The Hemingford girls and the Custer boys won the team titles at the Chadron High School Cross Country Meet held Friday on Chadron State College’s challenging course. Both the boys and the girls ran five kilometers.
Neither of the winning teams had previously participated in the meet this decade.
Taylor Harrelson of Rapid City Christian was the girls’ individual winner and Trevor Zurn of Alliance took the boys’ gold medal. Both are sophomores, who finished second and third, respectively, in their races a year ago, but improved their times significantly and won top honors Friday.
Harrelson’s winning time was 21:33.94, about 74 seconds faster than her mark last year. Zurn completed this year’s race in 16:55.37, a minute and 53 seconds better than his time of a year ago.
Harrelson also was fourth in the Chadron race in 2022, when she was an 8th grader.
This year’s runner-up among the girls was Dakota Horstman, a Hemingford junior who led her team’s impressive victory. Her time was 22:06.49. Teammates Aurora Hinman and Ainslee Woltman were fourth and sixth, respectively, while Teagan Thompson was 14th to round out Hemingford’s winning quartet.
Kylee Kampfe of Sidney was third in 22:34.11. That’s 75 seconds faster than her time of a year ago when she placed fifth for the first place Lady Raiders.
Gordon-Rushville’s Kynsleigh Krebs and Ashlyn Denning finished fifth and seventh, respectively, and teammate Rylie Barker was 15th this year.
Chadron’s leaders were Jentsyn Fuller and Lillie Uhing, who placed 11th and 12th at their home meet. Another of the Cardinals, Ave Pyle, was 17th among the 67 girls in the race.
Gering sophomore Axton Stone was the runner-up in boys’ race Friday in 17:03.75. That’s 52 seconds faster than his winning time of a year ago. Sean Shipp of Custer, the pacesetter for the winning team, placed third in 17:16.88, almost a minute ahead of fourth place Asher Saka of Alliance. However, Saka’s time this year was 80 seconds faster than his mark of a year ago when he finished ninth at the Chadron meet.
Hemingford’s Austin Benda was sixth in the boys’ race, followed by three Custer Wildcats, who crossed the finish line just a second and a half apart to help nab the team title.
Parker Wellnitz of Hay Springs was 10th this year after placing 11th a year ago. But his time was about a minute and a half faster Friday.
There were 104 boys in this year’s race, 30 more than a year ago.
Girls’ Team Results:
1, Hemingford, 26; 2, Custer, 46; 3, Sidney, 50; 4, Gordon-Rushville, 57; 5, Chadron, 61; 6, Rapid City Christian, 106; 7, Gering, 110.
Girls’ Top 20:
1, Taylor Harrelson, RCC, 21:33.94; 2, Dakota Horstman, Hem, 22:06.49; 3, Kylee Kampfe, Sidney, 22:34.11; 4, Aurora Hinman, Hem, 22:38.31; 5, Kynsleigh Krebs, G-R, 22:40.54; 6, Ainslee Woltman, Hem, 23:11.87; 7, Ashlyn Dehning, G-R, 23:23.46; 8, Mikayla Dennis, Custer, 23:52, 03; 9, Maya Tennyson, Custer, 24:06.36; 10, Rayah Wolff, Sidney, 24:06.95.
11, Jentsyn Fuller, Chad, 24:11.95; 12, Lillie Uhing, Chad, 24:13.00; 13, Makenzi Ham, Custer, 24:16.48; 14, Teagen Thompson, Hem, 24:25.89; 15, Rylie Barker, G-R, 24:41.39; 16, Lexi Wilkins, Custer, 24:55.24; 17, Ave Pyle, Chad, 24:59.33; 18, Lyrah Ogden, Sidney, 24:59.83; 19, Emily Bashtovoi, Sidney, 25:03.59; 20, Desilee Hinman, Hem, 25:13.25.
Boys’ Team Standings:
1, Custer, 27; 2, Gering, 40; 3, Alliance, 45; 4, Rapid City Christian, 67; 5, Hemingford, 101; 6, Sidney, 111; 7, Gordon-Rushville, 112; 8, Chadron, 120; 9, Scottsbluff JV, 147.
Boys’ individual top 20:
1, Trevor Zurn, All, 16:55.37; 2, Axton Stone, Gering, 17:03.75; 3, Sean Sharp, Custer, 17:16.88; 4, Asher Saka, All, 18:16.59; 5, Lionel Hinson, RCC, 18:23.23; 6, Austin Benda, Hem, 18:27.99; 7, Peyton Krueger, Custer, 18:28.93; 8, Kian Rusch, Custer, 18:29.68; 9, Austin Drew, Custer, 18:30.40; 10, Parker Wellnitz, HS, 19:31.47.
11, Nathan Seiler, Gering, 18:36.34; 12, Hudson Selfridge, RCC, 18:50.91; 13, Aiden Bell, Gering, 18:53.97; 14, Zane Gunnell, Custer, 18:54.58; 15. Boady Hunter, Hem, 19:03.58; 16, Jeremiah White, RCC, 19:07.90; 17, Bryce Carrillo, Gering, 19:27.06; 18, Luke Laws, G-R, 19:38.56; 19, Evan Merrihew, All, 19:41.35; 20, Braylon Branson, Chad, 19:48.41.