KEARNEY — On a perfect day for a 5,000-meter run, two area athletes came home with medalists from the 2024 Nebraska State Cross Country Championships.
Ponca’s Ava Brennan and Homer’s Lilly Harris both earned medals for a top 15 finish to highlight the day for area athletes at the Kearney Country Club.
Brennan, a sophomore, ran near the front of the pack throughout the race and finished seventh in a time of 20:18.4. She came into the state meet with the third fastest district time after winning the D-2 district race last week in Pender.
Harris, in her third trip to state, made it to the medal stand with an 11th place effort of 20:28.5 to lead the Lady Knights to a seventh-place finish. She was joined by teammates Jaedyn Bousquet (22nd, 21:32.05), Tawny Bolles (34th, 22:20.83), Lilyanna Dzuirawiec (50th, 23:17.77) and Okie Bolles (53rd, 23:23.06).
Tri County Northeast’s Alejandra Hermosillo returned to state for the second time and the Lady Wolfpack junior finished 58th in a time of 22:28.6.
Homer’s boys finished 12th out of 18 teams and were led by junior Aayden Harris, who placed 28th in a time of 18:12.24. Following him was Jessup Snowball (32nd, 18:19.45), Caden Barclay (41st, 18:40.36), Junius Snowball (43rd, 18:44.78) and Caylix Huffman (52nd, 19:05.97).
Ponca was right behind in 13th place, with sophomore Gannon Pfister finishing just off the medal pace in 18th with a time of 17:41.65. He was followed by Broderick Hogan (29th, 18:13.34) and Zyan Conrad (66th, 19:35.42).
In Class A action, South Sioux City brought up the rear in the 12-team race. Junior Luke McGinty finished in the top 20, placing 19th in 16:42.63. He was followed by Melchisedek Munzambi Katembo (51st, 17:2740), Nabiil Yussuf (69th, 18:09.50), Leandro Magana Magana (70th, 18:12.76), Melusi Kalbui Ngeleka (77th, 18:25.69), Yahir Mejia-Covarrubias (81st, 18:56.68) and Nathan Robles (82nd, 19:08.75).
Photos anc more highlights in next week’s edition of the Dakota County Star.
