Tigers are ninth at state cross country meet

KEARNEY — The Osmond Tigers made their first team appearance at the state cross country meet held at the Kearney Country Club Friday, Oct. 25. This was the first time five of the six runners had been at the state meet. One hundred-fifty-two runners lined up for the start, including the six Tigers.

At the first mile, Johnson Chishiba was 31st; Graysen Schultze, 54th; Mason Bykerk, 84th; Ryan Schmit, 94th; Aaron Chishiba, 101st, and Octavio Palacios, 120th, with Johnson running a 5:32. The pack thinned and there was a lot of movement in the field during mile two, which has the most hills of the course.

At the two mile, Johnson fell back one spot to 32nd in a time of 11:36.0, with Mason moving all the way up to 33rd place, right behind Johnson at 11:37.0. Graysen also moved up to 45th place and Ryan up to 90th. Aaron and Octavio fell back slightly.

Running the last tough mile to the finish line, Mason Bykerk moved up to 28th place and was the top finishing Tiger. His time was 18:07.4. Graysen moved up to 37th place in a time of 18:21.8. Johnson struggled on the third mile and fell to 78th place in a time of 18:54.0, while Ryan moved up to 84th place in a time of 18:58.9. Aaron came across the line in 127th place in a time of 20:09.0 and Octavio finished in 132nd place and was clocked at 20:23.7.

As a team Osmond finished in ninth place. Axtel won Class D.

“I thought overall we ran very well,” complimented Coach Joe Ortmeier. “Most times were near our runners’ best for a difficult course like this. The boys had a great season, winning five meets and runner-up in two others with a district championship to their credit.”

Team Scores:

First — Axtel 69

Second — Aquinas Catholic 80

Third — St Paul 93

Fourth — Shelton 102

Fifth — Stanton 114

Sixth — BRLD 115

Seventh — Wilber-Clatonia 131

Eighth — Norfolk Catholic 133

Ninth — Osmond 136

10th — Cornerstone Christian 177

11th — Ainsworth 178