The Ord High School cross country teams competed in the 19-team Broken Bow invitational this past Saturday at the Broken Bow Country Club. The Chants ran into strong competition and finished well back in the team standings. “I thought we would do a little better than we did in the team races because of the way we have run so far this season”, Coach Derry Trampe commented. “We ran decent on the day and some of our kids had a really good day, but I felt we could have run a little better. We need to be more competitive regardless of where we are at in a race and that will help us bring our times down as we continue this year. I was pleased with the way we got out in the races, but it just seemed like we struggled through the second mile of the race. This is the mental part of the race that we need to improve on to be competitive as we get to the conference and district meets.”
The girls finished 11th in the team race with 184 points. McCook won the meet with 27 points while Minden was second with 54 points. “Without Valeria running today our score was higher than if she ran”, Trampe said. “However, we have to pick it up when we are missing someone from our roster.” Rounding out the team scoring were: Ainsworth (56), Broken Bow (71), Doniphan-Trumbull (85), Gothenburg (92), Cozad (106), North Platte St. Patrick (121), South Loup (129), Hi-Line (158), St. Paul (233), and Valentine, Brady, Arcadia-Loup City, Sandhills Valley, Sandhills/Thedford, Maxwell and Medicine Valley did not field enough runners to score as a team. Macy Warner led the way for the team as she finished 33rd in a time of 24:25 over the 5,000-meter course. Izzy Jeffres finished in 46th place in a time of 25:59. “Macy is a steady runner and her times are starting to come down to what she is capable of running”, Trampe commented. “I thought Izzy had a very good day as she looked a lot stronger in the second half of the race than she did last week.” Hannah Masin recorded a 60th place finish in a time of 28:12 and Elisabeth Bengston was 91st in a time of 33:26 to round out the scoring runners for the Chants. “Hannah and Elisabeth both ran their fastest times of the season at this meet”, Trampe said. “I was very happy with the way Hannah competed throughout the race. Elisabeth also competed well during the race and will continue to bring her times down.”
The boys scored 185 points to earn a 10th place finish in the team standings. Broken Bow won the meet with 29 points while Gothenburg was the runner-up with 44 points. Rounding out the team scores were: McCook (72), North Platte St. Patrick (77), Minden (81), Ainsworth (109), St. Paul (114), Doniphan-Trumbull (145), Sandhills Valley (150), Arcadia-Loup City (187), Cozad (204), Brady (257), and South Loup, Valentine, Maxwell, Medicine Valley, Sandhills/Thedford, and Hi-Line did not field enough runners to score in the meet. Elijah Pollard and Garret Severance were the top two finishers for the team this week. Pollard covered the 5,000-meter course in a time of 19:53 to finish in 36th place. Severance finished in 43rd place in a time of 20:06. “This was the first time that Elijah was under 20 minutes for a 5,000-meter course”, Trampe noted. “That is a very good time for him and he really ran the middle and last part of the race well. Garret also ran a solid race and nearly broke the 20-minute barrier. If we can get 4 or 5 of our runners under 20 minutes, we will be a very competitive team.” Hayden Kluthe (70th in 21:32) and Grady Moudry (80th in 22:01) were the other two scoring runners for the team. “Hayden got out great in the race and then had some difficulty in the second mile of the race”, Trampe said. “When he can put a full race together, he will easily get his time below 20 minutes. Grady had trouble getting out and going in the meet and I think his allergies had something to do with that. He said he felt plugged up during the race and that made it difficult for him to set a stronger pace.” The two pushers for the team this week were Brodie Klimek (90th in 22:38) and Gage Sintek (104th in 23:56). “Brodie continues to be a steady performer for us and he was again today”, Trampe commented. “I like the work that Brodie is putting in and his effort in meets. He is going to be a very good runner as he gets older. Gage had a good week of practice and that turned into a good performance at the meet. He had one of his best races of the year.” Also competing for the Chants were Braden Bruha (116th in 25:14), Jericho Smith (118th in 25:19), and Skylar Probst (124th in 26:12). “Braden is dealing with some tenderness in his knee and that slowed him up a little today”, Trampe stated. “He just never looked comfortable in this race. I was happy to see Jericho get in a meet and I was pleased with his efforts. It will take him some time to get back in shape but he is a competitor when he runs. Skylar turned in his best performance of his young career in this meet as well. I am happy with the improvement we are making but we cannot be satisfied. We need to continue to work in hard in practice and we will be a better team.”
The junior high teams did not have enough runners to score in the team race, but they did bring home some medals from the meet. Allison Wheeler had a very strong finish and grabbed the 10th place medal in the 1-mile girls’ race in a time of 7:05. Avery Bruha just missed out on the medals as she finished in 15th place in a time of 7:17. For the boys, Brody Blair got up after a fall late in the race to earn a 9th place finish and a medal. Blair completed the 1-mile course in a time of 6:14. Knox Nelson finished in 60th place in a time of 7:32 while Judson Collier finished 71st in a season best time of 8:23.