The Ord High School cross country teams competed in the C-4 District cross country meet this past Thursday in Aurora. On a nearly perfect day for a cross country meet, the Chanticleers turned in some of their best performances of the season. “We knew we were in a tough district and it would be hard to qualify anyone for state but our kids ran as well as they have all season”, Coach Derry Trampe stated. “We had a lot of kids that ran more than a minute faster than they have all season and we still came up short with having any medal winners. I am not disappointed in our effort; I am just disappointed for our kids that they were not able to qualify for state. We have a lot of young talented runners on this team and we could be very good in a couple of years but we will need to put in a lot of hard work to get there.”
The girls finished sixth in the 12-team field with 99 points. Aurora ran away with the team title with 19 points while Minden was a distant second with 34 points. Boone Central/Newman Grove finished 3rd with 59 points to claim the last team qualifying spot for the state meet. Rounding out the team scoring were: Kearney Catholic (74), Adams Central (82), Grand Island CC (113), St. Paul (132), and Central City, Gibbon, Filmore Central, and South Central Unified #5 did not field enough runners to score in the team race. Izzy Jeffres was the top individual finisher for the Chants as she placed 20th in a time of 23:14. This was her fastest time of the season by 40 seconds. “Izzy has looked good in the last couple of meets and has really had good practices the last couple of weeks”, Trampe said. “She has improved a lot this season and will only get better as she gets older and stronger.” Macy Warner was not far behind as she placed 25th in a time of 23:45 and Valeria Chacon-Arellano was right behind her in 27th place in a time of 24:00. “I felt bad for Macy because she did not have her best race at this meet”, Trampe noted. “She has worked so hard for the past 4 years and this is a tough meet to not have your best performance. I am very proud of what she has done over her career and will miss her a lot next year.” Valeria had a great race as she recorded her best time of the season by nearly 30 seconds. “Valeria has been struggling the past couple of weeks with some soreness in her lower legs, but she worked through it and had a good district meet”, Trampe commented. “I am very proud of what she has accomplished this season and look for a lot of good things from her in the future. She is a hard-working runner that will only get better.” Hannah Masin was able to run in the meet and finished with her second-best time of the year. Hannah finished in 43rd place in a time of 27:44. “I am really proud of what Hannah has done for us over the past 4 years”, Trampe said. “She has had to work through some injuries, and she still ran a very good race. I am really proud of everything she has accomplished this year and in her career.” Eliasbeth Bengston was the lone pusher for the team as she finished 51st in a time of 32:22. For Bengston it was her second best time of the season. “Elisabeth has just gotten better every time she has ran this year”, Trampe commented. “In the last several races she has been able to run the entire race and her pace is getting quicker. I am pleased with the progress she has made this year and I look forward to seeing how much she improves from year to year.”
The boys scored 178 points to finish 11th in the 12-team field on Thursday. Minden won the meet with 41 points while Aurora was right behind them with 42 points. Adams Central earned the third team qualifying spot with 69 points. Rounding out the team scores were: St. Paul (87), Boone Central/Newman Grove (98), South Central Unified #5 (99), Filmore Central (107), Grand Island CC (156), Kearney Catholic (170), Central City (171), and Gibbon (191). Elijah Pollard and Garret Severance were the top two finishers for the Chants. Pollard led the way with a 36th place finish while Severance was right behind him in 37th place. Pollard finished the 5,000-meter race in 19:05 and Severance crossed the line in 19:10. “Both Elijah and Garret took almost a minute off of their best times of the season”, Coach Trampe said. “I was really pleased with their entire race because they got out well, had a strong second mile, and then finished with a very good last mile of the race. I felt like it was the best race they have run all season.” Also scoring for the Chants were Hayden Kluthe and Grady Moudry. Kluthe finished in 51st place with a time of 20:09 while Moudry was 54th in 20:14. Like the top two runners, these runners also posted their best times of the season. “Hayden had a really good first two miles of the race and then struggled in the last part of the race but still managed to run his best time all year”, Trampe noted. “Grady also had a very good race with a steady pace throughout the entire race. Like most of our kids in this meet he ran his best time of the year by nearly a minute.” Pushers for the team were Jericho Smith and Brodie Klimek. Smith and Klimek finished right behind Moudry as they were 55th and 56th respectively. Like all the other members of the team, they recorded their best times of the season as well. Smith was nearly 2 minutes faster than his best time of the year and Klimek was almost a minute faster. Smith covered the course in 20:16 and Klimek finished in 20:26. “Both Brodie and Jericho have made a lot of progress this year and since they started with the junior high a couple of years ago”, Trampe said. “I am really proud of the progress they have made this year and look forward to a lot of good things from them in the future. We have a young team and as they grow and gain strength, they could be very good. What we do as a group during the summer over the next couple of years will determine how competitive we will be. We have some talent coming up, but we need to develop that talent with a lot of work. I know that both Coach Lansman and Coach Dexter will work as hard as they can to take these kids to even lower times. They have been great to work with all season and I look forward to working with them again next year.”