PHS Cross Country
Girls and Boys Cross Country Compete at the Stanton Invite
By Alanna McKeown
On Thursday, Sept. 28, the boys and girls cross country team ran at the Stanton Invite, and the boys team finished first and the girls team was able to post a team score for the first time this season.
The Pierce girls team got overall fifth place, with Taydym Koch getting 11th place in a time of 24:09. Aylla Weeder and Bailee Thelen, coming off injuries and running for the first time this season, finished in 21st place with a time of 25:44 and 22nd place with a time of 25:46, respectively. Amelia Ahlers ended in 24th place with a time of 26:18.
Weeder says, “I was glad to have all the girls back and actually have a girls team.”
The Pierce boys team competed well and finished first overall as a team, with Kendall Shada getting second place individually with a time of 18:08. Elijah Streff ended in fourth place with a time of 18:35, Kyle Abler got seventh place with a time of 18:52, and Carl Vogt placed 18th with a time of 20:19.
“I was pleased by everyone who ran. I knew we were gonna have some tired legs because we ran a hard course Monday. Thursday's race was more about being mentally prepared than physically prepared,” coach Gary Shada says.
Journey to Norfolk Catholic with the cross country runners for the Mid-State conference cross country meet on Thursday, October 5..
XC Competes at UNK Invitational
By Emma Risinger
Bluejay cross country runners ran at the UNK Invitational on Monday, September 25, at the Kearney Country Club.
The meet was exceptionally large, with a total of 153 teams, ranging across Classes A, B, C, and D, which were separated out within the boys and girls divisions.
The boys team ranked 22nd out of 39 Class C boys teams, and the girls team was not able to place.
“The UNK Invite was not one of our better performances as an overall team,” comments head coach Gary Shada on the day’s races. “I feel that we were a little intimidated by the sheer volume of runners and that this was run on the state course. Moving forward as we prepare for conference, we are going to try to get in a little more hill work but at the same time, make sure our legs are getting the rest that they need."
Running in the boys Class C race, Kendall Shada was Pierce’s top runner that day, in 67th out of 339 runners, and he had a time of 18:49.41. Following were Kyle Abler in 83rd place, who came in at 19:11.89, and Elijah Streff who finished in 87th and clocked in at 19:15.66. Nickolas Efta placed 195th and timed 20:54.06, and Carl Vogt ranked 217th and finished in a time of 21:19.99. Bo Bockelman finished in 234th and ran the course in 21:40.76. Zakary Abler and Maxwell Weber rounded out in 248th and 283rd, with times of 22:09.30 and 23:11.74, respectively.
As for the girls Class C division, Taydym Koch finished in 80th place out of 193 runners, and had a time of 24:29.01.
“I think the season so far is going really good. We are all getting better and better,” she commented.
In addition, Amelia Ahlers placed 148th in the girls race with a time of 27:15.49.
Cross country will have their next race at the Mid-State conference competition on Thursday, October 5, at Skyview Lake at 4:30 p.m. It will be hosted by Norfolk Catholic.
