The weather was perfect with temperatures in the lower 70s Friday as the Chadron State Cross Country course lay host to the Chadron High Cross Country Invite.
The boys race went off first through the hills south of Chadron and coming out on top was Trevor Zurn of Alliance with a time of 16:55, winning by seven seconds. Chadron had 10 runners in the high school division, led by Braylon Branson with a 19:48 to finish 20th, Henrick Rider was two spots behind him with a 19:53. Maaxton Stewart ran a 21:11 to finish 44th and Samson Sprague rounded out the scored runners with a 21:54 to finish in 55th.
Custer, South Dakota won the team race with 27 points, Gering followed in second with 27, Alliance third with 45, Rapid City Christian with 67 finished in fourth, Hemingford had 101 points in fifth, Sidney with 111 to finish sixth, Gordon-Rushville with 112 in seventh, Chadron finished seventh 120 and Scottsbluff rounded out the team scoring in eighth with 147.
In the girls race it was Hemingford who dominated, winning the team race with Taylor Harrelson who ran a 21:33, Dakota Horstman from Hemingford finished 33 seconds behind in second with a 22:06.
For the Chadron Cardinals Jenstsyn Fuller ran a 24:11 to place in 11th with Lillie Uhing running a 24:13 to finish right behind her in 12th. Ava Pyle ran a 24:59 to finish 17th and Sidney Schmidt rounded out the runners scoring for Chadron with a 25:17, finishing in 21st.
Team scoring for the girls race was dominated by Hemingford winning by 20 points with a score of 26, Custer finished second with 46, Sidney right behind them in third with 50, Gordon-Rushville with 57 in fourth, Chadron finished fifth with 57, Rapid City Christian in sixth with 106 and Gering finished in seventh with 110.
After the race Chadron High Cross Country coach told me in a text that “First and foremost, what an incredible community/school supported event! Massive thank you to CHS Administrators for supporting teachers bringing students over to cheer. So unique for cross country. Also thank you to coach Jack Gruver and Ted Tewahade at CSC for their help and Bubba Page with the National Guard for hydration.”
“Competitively, what a fast day on a tough course. Significant growth for the boys team in terms of time. For the ladies, Jenstsyn Fuller and Lillie Uhing medaled, but crazy breakthrough days for Ava Pyle and our freshman Brynn Buskrik and Annabell Vandermay, really pleased with the day.”