District showing sends Jordan Jablonski to state

    Looking at the competition and times coming into the C5 district meet, Chase County junior Jordan Jablonski had a shot at state qualification.
    She decided early in last Thursday’s cross country meet she was not going to miss her chance to run the state course.
    She got out quickly, and after the first mile into the 5K race, Jablonski was in the top 15.
    Coach Carl Zuege said they knew she had a shot, but she also ran very well in Thursday’s meet on Ogallala’s Crandell Creek Golf Course.
    “She’s had some knee issues this season, but we were confident she’d run well,” Zuege said.
    Her 13th place finish with a PR time of 21:29.99 in a field of 60 runners qualified her individually for the state meet.
    By the time Jablonski hit the far east end of the district course, she was in the top 15 among a very strong Class C field.
    “She just held that position all the way,” Zuege said.
    It’s an achievement to qualify for state in her first year competing in the sport. But, she missed running the Ogallala Invitational earlier this season while dealing with her knee issues, Zuege noted, so it was her first time on that course.
     That won’t be the case at Friday’s state Class C meet in Kearney, however.
    She placed in the top third for Chase County at the UNK Invite on the Kearney course the end of September.
    “So she is familiar with that course,” he said.
    “It will be a tough field. I know she will improve her time (from the UNK Invite),” he said.
    About 100 runners will be in the Class C girls’ field at state. A good day will put Jablonski in the top 50, Zuege believes.
    “If she has a really good day, she can do even better,” he said.
    The Class C girls’ race as a 1:30 p.m. CT start.
    Each class’ awards ceremony will be held immediately after the boys’ race near the finish line.
    Here is the full state meet schedule (times listed are CT).
    12 noon Class D girls
    12:30 p.m. Class D boys
    1 p.m. Class D awards
    1:30 p.m. Class C girls
    2 p.m. Class C boys
    2:30 p.m. Class C awards
    3 p.m. Class B girls
    3:30 p.m. Class B boys
    4 p.m. Class B awards
    4:30 p.m. Class A girls
    5 p.m. Class A boys
    5:30 p.m. Class A awards
District meet
    No other Chase County girls or boys qualified for state, but Coach Zuege said all his runners competed well.

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