KEARNEY — Cool conditions didn’t stop runners at the Nebraska State Cross Country Championships from putting out some of their best efforts of the season.
Leading the area effort was Ponca junior Ava Brennan, who finished eighth in the Class D girls race with a season-best time of 19:50.2 over the 5,000-meter course at Kearney Country Club.
Her effort helped Ponca pots a 13th place finish out of 18 teams in Class D with 100 points. McCool Junction edged Crofton 30-31 to claim the state team title, with Crofton freshman Avery Arens setting an all-time, all-class 5,000-meter girls mark of 17:28.92 to win the individual title by almost two minutes over runner-up Rarity Cournoyer of Gordon-Rushville.
Joining Brennan on the Ponca team were Addyson Chytka (70th, 22:20.12), Klaudia Bruening (88th, 22:56.24), Laken Pfister (102nd, 23:35.52) and Presley Bartling (119th, 26:04.93).
Tri County Northeast senior Alejandra Hermosillo competed for the third time in the state meet and finished 64th in a time of 22:02.6.
The Homer boys cross country team placed 14th out of 18 teams in the Class D boys competition, led by senior Aayden Harris, who finished 47th with a time of 18:07.70.
Following Harris were Jett Forgerty (71st, 18:36.09), Caden Barclay (74th, 18:37.46), Logan Albrecht (100th, 19:11.07) and Caylix Huffman (128th, 21:06.61).
Ponca junior Gannon Pfister just missed the medal stand for the top 15 runners, finishing 20th in a time of 17:14.6. Tri County Northeast junior Jude Ridnour was 80th in the field of 131 runners in a time of 18:41.1.
South Sioux City’s finished 12th in the 12-team Class A field and were led by senior Luke McGinty, who finished 72nd in a time of 17:29.0, followed by Leandro Magana Magana in 73rd at 17:29.2.
Nabiil Yussuf was 80th in 17:38.5, followed by Caleb Preciado (84th, 17:48.1), Yahir Mejia-Covarrubias (91st, 18:09.0), Gavin Joy (92nd, 18:09.5) and Angel Vargas Vaszquez (95th, 18:36.3).
Complete coverage in next week’s Dakota County Star.
