Jr. High Girls Finish 6th, Jr. High Boys Win
The Ord High School cross country teams competed well in the West Holt invitational this past Thursday in Atkinson. The high school girls were able to score as a team and finished 5th out of 13 scoring teams. The Chants scored 53 points in the meet to claim their spot. Boone Central/Newman Grove won the meet with 12 points while Ainsworth was a close second with 16 points. “I was really happy to have our girls score as a team and I was pleased that we were able to finish as high as we did”, Coach Derry Trampe stated. “It was nice to have them be able to score because we have a pretty good team we are just short on numbers. It was great to have Hannah available to run and that she was able to finish the race.” Rounding out the team score in the girls race were: Bloomfield/Wausa (30), North Central (42), O’Neill (65), West Holt (70), Burwell (86), Boyd County (99), Valentine (101), Cody-Kilgore (116), Chambers/Wheeler Central (126), and St. Edward (152).
In the boys’ team race the Chants finished 13th out of the 15 scoring teams. The boys totaled 150 points in the meet. “We still have a couple of our top guys out this week so that really adds to our score”, Trampe said. “However, I was really pleased with the way our kids competed in this race. I felt really good about their effort and their times on the course. We are getting better every week.” O’Neill won the team title with 21 points while Boone Central/Newman Grove was second with 30 points. Rounding out the team scoring were: Bloomfield/Wasua (33), Ainsworth (34), West Holt (37), Elkhorn Valley (53), North Central (74), Boyd County (93), Neligh-Oakdale (108), Valentine (113), Riverside (121), Burwell (123), Chambers/Wheeler Central (163), and St. Edward (169).
Hayden Kluthe led the way for the boys’ team in his return to action this week. Kluthe finished in 50th place in a time of 20:55 over the 5,000-meter course. “I was glad to have Hayden back and able to run again”, Trampe said. “He looked good and hopefully, we can get our other guys back next week as well.” Gage Sintek and Braden Bruha were the other two scoring runners for the team. Sintek finished 57th in a time of 21:10 while Bruha was 82nd in a time of 23:01. “I felt that both Braden and Gage ran really good races. It was one of the best races that Gage has had all season and Braden worked his way through knee injuries to run a really good race”, Trampe said. Pushers this week were Crew Nelson and Caiden Hill. Nelson finished 91st in a time of 24:19 and Hill was 93rd in a time of 24:29. “Both Crew and Caiden ran a lot better race than they did in Ord last week”, Trampe said. “We just need to get them to be consistent from week to week and they will really see a lot of improvement.”
Kloe Severance was the top finisher for the girls this week and ran one of her best races all season. Severance finished 6th in a very strong field with a time of 21:12. “Kloe looked like a competitor this week”, Trampe stated. “She got out early and did not falter this week. In fact, she got caught by a couple of girls late in the race and then ran them down at the finish to get 6th. It was a very good race for her.” The other two scoring members of the team just missed out on winning medals in the meet. Delaney Cargill finished 22nd in a time of 22:12 and Macy Warner finished 25th in a time of 22:52. “Both Delaney and Macy were close to picking up medals in a really competitive meet”, Trampe noted. “They ran really good races but just came up a little short. Their effort is great every week and I am really happy with them this season.” Hannah Masin competed in her first race of the season and served as the pusher for the team at this meet. Hannah finished 67th in a time of 30:29. “I was a little surprised that Hannah ran the entire race”, Trampe commented. “She has been working her way back from injury and the plan was to run the first mile and maybe a little more but she said she felt good and wanted to finish. I really admire her toughness.”
Izzy Jeffres led the way for the junior high girls by placing 12th and bringing home a medal. Jeffres covered the 1,800-meter course in a time of 7:36 to earn her medal. “Izzy has had a really good year and will be a good addition to our high school team next year”, Trampe stated. Azia Giron just missed out on the medals by finishing 16th in a time of 8:00. The top 15 receive medals. Elisabeth finished 48th in a time of 10:57 to round out the team scorers. “Azia is going to be a very good runner for us as she gets stronger and I am really pleased with the progress Elisabeth made this season. She ran a very good race for us”, Trampe said. The girls finished 6th out of 9 scoring teams in the meet. The Chants scored 55 points. West Holt won the meet with 9 points while O’Neill was second with 31 points. Rounding out the team scoring were: Valentine (45), Boone Central/Newman Grove (50), Ainsworth (51), Burwell (62), North Central (67), and Boyd County (70).
The junior high boys claimed the team title again this week and were able to bring home a plaque. The Chants score 16 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Stuart (29). “Our junior high boys are a good group of kids and they just keep getting better each week”, Trampe said. “They have really pushed each other in meets and in practice and should really be a good addition to our high school team next year. They have taken turns being the top runner all year and have been very competitive.” Rounding out the team scoring were: Bloomfield/Wasua (32), Riverside (49), Valentine (51), Boone Central/Newman Grove (53), O’Neill (79), Ainsworth (82), Twin Loup (84), Boyd County (87), and West Holt (96). The Chants had 6 boys win medals in the meet. Elijah Pollard was the top finisher placing 5th in a time of 6:35. Garret Severance was right behind him in 6th with a time of 6:38. Maddox Bennett and Gage Kolar finished 10th and 11th respectively in times of 6:45 and 6:46. Brody Blair and Grady Moudry claimed the last two medals by finishing 14th and 15th respectively. Balir crossed the line in 6:47 and Moudry finished in 6:57. “These guys are all so close to each other that it is really hard to beat them in a meet”, Trampe said. Also competing in the meet were Brodie Klimek (34th in 7:32), Jericho Smith (47th in 8:19), Skylar Probst (48th in 8:24), and Jeter Sanders (64th in 10:50). “All of these guys had one of their better races of the season and I am really proud of how hard they have worked this year”, the coach stated.