Photo Courtesy of Brandon Kile
The 2025 cross country season came to an end as nine Hastings High School’s runners made it to State on October 24, 2025.
Six runners and two alternates from the girls team qualified for state, and the boy’s team also had one qualifier.
“Having eight girls qualify was a great accomplishment for our girls cross country team,” Coach Brandon Kile said.
Runner for the girl’s team Sophia Reynolds placed second overall at state with a best time of 18 minutes, 31 seconds.
“Second place felt so good!” Reynolds said. “It felt rewarding that all my hard work this season paid off, and the outcome was better than I could have expected!”
Reynolds was the only girl from Hastings High School to place at state. She was motivated by her family and friends cheering her on.
“I am so thankful for the support from my family, friends, and team… All of us are best friends, and I love running with all of them,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds got into running because of her mom, who was a track runner in high school and ran marathons when Reynolds was a kid. Her mom attended each of her meets to cheer her on.
“[My mom] inspires me so much and has always been my number one supporter,” Reynolds said.
The girls team had some new faces representing the top four runners this season as well. Junior Eva Magallanes had a run time of 23 minutes, 57.8 seconds at state.
“We were counting on girls like Eva Magallanes to step up, and she did,” Kile said.
Josephine Gowen was also at state this year as one of the team leaders, with a final run time of 19 minutes, 53.4 seconds.
“Josephine Gowen [is] easy to brag about in terms of the running world, she made a commitment the last three years of her high school career, and she became excellent,” Kile said.
Beckett Hoshaw was the boys state qualifier and a leader for the boys team with a run time of 18 minutes, 51.2 seconds.
“Our boys team impressed me this year,” Kile said. “Beckett did a nice job being a leader as well.”
This season, the boys team had new people, some new to the sport and some coming from the Hastings Middle School Cross Country team.
“We knew that it would be a building season for the boys team, and I think that we have some serious potential for the future,” Kile said.
So far, Kile coached the Tigers Cross Country team for three years and watched a number of these runners grow.
“I love coaching at competitions. That’s where you see your athletes have those moments of success and failure,” Kile said.
The team’s expectations varied from athlete to athlete. For example, Reynolds aimed to be a top runner for the entire state of Nebraska
“We have a range of abilities that lie beneath Sophia’s extraordinary goals and efforts,” Kile said.
The Tigers Cross Country team, like most sports, had goals for the entire team. This season, some of the seniors and team leaders came up with a team quote.
“Discipline is the difference between being good and great,” Tiger Cross Country team.
