Even though fall seasons are almost coming to an end, the cross-country runners have had quite a successful year. With only four meets left to go, the runners have attended five and placed at almost all.

This year’s cross-country coach is Mr. Nate Lanik. Last year, he coached girl’s golf, while Mr. Swanson coached cross-country. Lanik switched coaching roles this year in the high school. “Both are individual sports, but I am working with more kids and both genders. Coaching allows you to make a difference, I am just doing that in a different sport this year.”

The runners for the fall season include seniors Kelsey Adamson, William Grant, and Jose Vasquez. Juniors include Tyler Adamson, Ty Redecker, Remy Lowe, and Juni Vante. Sophomores include Jorgen Johnson, Lane Applegarth, Evan Steggs, Andrew Stitch, and Armando Valdez. Freshmen include McClain Adamson, Cade Stephenson, Bailey Shimp, Kathleen Kuzmic, Katelyn Nunes, Mason Heimstra, and Miguel Cardenas. Both the girls and boys teams run a distance of 5,000 meters.

Senior runner William Grant has participated in cross-country for three years. “My senior year is going great. I am having fun introducing and helping the lower-classmen.” Grant has a personal record of 21 minutes and 30 seconds, which he ran during the Scottsbluff meet on September 21. “ My greatest success so far is training my body to be more durable to have more energy in order to be more fit. Our greatest success as a team is getting along and supporting each other.”

At the first meet of the season, the Varsity boys placed 10 out of 15 teams with a total of 163 points at the September 4 meet in Gering. The top individual placers for this meet were Tyler Adamson who placed 33, Mason Heimstra who placed 35, McClain Adamson who placed 41, and Kelsey Adamson who placed 21.                     At the September 12 meet in Chadron, individually, Tyler Adamson placed 15, Mason Hiemstra placed 26, McClain Adamson placed 33, Jorgen Johnson placed 41, Lane Applegarth placed 63, Kelsey Adamson placed 12, Kathleen Kuzmic placed 30, Katelyn Nunes placed 31, Juni Vante placed 53 and Remy Lowe placed 55

At the home meet on September 19, the Varsity boy’s team placed 6 with a total of 101 points. The top individual placers for this meet were Tyler Adamson who placed 8, McClain Adamson who placed 25, Miguel Cardenas placed 35, Jorgen Johnson placed 43, Lane Applegarth placed 56, Will Grant placed 59, Kelsey Adamson placed 16, and Kathleen Kuzmic placed 30.

At the JV Scottsbluff meet on September 21, the JV boy’s team placed 8 with 277 points. Will Grant finished 51, Ty Redecker placed 56, Bailey Shimp placed 62, Cade Stephenson placed 63, Evan Steggs placed 64. There were no JV girl runners for this meet.

At the Ogallala meet on September 24, the boy’s varsity team placed 5 while the girls team placed 6. Individually, Tyler Adamson placed 14, Mason Hiemstra placed 23, Miguel Cardenas placed 29, McClain Adamson placed 31, Jorgen Johnson placed 32, Lane Applegarth placed 61, Kelsey Adamson placed 15, Kathleen Kuzmic placed 31, Juni Vante placed 54, and Remy Lowe placed 56.

Coach Lanik states, “We are a young team, but the kids are working hard and continuing to improve. Part of the process is figuring out how to run the race and what works best for each kid. Every kid has seen their personal best time drop at some point during the season. The hard work is paying off!”