State XC
by Kaila Spieker
The Pierce boys and girls cross country teams competed at state cross country in Kearney, where they all did very well.
For the girls, Alexus Sindelar placed first with a time of 19:18.1 and was Class C state winner. Callie Arnold placed 30th and had a time of 21:17.0, and Payten Simmons came in at 33rd and her time was 21:20.6. Savannah Gilmore placed 94th with a time of 23:58.0, and Katie Vogt placed 112th and had a time of 27:55.5.
Overall the girls earned sixth as a team with 15 other full teams competing.
Alexus Sindelar, the state winner, said, “I’m really proud of my team for making it to state and just being able to compete. We started the year off without even having a team and by the end of the year we not only had a team, but we also had gotten runner-up at districts and got sixth at state. I am proud of all these girls for giving it their all and competing.”
The boys team finished ninth out of 15 teams. Mason Sindelar ended the Class C boys state runner-up with a score of 15:53.9. Gavin Geneski placed 14th and had a time of 17:12.5, and Christopher Efta ended at 62nd place and had a time of 18:24.5. Ashton Koch placed 99th and got a time of 19:11.9, and Blake Bolling ended at 110th placing and had a time of 19:33.9.
Mason Sindelar, the state runner-up, said, “I don’t think I did bad, but I also don’t feel like I did my best. I did have nothing left at the end, which was good, but I feel like there were times where I should have pushed a little harder. I would not have caught first place, but I think I could have improved my time a little bit more. In the end, we all ran our hardest and for the last race of my high school career, I am happy with what I accomplished individually and what we accomplished as a whole team.”
Both teams wrapped up their seasons at state.
