Tiger runners finish fifteenth in Class D at state

KEARNEY — If you happened to be in Kearney on Friday Oct. 23, you know it was cold — low 30’s cold, with a breeze. Normally, the course at the Kearney Country Club is tough enough with its hills and twists and turns, but the cold was something else.

Senior Graysen Schultze took all the challenges in stride and ran one of his better times of the year, placing 28th in 18:17.7. Teammate Johnson Chishiba was with Graysen at the mile and two mile check points before the cold took its toll on him. At the two mile, he was in 38th place, but finished in 83rd in a time of 19:21.8.

Robert Aschoff, Karter Johnson and Kaden Polt ran in a pack throughout the entire race. They hit the mile and two mile checkpoints within five or six seconds of each other and finished the same way. Karter finished 120th in a time of 20:30.2; Robert, 121st in 20:33.2, and Kaden finished in 123rd place in a time of 20:38.1. All their times were close to their best times, which is really good when compared to the difficulty factor of the Kearney course.

“I want to congratulate our team for qualifying for the state meet and their courageous effort racing on a cold and raw day,” Coach Joe Ortmeier said. “Also, great job for Grayson Schultze placing 28th in a tough field of runners and to Johnson Chishiba for being Osmond’s first four-time state qualifier in cross country.”

Team Scores:

First — 14, Aquinas Catholic

Second — 19, Norfolk Catholic

Third — 61, Freeman

Fourth — 68, Axtell

Fifth — 69, McCool Junction

Sixth — 72, Ainsworth

Seventh — 78, Sandhills Valley

Eighth — 82, North Platte St. Patrick’s

Ninth — 83, Garden County

10th — 95, BRLD

11th — 99, Mullen