) 24:20.60; 29. Abby Anderson (H-N) 26:11.36.
Boys Team Results:
1. Norfolk Catholic 16; 2. Wayne 33; 3. Pierce 51; 4. Hartington-Newcastle 75; 5. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 82; 6. Guardian Angels Central Catholic 110; 7. Pender 116; Ponca NTS.
Boys Individual Results:
1. Brody Taylor (PON) 17:31.95; 2. Dominic Liess (NC) 17:42.85; 3. Drew Miller (WAY) 18:03.72; 4. Yair Santiago (NC) 18:13.24; 5. Alec Foecking (NC) 18:22.66; 6. Kendall Shada (PIE) 18:27.65; 7. Tyler Olson (LCC) 18:39.25; 8. Alex Frank (WAY) 18:39.67; 9. Nathan Kalous (NC) 18:47.85; 10. Emmanuel Gonzalez (WAY) 18:48.06; 14. Adam Elks (H-N) 19:09.75; 18. Alex Elks (H-N) 19:38.05; 28. Isaac Hernandez- Santiago 20:41.19; 32. Aaron Wortmann (H-N) 21:17.97; 35. Coven Joachimsen (H-N) 21:23.94; 48. Sam Kuehn 23:11.76; 49. Aidan Anderson (H-N) 23:19.84; 52. Braeden Kleinschmit (H-N) 23:25.39; 56. Harrison Kuehn (H-N) 24:04.86; 59. Gavin Joachimsen (H-N) 25:12.55.
