CCS senior in top half of Class C state meet runners

    Jordan Jablonski capped off her high school cross country career with another appearance in the state meet.
    Running in the sport for just the past two seasons, the Chase County Schools senior was a two-time state qualifier, and went out on a good note.
    Jablonski finished in 51st place in the girls’ Class C field of 118 runners. She crossed the finish with a time of 22:28.8.
    She was the only state qualifier from CCS for a second consecutive year after placing 11th at districts the week before.
    CCS Coach Carl Zuege said that while her time was slower this year compared to last, Jablonski finished several places higher than in 2020.
    That had a lot to do with the much warmer weather this year, he said, and was reflected in the majority of times.
    He credited her approach to this year’s race.
    “She got out fast and handled that early first mile well,” Zuege said.
    Sidney was the Class C girls’ team winner, and came out of the same C5 District as Chase County. Sidney edged Lincoln Christian by three points for the state title.
    Other C5 girls’ teams that qualified for state—Chadron and Broken Bow—finished third and eighth in Kearney Friday.
    On the boys’ side at state, Fort Calhoun was the Class C team champion, with Sidney taking second.
Next year’s outlook
    As Coach Zuege looks to the 2022 season, the Chase County girls’ and boys’ teams will certainly have different situations.
    Three-fourths of the girls’ team will graduate in May, leaving two high school returners.
    “We’ll be beating the bushes to rebuild,” Zuege said.
    Seniors Caelyn Long, Matalie Wallin, Morgan Peterson and Jablonski have been key to a cohesive team, he said. Long and Wallin have run four seasons, while Peterson and Jablonski joined for the last two.
    “This group has worked hard and had to make the jump from Class D to C, and did a nice job,” he said.
    He said the group won a lot of meets over the years.
    Current juniors Maddie Hanes and McKenzie Vogt are expected back next year, and Zuege said a couple who ran junior high cross country should be out, as well.
    They’ll be looking for more runners, however, he said.
    For the boys, three seniors will leave the team—Nick Rau, Emmitt Zuege and Keenan Cole, all first-year runners.
    While Cole fought injuries this season, Zuege said the other two seniors complemented the team with their participation.
    If all on this year’s team return in 2022, that’ll be nine runners with experience, including a trio of juniors in Colin O’Neil, Kobe Norman and Peyton Dubas. Sophomores this year were Mason Tyerman and Mason Wallin, while four freshmen were on the team—Trevin Moreno, Navy Smith, Andrew Wiest and Gavin Wisnieski.
    “We have a lot of very good runners returning and a strong group of younger kids,” Zuege said.
    Freshmen Moreno and Smith ran varsity all season, and Zuege anticipates eighth grader Haven Hauxwell also to be a big contributor in 2022.
    “We’re really excited where the boys’ program is going,” he said.
    The work athletes put in now through fall and winter, and during the spring track season all will be vital to next year’s success, he added.