N-O Girls Take Second, Falcon Boys Take First At Neligh Meet

Runners fought cold and wet conditions to race towards some impressive times at the Antelope Country Club Monday afternoon near Neligh.

On the girls side, host school Neligh-Oakdale took home runner-up thanks to a strong team effort. All six Warrior runners placed in the top 20 of a competitive meet, despite having multiple runners battling injuries.

"Our depth, we're not 100 percent healthy right now," Warrior coach Rick Eickholt explained. "We'll have to make some decisions. We got another meet Monday so we may end up resting some people and not running full squad on Friday. Whatever is in our best interest down the road for districts."

Leading the way for the Lady Warriors was Kasi Grosserode, who placed fifth with a 21:36. Madi Grosserode was not far behind, finshing eighth at 22:26. Jayda Chance finished eleventh at 23:56, Hailey Bixler was fourteenth with a time of 24:44, Rachel Higgins took home fifteenth with a time of 24:46, Brittany McConnell was eighteenth at 26:31 and Alexis Jensen finished at 26:35 for nineteenth place.

Elkhorn Valley also had a great showing on the day, led by Alison Stineman's first place finish. Her time of 19:20 is potentially a new course record. Katy Fleetwood finished seventeenth with a time of 25:52 and Audrey Chvala finished with a time of 30:49 for the Falcons.

On the boys side, Elkhorn Valley took home the team title, thanks to a team effort led by Austin Miller. Miller finished fourth with a time of 16:52. Brayden Effle was not far behind, finishing sixth at 17:18. Tucker Hecht finished eleventh at 18:07, Kolton Krick ran a time of 18:23 to finish thirteenth, while Isaiah Greenhalgh finished in 20:11 and Dalton Smutny finished at 21:05 for the Falcons.

For Neligh-Oakdale, it was Cole Belitz leading the pack, finishing ninth with a time of 17:36. Cameron Wilkinson finished with a time of 20:01, Christian Carothers ran a 20:42, Logan McConnell finished at 22:13 and Gage Dawson ran a 23:47 for the Warriors. All were strong times for the boys this season.

"This is a fast course," explained Eickholt. "There are basically no hills and a lot of very long straightaways. If anyone's got any kind of turnover, their going to run a good time on this course."

In the junior high race, Hunter Bennett took home second for the boys while fellow Elkhorn Valley teammate Damian Smith was seventh. Carney Black was the lone Falcon to medal on the girl's side.

Griffin Claussen led Neligh-Oakdale's junior high runners with a third place finish.