Some cross country boys: Seth Simonson, Ryker VanBrocklin, and Nick Lewis, and girls: Chelsey Espinosa, Madison Douglas, Becky Plugge, Emma Mays, Gilliyan Hueske, and Amber Pavelka, competed at state on October 18th.
The girls finished eighth as a team. With two seniors qualifying for state this year, the girls hope to reach an even better placement next year.
The boys didn’t qualify as a team this year, but still had three great finishes from their qualifiers. Senior, Seth Simonson placed 32nd, junior, Ryker VanBrocklin placed 42nd, and senior Nick Lewis finished in 65th place.
“It feels very bitter sweet. Experiencing cross country for the first time my senior year was a decision that I never regretted,” senior Amber Pavelka said. “Collectively, we had the same goal and that’s what made it a little less stressful and more reassuring. Ending the season this way was more than I could ask for.”
Leading up to state, the boys and girls competed in conference on October 6th. At conference the boys and girls both finished third, which was a great accomplishment for them this season. At districts, the girls finished third as a team and qualified for state. For the boys, Simonson, VanBrocklin, and Lewis led the boys team, finishing in 4th place and just missing out on team qualification. However, Simonson, VanBrocklin, and Lewis were still able to compete individually.
There were many highlights throughout the season. The girls finished in first place at the York Invite, 9th place at the Harold Scott Invite in Lincoln, and 7th at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Invite. They boys finished first at the York Invite, 5th at the Harold Scott Invite, and 6th at the UNK Invite.
Head boys and girls cross country coach Scott Rosno claims that the bond the teams have make for a special relationship.
“The cohesiveness of our teams blends to the point that you can’t tell which are seniors and which are freshmen. The boys and girls grew to support each other unconditionally. It might be easiest to explain this way; a family with many children doesn’t find that they run out of love because there are more children, but rather because there are more children there is more love,”.
