The Longhorn girls gather at the starting line shortly before the Class D girls race Friday. The runners included, from left, Riley Owens, Macy Coleman, Kambree Meeske, Maddie Brown, Brooklyn Christensen and Caelyn Long. (Johnson Publications photo)
Coach Carl Zuege offers some last-minute encouragement to the boys just prior to their race. They include, from left, Logan Mendenhall, Trevin Martin, Zuege, Kalen Wallin, Landis Beverly and Mason Nordhausen, (Johnson Publications photo)
Kalen Wallin edged out a pair of runners near the finish line to finish in 25th place at the state meet. Caelyn Long did the same going down the stretch to lead the girls with a 65th place finish. (Johnson Publications photo)
Longhorns perform well at state meet
Cross country coaches Carl Zuege and Jonathan Beverly came away from the state cross country meet feeling good about the performances of their kids at last week’s meet.
The girls finished 13th and the boys 15th in the fields of 18 teams.
The Longhorns competed on the state meet course at the Kearney Country Club in the UNK meet Sept. 24.
What most impressed Zuege was that every one of the 11 runners competing at state bettered the time they had run at the UNK meet.
He said the boys ran strong in a tough field. He credited that to a senior-laden team who had run the state course annually during the UNK meet.
Senior Kalen Wallin led the boys with a 25th place finish in the 143-runner Class D field. As evidence of the strength of the field, the boys gold medalist for the meet came from Class D.
Zuege said Wallin turned in the best race of his career, running really strong over the 5,000 meter course.
He was followed by senior Trevin Martin, sophomore Mason Nordhausen, and seniors Landis Beverly and Logan Mendenhall. Mendenhall hurt an ankle during the race but gutted it out to finish.
For the girls, freshman Caelyn Long led the team with a 65th place finish.
She was followed by juniors Riley Owens, Maddie Brown and Brooklyn Christensen, senior Macy Coleman and sophomore Kambree Meeske.
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