Robertson wins Class D XC, McGreer is third

By Diane Stamm

Grant Tribune-Sentinel

The Class D Boys’ State Cross Country Championships was everything anyone who’s followed the class expected.

Wallace’s Trey Robertson, North Platte St. Pat’s Jarrett Miles and Perkins County’s Mason McGreer finished one-two-three at Friday’s meet at the Kearney Country Club.

Wallace Head Coach Madisen Messersmith said Robertson’s number one goal throughout the season was to win state. 

“I think that his competition with Miles and McGreer really benefited him and helped push him. Being able to run throughout the season with his two toughest competitors was a huge factor in getting him the state title,” Messersmith said.

Robertson’s time of 16:38.7 was seven seconds ahead of Miles, who’s time was 16:45.7. McGreer finished another seven seconds back at 16:52.1.

Messersmith said the three boys have so much talent and ability and it was awesome to be able to watch them compete against each other so often this season. 

“Not many meets have the top three ranked runners competing, and we got to see it a few times,” Messersmith added.

PCS Head Coach Seth Burge said McGreer was hoping to finish ahead of Miles as he had for most of the season, but third place at state his sophomore year is something to be proud of. 

“He stayed in close proximity to Jarrett and Trey the entire race and they had just as much of a kick at the end as Mason did. Mason had a great sophomore season, setting the school record in boys 5km earlier in the season,” Burge said.

Runners from team state champion Cornerstone Christian out of Bellevue were fourth and sixth, helping the Cougars finish three points ahead of NPSP in the team race.

Burge said it’s always a toss up what the weather is going to be like for the state cross country meet in late October and runners actually fared pretty well this year. 

By the girls’ race it was actually quite warm, he said. 

Crofton’s Jordyn Arens won the Class D girls’ title. Arens finished with a time of 19:29.8.

Ashley Robertson finished 33rd to lead Wallace with a time of 22:07.7. Dajana Garrison placed 41st, 22:36.5, and Ryleigh Hanson was 77th, 23:27.4.

“Individually they all ran so well, I couldn’t have asked for much better from them as far as times go for that course,” Messersmith said.

Perkins County’s Meredith Gloy was 48th out of the 124-woman field with a time of 22:49.8. Burge said the finish was in line with Gloy’s goal.

“Meredith’s goal was to place in the 40s, which she was able to accomplish for her last cross country race, placing 21 spots and 44 seconds ahead of her performance at the state cross country meet last year,” Burge said, adding, it was a great end to her four years on the team. 

Gloy “was the lone girl runner for PC during her freshman year and the team was able to place fourth this year at districts - much of that growth can be attributed to Meredith’s recruitment efforts and leadership over her four years,” Burge said.

Wallace finished 12th as a team. One team in the field had four runners, but all the other teams in the top 18 had five runners.

“Obviously with the girls we have running, we have some big plans and goals for them. They’re all talented, gritty runners and going into state we had an idea of where we wanted to be sitting as a team,” Messersmith said.

She was proud of how her runners kept up with bigger teams and schools with just the three of them. 

“I think it’s super impressive for them to hold their own the way they do and to be able to score as high as they do with the minimum requirement for a team,” Messersmith said.

Gloy and Brient Wood were four-year competitors in cross country and Burge said they will be missed next year. 

“We are already looking forward to the team lineup for next year,” Burge added.

T. Robertson is the only senior for Wallace. Ryun Sheets and Garrison were juniors on this year’s Wildcats squad, while A. Robertson and Hanson are sophomores.

“This year will be a tough one to beat for sure and we will miss Trey a lot, but I am looking forward to the girls competing next year. They’ll all have a couple years of experience under their belts and some motivation from their performances this year to motivate them, so it’ll be fun to watch it unfold,” Messersmith said.