District D-4 Runner-up Osmond Tigers are, back row: Coach Joe Ortmeier (left), Hunter Beacom, Bodie True, Kaden Polt, James Doyle, Karter Johnson, Connor von Rentzell; front row: Hudson Schultze, Johnson Chishiba, Graysen Schultze, Robert Aschoff and Assi

Tigers are District D-4 runner-up; headed to state cross country meet

AINSWORTH — On Thursday, Oct. 15, the Osmond cross country teams made the long trip to Ainsworth for the District D4 meet. The weather was windy, cloudy and cool, but did not seem to affect the Tigers as most ran their season’s best times and in doing so earned a runner-up plaque.

The Tigers were second behind Ainsworth and tied with West Holt, but had the tie-breaker or better fourth-place finisher than the Huskies. The top six teams were very close.

After a good start, Johnson Chishiba had worked into fourth place and Graysen Schultze in 12th place. The next three Tigers were quite a ways back behind two large groups of runners.

On the second loop around the course, Johnson was still in fourth, Graysen had moved up to eighth and Robert Aschoff, Karter Johnson and Kaden Polt had passed a dozen and a half runners to greatly improve their standing.

Coming off the last turn to the finish, Johnson was passed by Eli Thiele of Summerland and Hunter Bennett of Elkhorn Valley to finish in sixth place in a strong time of 17:56.8. Graysen held off a serious charge from Plainview’s Jordan Mosel to finish in eighth place, also in a good time of 18:13.1.

The fate of the Tigers came around the turn as Robert Aschoff was neck-and-neck with Keagan Mosel of Plainview and teammate Karter Johnson right behind him. Mosel edged Robert as did Karter by .02 of a second. Karter finished in 28th place in 19:55.7 and Robert placed 29th and was clocked at 19:57.4, both faster than their last few outings.

With Robert finishing right behind Karter, that meant Robert was the tie breaker and his 29th place finish was better than West Holt’s 41st place, so the Tigers were awarded the runner-up plaque and the Huskies still qualified their team, but in third place. Kaden Polt finished in 39th place in one of his best times of 20:18.4.

“This was a great accomplishment for our team, and what an exciting finish,” noted Coach Joe Ortmeier. “Everyone on the team showed great heart pushing themselves to the finish gate.”

On the girls’ side of the event, Osmond’s Riley Wagner ran her fastest time ever in finishing in 20th place in 23:22.1. She was five spots from qualifying for the state meet.

Jozie Kumm was next, followed very closely by Hayle Krienert. They came in 47th and 48th place. Jozie was clocked at 26:54.6 and Hayle 26:55.4, which was her fastest time of the year.

Lexi Beacom was not far from her teammates as she crossed the line in 50th place in a time of 27:24.3.

“The girls also gave everything they had, running some of their best times of the season. I appreciate their efforts here at the district meet and all year long,” Ortmeier said. “We will miss our senior class of Johnson Chishiba, Graysen Schultze, Connor von Rentzell, Jozie Kumm, Hayle Krienert and Lexi Beacom. They have been with us a long time and have achieved many of their goals.”

The boys will compete in the state meet Friday, Oct. 23, at the Kearney Country Club. Start time for Class D boys is 12:30 p.m.

Team Scores:

Boys

First — 39, Ainsworth

Second — 42, Osmond

Third — 42, West Holt

Fourth — 43, Elkhorn Valley

Fifth — 44, Plainview

Sixth — 45, Bloomfield-Wausa

Seventh — 64, Neligh-Oakdale

Eighth — 75, North Central

Ninth — 88, Summerland