Area high school runners competed in district cross country action this week, with three teams and three individuals earning trips to next week’s state championships.
In Class A action Wednesday at Lincoln’s Pioneers Park, the South Sioux City boys finished a close third in a tight team race to qualify out of the A-3 district.
The Cardinals placed four of its five scoring runners in the top 11 and finished with 58 points, 20 behind winner Lincoln East and eight behind runner-up North Platte.
Seniors Luke McGinty, Mel Munzambi and Leandro Magan finished eighth, ninth and 10th, while junior Nabiil Yussuf was 11th to help put SSC in position for one of the three team bids to state. Caleb Preciado rounded out the team’s 58-point effort with a 20th place finish. Yahir Mejia-Covarrubias (26th) and Gavin Joy (29th) also competed for SSC.
SSC had just three girls competing in the A-2 district at Pioneers Park and did not qualify anyone for state. Kalianne Norton was 30th and Abigail Cisneros finished 31st, while Dulce Alonso-Murillo was 46th.
Class D
The D-2 district race at Norfolk’s Skyview Park saw some great efforts by the local teams, including a first-ever team qualifying effort for the Ponca Lady Indians.
The Ponca girls had two of its three scoring runners place in the top 10 as they were sandwiched between Crofton and LCC as the three teams that qualified for state.
Leading the way was junior Ava Brennan, who finished second in the race. She was followed by teammate Addyson Chytka, who placed 10th, and Klaudia Bruening, who finished 19th. Also running for Ponca were Laken Pfister (24th) and Presley Bartling (53rd).
Tri County Notheast’s girls almost had two individual qualifiers, but classmates Alejandro Hermosillo and Rachael Bousquet found themselves battling for the last of the 15 individual positions. Hermosillo, a four-time state qualifier, came home with the last qualifying spot, finishing five seconds ahead of her teammate. Also running for TCNE was Hailey Millard (46th). The Lady Wolfpack finished eighth.
Homer’s girls finished fourth as the first team out in the team race. Hadley Heikes an Tawny Bolles finished 17th and 18th to lead the Lady Knights, followed by Okie Bolles (26th), Natali Loofe (27th) and Brooklyn Hightree (35th).
It was a two-team race in the boys competition between champion Norfolk Catholic and runner-up Homer. Both teams saw their three scoring runners finish in the top 10, but Norfolk Catholic’s 1-2-5 finish (8 points) was better than the 4-8-9 placing (21 points) by Homer in the battle of the Knights.
Aayden Harris was fourth, Caden Barclay placed eighth and Jett Fogarty finished ninth to lead the Knights. Also running for Homer was Logan Albrecht (23rd) and Caylix Huffman (27th).
Ponca’s Gannon Pfister ran among the leaders throughout the race before settllng on a third-place medal. Barrett Schmitt was 39th and Carson Duerksen finished 53rd.
Jude Ridenour also earned an individual state bid tor TCNE, placing 29th. Also running were Alex Snyder (28th), Reece Jensen (4th), Tucker Andesron (52nd); and Matt Bousquet (59th).
Look for photos, stories and complete results in next week’s Dakota County Star.
