At the Ogallala invite last week, senior Kate Patrick took 73rd with a time of 28:29.7, which was a personal best for Patrick.
Boys take fifth out of 33 teams at UNK
The PC cross country team competed in two meets this past week, with the boys finishing sixth at Ogallala and fifth at the University of Nebraska Kearney meet.
Ogallala
Caden Waitley ran a career personal best with a time of 16:57 to place third at the Ogallala meet Thursday, Sept. 20.
Jaden Dietlein, Jarin Tines and Matthew Hahn placed 24th, 34th and 42nd respectively to contribute to the team’s sixth place finish. The team finished as the top Class D school.
Tines ran his personal best with a time of 18:50.
Head Coach Paula Wurst said Dietlein backed off this race as he was recovering from a cold. Varsity pushers Evan Sestak and Caleb Lagler placed 49th and 82nd respectively.
Colton Pouk finished 14th among the junior varsity runners, finishing as the sixth PC runner.
Hailey Snyder finished in 30th with a personal best time of 22:50. Kate Patrick’s time of 28:29 was also a personal best.
Runners and attendees took cover in buses and vehicles after the girls’ race to await a threatening storm. The boys ran after a little over an hour delay.
Wurst said the runners all benefited from the combination of the cooler weather and the flat course, making it a memorable race for nearly all of them.
UNK
The boys finished in fifth against 33 Class D teams at the UNK meet on Monday, Sept. 24.
Waitley placed 10th out of 280 runners with a time of 17:55. Dietlein followed a close six seconds behind for 12th.
Hahn and Sestak placed 43rd and 76th respectively to contribute to Perkins County’s 126 points
Wurst said the course, where the state compeition is held, is probably their toughest course, but the temperatures were cool and the breezes gentle.
“UNK is always an interesting scenario for the runners. They are used to a week’s recovery between races, and they competed hard at Ogallala only last Thursday, so we are never at our best to race at UNK. However, the UNK course is where we run State on Oct. 19, and I feel it is necessary for our runners to compete on this course prior to the hype of State,” said Wurst.
Snyder finished 59th out of 208 girls.
Next action
The SPVA meet will be held at Pheasant Run Golf Course on Thursday, Oct. 4 . The girls’ race will begin at 4 p.m. and the boys start at 4:30 p.m.