Perkins County’s Ashley Kemling finished 17th out of 123 girls entered in the Class D state cross country meet in Kearney on Friday, Oct. 23, with a time of 16:28.6, a career personal record.
Finishing just out of medals which are awarded to the top 15, the sophomore runner received praise from her coach, Paula Wurst.
“Ashley ran a really smart race, keeping her district competition in her sights, passing Jobi Hasenauer from Maywood (fourth at districts) and Gabby Mullanix from Dundy County (second at districts). She nearly caught North Platte St. Patricks’ Mandy O’Malley (D-5 district champ) at the finish,” said Wurst.
“Just to show how tough Class D competition is, if she had been running in Class C, her time would have been good for a sixth place finish,” said Wurst. “Her times were competitive with the best runners from North Platte in Class A and from McCook in Class B.”
North Platte’s Ashley Ogborn and McCook’s Chelsea Geschwentner had times nearly identical to Kemling’s.
“Ashley exhibited great motivation, toughness and team leadership throughout the season,” said Wurst.

Girls Class D
Individual Results
(Top 20 out of 123)

1. A. Weeder, Lindsay-NG     15:18.1
2. M. Kaps, Bert-Loom    15:31.3
3. S. Plambeck, Linc Ch    15:33.8
4. M. Dewispelare, Aq. Cath    15:41.8
5. K. Steffen, Crofton    15:45.3
6. K. Jacobsen, Laur-Cole    15:53.7
7. D. Riesberg, Crofton    16:00.9
8. W. Claypool, Gibbon    16:01.6
9. M. Jacobi, St. Cecilia    16:01.7
10. T. Tramp, Crofton    16:02.1
11. B. Swantek, McCool J    16:02.1
12. C. King, Oak-Craig    16:05.4
13. B. Korus, Lindsay/NG    16:08.2
14. M. Gallegos, Ains    16:20.1
15. M. Falkenberg, Croft    16:23.0
16. M. O’Malley, NPSP    16:24.7
17. Ashley Kemling, PC    16:28.6
18. R. Williams, Linc Ch    16:32.3
19. S. Thiele, West Holt    16:34.3
20. G. Mullanix, Dun Co    16:36.3