The Ord High School cross country teams had another solid day of competition at the West Holt Invitational last Thursday. In a meet where three runners are used for scoring, the Chanticleer boys finished second in the field of 18 teams. The girls came home with a ninth-place finish on the day. “I thought we ran well in the race especially in the first 2 miles”, Coach Derry Trampe stated. “I also felt like we could have finished the last mile a little stronger than we did. We gave up a few places late in the boys’ race and that will cost you in a close team race. Again, I thought we ran well it is just that I feel we have a little more to give in the last mile of the race. I am confident that we will find that extra effort in the last two weeks of the season.”
The Chanticleer girls scored 96 points to finish in 9th place. Ainsworth won the meet with 12 points while O’Neill was the runner-up with 21 points. “I felt good about the way our girls ran”, Trampe said. “We are working our way back from injuries with all of our girls and I thought they ran as well at this meet as they have all year.” Rounding out the team scores were: Elkhorn Valley (24), West Holt (32), Neligh-Oakdale (49), Boone Central (58), Valentine (75), Riverside (85), Niobrara/Verdigre (104), Burwell (110), St. Edward (140), and North Central, Boyd County, Cerighton, Chambers, Sandhills/Thedford, and Twin Loup did not field enough runners to score as a team.
The boys scored 27 points to finish as the runner-up in the team race just 5 points behind Boone Central (22). “Boone Central had a runner that moved ahead of 4 of our runners in the last mile and that moved them ahead of us in the team race”, Trampe said. “They had a kid that ran a great final mile of the race and that is what it takes to win the team titles. Looking at our splits, our boys ran a solid final mile but the kid from Boone Central really ran a great last mile.” Rounding out the team scoring were: West Holt (44), North Central (51), Boyd County (54), Valentine (60), O’Neill (64), Elkhorn Valley (68), Creighton (95), Sandhills/Thedford (99), Niobrara/Verdigre (106), Chambers (115), Riverside (138), and Ainsworth, Twin Loup, St. Edward, Burwell, and Neligh-Oakdale did not field enough runners to score as a team.
Masaki Arisawa, Garret Severance, and Elijah Pollard were the top three finishers for the Chants that were used for team scoring. The trio finished in 7th, 9th, and 11th in times of 18:50, 18:53, and 18:58 respectively. “It is great to see our scorers within 8 seconds of each other”, Trampe stated. “Now we just need to get all of them to take off 30 seconds from their times and we will be a very solid team.” Pushers for the team were Owen Lane (15th in 19:13) and Grady Moudry (26th in 19:57). Lane along with Arisawa, Severance, and Pollard all brought home medals from the meet. “Owen did not have his best race and was still able to medal in the meet”, Trampe noted. “Grady had a good race, but we need to get him out a little faster and have him up with the other four runners in the first mile.” Hayden Kluthe had his best race of the season as he finished in 28th place in a time of 20:04. Brodie Klimek was 32nd in a time of 20:29. “Hayden ran as well as I have seen him run in is cross country career”, Trampe stated. “Brodie got out a little slow in this race and it cost him some time and places. We have got to get out early to be in races at the end.” Also competing for the Chants were Isaac VanLeer (54th in 22:08), Gage Sintek (55th in 22:08), Braden Bruha (83rd in 25:23), and Skylar Probst (89th in 26:55). “Isaac and Gage continue to improve every week and this week was no different”, Coach Trampe noted. “Braden is still working through some injuries and Skylar was ill a couple of days before the meet and this held them back from what they would usually run.”
Izzy Jeffres was the top finisher for the girls as she placed 28th in a time of 25:50. Skylar Kokes was right behind her in 30th place in a time of 25:53. “Both Izzy and Skylar looked a lot better this week”, Trampe said. “They had a good week of practice and seem to be recovering from the injuries they were dealing with. I look for them to get better each time we compete.” Koryn Klein finished in 52nd place in a time of 30:47 and Elisabeth Bengston was 59th in 33:50 to round out the places for the girls. “Both Koryn and Elisabeth are trying to compete through some injuries”, Trampe commented. “I am pleased with the toughness they are showing but the injuries are affecting their performances in meets. We are going to do what we can to help them heal up for the last couple of weeks of the season.”
The junior high runners brought home three medals from the meet this week in what was their last competition of the season. Gavin Whited finished 5th in the boys’ race while Avery Bruha was 4th in the girls and Allison Wheeler was 15th. Whited finished the 1,800-meter course in 6:47 while Bruha finished in 7:12 and Wheeler in 7:42. Sophie Zangger also competed in the girls race and finished 44th in a time of 9:09. Additional boys competitors included Conner Krcilek (25th in 7:39), Jacob Medina (27th in 7:46), Kyptan Scheideler (38th in 8:11), and Leo Wolf (50th in 8:26). “I enjoyed having these kids out for cross country this year”, Trampe said. “They became more competitive as the year progressed and they will be quality additions to our high school team over the next two years.”