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KEARNEY — Six Laurel-Concord-Coleridge athletes competed in the 2023 Nebraska Cross Country Championships on Oct. 20 at Kearney Country Club under some rather hot temperatures.
The thermometer reached well over 90 degrees, which was far from ideal when one considers the fact the competitors had left those training conditions a couple of months ago.
In fact, the heat cost an athlete a chance of a lifetime to complete a four-time sweep of the individual title in the Class D girls’ race.
Jordyn Arens of Croton was cruising along to an apparent fourth title, but around the two-mile mark in the 5,000-meter (3.1 miles) event, she went down to the ground due to the heat.
Arens went on to finish the event, but placed just outside the medals in 16th.
The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears qualified for the State meet with a third-place showing in the D-2 District Meet back on Oct. 12 in Pender.
“State cross country was very competitive and conditions were very difficult with the high heat in the afternoon,” Laurel-Concord-Coleridge coach Brandi Settje said. “We definitely didn’t run our fastest times of the season, given the conditions, but we were OK with our finish.”
The Bears ended up 18th in the team race and were joined in Kearney by Faith Galvin, the lone Lady Bear qualifier this season.
North Platte St. Patrick’s won the boys’ title with 18 points. Freeman was second with 36, followed by Doniphan-Trumbull with 50 and Axtell with 51.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge ended up with 180 points.
Tyler Olson led the Bears as he has all season and finished out of the medals, but in a very respectable 36th place with a time of 19 minutes, 6.66 seconds.
“Tyler ran strong as he has all season,” Settje said. “It was his senior year and he was happy to make his third trip to the State meet.”
Carter Korth was next in line for the Bears, recording a 20:50.16, which placed him 70th individually. Korth was out for a good portion of this season due to an injury.
“We were happy he got to run at State,” Settje said. “He did a great job trying to battle through his injuries all season long.”
It was Korth’s third trip to State. Shane Langford made it to State with his team in his first year of running cross country, ever. He placed 74th with a time of 21:13.34.
“He’ll be one to watch next year,” Settje said. “He really ‘wowed’ us this year and was our third runner at District to help us get here.”
Preston Rose, who was Laurel-Concord-Coleridge’s second runner in the District, had some problems with the heat, but battled through and came in 78th with a time of 21:42.35.
“He has a year left,” the coach said. “He’ll be hungry to get back down there next year.”
The final Bear was Taner Stanley, who came in 88th with a time of 25:31.93.
For the first time since 2013, the Lady Bears had a runner in the State meet.
Freshman Faith Galvin made her way to Kearney by winning a medal in the District meet in Pender.
“I was really nervous in the beginning, but once I got started running, it was great,” Galvin said. “I can’t wait to get back to work and get back down here. Now that I know how it all works down here, I’ll know more about what to do.”
“She’s a strong runner and ran great,” Settje said. “She kind of felt like she may have left a little too much in the tank when it was over. But she’ll figure that out. She has a year of cross country under her belt now and I think she’ll be back down there.”
Galvin finished 53rd with a time of 23:23.81.
Class D State Cross Country Championships BoysTeamResults:1.North Platte St. Patrick’s 18; 2. Freeman 36; 3. Doniphan Trumbull 50; 4. Axtell 51; 5. Perkins County 57; 6. Franklin 59; 7. Cornerstone Christn68;8.NorfolkCatholic 77; 9. Neb. Christn 89; 10. Boyd County 103; 11. Elkhorn Vlly 110; 12. Valentine 111; 13. Lincoln Luth. 118; 14. Homer 131; 15. Bertrand/Loomis 144; 16. Hemingford145;17.McCool Junctn 158; 18. LCC 180. Boys Individual Results: 1. Mason McGreer (Perkins County) 16:46.6; 2.Elijah Goodell (Perkins-County) 16:54.7; 3. Jarrett Miles (North Platte St. Patrick’s) 17:07.6; 4. Jacob Swanson (Nebraska Christian) 17:09.7; 5. Jobjosiah Muthiani (Freeman) 17:14.5; 6. Kaser Johnson (Doniphan- Trumbull)17:16.4; 7. Dawson Meyer (Oakland Craig) 17:24.9; 8. Brody Taylor (Ponca) 17:29.3; 9. Porter Connick (North Platte St. Patrick’s) 17:34.6; 10. Colton Ham (North Platte St. Patrick’s) 17:34.9; 11. Demitri Pettit (North Platte St. Patrick’s) 17:36.8; 12. Keyton Cole (Axtell) 17:37.0; 13.Andrew Martin (West Holt) 17:39.4; 14. Tice Yost (Doniphan-Trumbull)17:40.5;15.JoshuaBislow17:45.2;36. TylerOlson(LCC)19:06.66;70.CarterKorth(LCC)20:50.16; 74.ShaneLangford(LCC)21:13.34;78.PrestonRose(LCC) 21:42.35; 88. Taner Stanley 25:31.93. GirlsTeamResults:1.Hemingford33;2.Ainsworth36;3.Crofton 39; 4. Pender 46; 5. Mullen 54; 6. Neb. Christian 69; 7. North Central 78; 8. Wallace 78; 9. Tri County 95; 10.Aguinas Catholic 97; 11. Wisner-Pilger 108; 12. West Holt 118; 13. Ravenna 122; 14. Doniphan-Trumbull 127; 15. Elm Creek 130; 16. Brady 141; 17. Cambridge 172; 18. Centennial 183. Girls Results: 1. Katherine Kerrigan (Ainsworth) 20:00.2; 2. GiannaFrasher(Aquinas)20:09.6;3.AnnaFitzgerald(Doniphan-Trumbull) 20:20.5; 4. Hannah Swanson (Neb. Christn) 20:38.3; 5. Peyton Paxton (Mullen) 20:47.4; 6. Delani Runnels (Niobrara/ Verdigre) 20:47.8; 7. Dakota Horstman (Hemingford) 21:01.2; 8. Sawyer Benne (Lincoln Luth) 21:06.3; 9.Angela Frick (North Central) 21:16.1; 10. Emma Kennedy (Ainsworth) 21:33.1.
