Chase County XC runners challenged on McCook course

    A lot of factors at the McCook Invitational were ones cross country runners can’t control—heat, no clouds, no wind and a hilly course.
    And bugs. Some of the runners last Thursday finished with hundreds stuck to their skin.
    McCook’s Heritage Hills Golf Course was all it’s cracked up to be—the toughest course on the Chase County schedule.
    Both Chase County’s teams finished eighth in team points, and Coach Carl Zuege said they battled hard despite the conditions.
    “It made for a tough day,” said Zuege. “But our kids had good attitudes going into it.”
    It was a tough day for most of the runners, as times for the top 15 were a little slower across the board compared to last year, in most cases, he noted. Chase County runners finished out of the medals this year.
    However, last week’s competition showed the Chase County runners are getting healthier as the season hits the halfway point, Zuege said.
    One of those who looks to be over his earlier illness is Trevin Moreno, who crossed first for the Longhorn boys in 25th place.
    Zuege said Andrew Wiest, second for CCS in 33rd place, had a “really good day,” noting Wiest is one of those team members who didn’t miss a summer run or workout.
    Haven Hauxwell was next for CCS in 34th, followed by Navy Smith, Brayan Reyes and Salvador Venegas.
    The McCook meet was the second one for Reyes and Venegas running in the varsity division.
    “I’m excited for both of them,” Zuege said.
    Noting all of CCS’s top six runners last week are freshmen and sophomores, he’s anticipating some good things on the boys’ side in the coming years.
    Paige Nickless finished first for the CCS girls’ team in 33rd, as teammate Tessa Smith was right behind in 34th.
    Finishing in order for the girls were Faith Hauxwell, McKenzie Vogt and Maddie Hanes.
    Zuege said the girls ran a conservative race, but battled well.
Ogallala, UNK up next
    Zuege likes the layout of the schedule this coming week, as they head to Ogallala Thursday and the UNK meet on Monday.
    That mirrors the end of the season when the district meet is held at Ogallala, followed by state at UNK.
    “It’s how we’ll end the year, with a fast course in Ogallala and a some hills in Kearney,” he said.
    “It will tell us where we are at in the district and where we need to get to,” he added.
    The boys will run first at both Ogallala and UNK this week, Zuege noted. That’s a change to what was sent out earlier for Ogallala’s meet at Crandell Creek Golf Course.
    Boys will start the day in Ogallala at 3 p.m., followed by girls varsity/JV about 3:35 p.m. Junior high 3K races will follow.
    All 12 of the C5 district teams will be in Ogallala Thursday getting an early look at the flat course.
    At Kearney Monday, the Class C boys are set for a 12:30 p.m. CT start with Class C girls at 1:30 p.m.
    Teams can enter as many varsity and JV runners in each division. Well over 200 are expected in both the Class C boys’ and girls’ races.

McCook Invitational results:
Girls’ team results—1. McCook, 20; 2. North Platte, 32; 3. Scottsbluff, 39; 4. Sidney, 54; 5. Holdrege, 109; 6. Sutherland, 119; 7. Sandhills Valley, 126; 8. Chase County, 130; 9. Hitchcock County, 144.
Girls’ individual results—1. Lindee Henning, 20:17.70, Ogallala; 2. Samantha (Sammy) Rodewald, 20:35.32, McCook; 3. Zarah Blaesi, 20:52.02, North Platte; 4. Talissa Tanquary, 21:10.72, Sidney; 5. Brecken Gale, 22:17.72, McCook; 6. Emma Cappel, 22:37.16, McCook; 7. Kinley Folchert, 22:52.58, Hershey; 8. Emilee Bentley, 22:59.57, Scottsbluff; 9. Hannah Rugroden, 23:16.43, Scottsbluff; 10. Haylie Hoatson, 23:31.36, North Platte; 11. Meredith Gloy, 23:36.69, PCS; 12. Jenessa Arnold, 23:45.79, North Platte; 13. Shawna Wilkinson, 23:52.16, McCook; 14. Kaylee Charbonneau, 24:09.17, Scottsbluff; 15. Rheo Dykstra, 24:40.06, Sidney; 33. Paige Nickless, 27:46.67, CCS; 34. Tessa Smith, 27:50.70, CCS; 40. Faith Hauxwell, 29:24.62, CCS; 41. McKenzie Vogt, 29:32.67, CCS; 47. Madelynn Hanes, 31:23.95, CCS.
Boys’ team results—1. North Platte, 24; 2. Scottsbluff, 47; 3. Holdrege, 52; 4. McCook, 94; 5. Sandhills Valley, 104; 6. Ogallala, 125; 7. Hershey, 126; 8. Chase County, 130; 9. Sidney, 136; 10. Perkins County, 159; 11. Garden County, 179; 12. Hitchcock County, 226.
Boys’ individual results—1. Mason McGreer, 17:21.00, PCS; 2. Rian Teets, 17:37.00, North Platte; 3. Hans Bastron, 17:45.64, Scottsbluff; 4. Nikolas Schrock, 17:46.57, Holdrege; 5. Quade Lowe, 17:50.43, North Platte; 6. Josiah Wilkinson, 18:17.00, McCook; 7. James Adams, 18:24.76, Scottsbluff; 8. Aiden Hawks, 18:36.04, North Platte; 9. Gabe Jenny, 18:37.20, North Platte; 10. Jared Trimble, 18:46.95, Sandhills Valley; 11. Eddie Griess, 18:55.27, Scottsbluff; 12. Zeke Christiansen, 18:56.50, Garden County; 13. Noah Canas, 18:58.33, Sidney; 14. Oban Sandoval, 19:02.05, North Platte; 15. Justin Golus, 19:02.91, Holdrege; 25. Trevin Moreno, 20:00.03, CCS; 33. Andrew Wiest, 20:37.60, CCS; 34. Haven Hauxwell, 20:39.58, CCS; 38. Navy Smith, 20:54.91, CCS; 42. Brayan Reyes, 21:04.80, CCS; 43. Salvador Venegas, 21:07.76, CCS
JV boys’ team results— 1. North Platte, 10; 2. Chase County, 45; 3. Ogallala, 49; 4. McCook, 56.
JV boys’ individual results— 1. Alex Cummings, 19:25.97, North Platte; 2. James Peters, 19:29.47, North Platte; 3. Jay Ady, 20:24.03, North Platte; 4. Brogan Wise, 20:31.31, Holdrege; 5. Noah Short, 20:35.32, North Platte; 6. Hunter Hothan, 20:44.32, North Platte; 7. Bennett Magnuson, 21:21.92, North Platte; 8. Nolan Teets, 21:36.47, North Platte; 9. Ean Julius, 21:45.38, North Platte; 10. Nicholas Zurn, 21:49.45, North Platte; 11. Luke Thramer, 21:51.68, North Platte; 12. Caleb Wilkinson, 21:55.46, McCook; 13. Brett Morgan, 21:56.97, Hershey; 14. Colin O’Neil, 22:04.66, CCS; 15. Ricky Martinez, 22:10.43, North Platte; 17. Peyton Dubas, 22:23.01, CCS; 19. Kobe Norman, 22:59.63, CCS; 28. Cole Pankonin, 24:57.59, CCS.
JH boys’ team results— 1. McCook, 27; 2. North Platte, 37; 3. Holdrege, 59; 4. Sutherland, 71; 5. Sidney, 73; 6. Chase County, 108; 7. Hershey, 116; 8. Hitchcock County, 150; 9. Sandhills Valley, 151.
JH boys’ individual results— 1. Jack Knapp, 7:19.74, North Platte; 8. Connor Einspahr, 8:34.58, CCS; 26. James Bomba, 9:19.01, CCS; 42. Luke Kuenning, 9:46.42, CCS;  64. Alex Nelson, 11:06.02, CCS; 73. Jaxsen Villarreal, 12:31.96, CCS.