Class A girls season preview
- jayslagle
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Contributor: The Nerd
Class A top State returners
’25 State Finish, Name, ‘26 Grade, School, Track PRs
1, Emily Hegge, 10, Papio South (1:01, 2:18, 4:56, 10:37)
7, Ashlyn Carter, 12, Papio South (1:00, 2:16, 5:05)
8, Maya Freyer, 11, Omaha Marian (2:16, 5:04, 10:55)
9, Reese Lancaster, 10, Omaha Marian (no track times, out with injury)
11, Meredith Marsh, 12, Lincoln Southwest (2:23, 5:14, 10:59)
16, Hannah Soucie, 11, Lincoln Southwest (no track times)
17, Lena Sabata, 11, Omaha Marian (2:33)
19, Sadie Osher, 12, Millard West (5:19, 11:25)
20, Sammara Alfayo, 12, Lincoln Northeast (1:02, 2:20, 5:24)
21, Taia Green, 11, Millard West (no track times)
22, Isabella Miron, 12, Lincoln Southwest (2:28, 5:33, 11:34)
23, Aubrey Anderson, 12, Norfolk (2:27, 5:45, 11:58)
24, Julia Kubat, 10, Omaha Marian (no track times)
25, Augusta Ganz, 12, Kearney (2:18)
26, Caitlin Steliga, 12, Omaha Westside (5:27, 11:36)
27, Harper Cowles, 12, Omaha Marian (2:28, 5:32, 11:59)
28, Tori Hillestad, 11, Millard North (5:34, 11:48)
31, Aliya Bos, 12, Norfolk (2:25, 5:30)
32, Layla Snyder, 10, Papillion-La Vista (no track times)
35, Aubrielle Cook, 12, Lincoln Northeast (5:41, 11:57)
36, Annie Finneron, 12, Papillion-La Vista (2:31, 5:38, 11:57)
37, Grace Volzke, 12, Elkhorn South (2:20, 5:18, 11:28)
38, Eva Sindelar, 12, Lincoln North Star (2:23, 5:22, 11:38)
40, Natalie McGranaghan, 12, Millard West (2:22, 5:38)
41, Caitlyn Olsen, 12, Lincoln Southeast (no track times)
42, Allyson Wilber, 11, Millard West (1:01, 2:23)
2025 Class B finishers now in Class A
4, Leah Robinson, 12, Elkhorn North (2:14, 5:11)
20, Riley Keisling, 10, Elkhorn North (2:29, 5:34, 11:54)
21, Hannah Zimmerle, 12, Lincoln Standing Bear (2:32, 5:43, 12:14)
28, Selah Carson, 12, Bennington (2:32, 5:30, 11:49)
31, Madeleine Scott, 12, Bennington (5:41, 11:52)
34, Michelle Kriz, 10, Elkhorn North (5:45, 12:19)
51, Ellie Hansen, 10, Lincoln Northwest (2:35, 5:46)
Other top returners
Ellery Hamilton, 10, Papio LaVista (2:33, 5:20, 11:34)
Alexis Carter, 12, Papio South (2:18, 5:24)
Ella Padomek, 12, Omaha Westview (2:23, 5:26, 12:14)
Louise Walker, 10, Omaha Marian (5:31, 11:38)
Olivia Linderman, 11, Lincoln Southwest (2:40, 5:41, 11:41)
Maya Al-Ameri, 10, Lincoln Southeast (5:36, 11:50)
Potential freshman additions
Madison Scott, Millard West (1:01, 2:28, 5:06)
Madison Vetter, Kearney (1:04, 2:27, 5:29)
Jenna Dahl, Fremont (2:29, 5:29)
Vylah Karre, Elkhorn South? (2:29, 5:30)
Harper Dubas, Millard West (59.9, 2:35, 5th at JH State XC)
Alivea Blank, Millard? (2:37, 5:30)
Sarah Burger, Kearney (2:31, 5:34)
Erin Rodgers, Marian (2:33, 5:47)
Classification changes
North Platte and South Sioux City have moved from Class A to Class B this fall, while Elkhorn North, Bennington, Lincoln Northwest and Lincoln Standing Bear are moving up to Class A.
Individual outlook
Seniors nabbed 10 of Class A’s 15 medals in 2025, so we’re going to see a lot of new faces on the podium this year. We don’t expect to see a change at the top, however, with 2025 champ Emily Hegge (18:24) of Papio South returning for her sophomore season. Emily’s only loss to an in-state competitor in the 1600, 3200 and 5000 during her freshman season was to Avery Arens in the star-studded Titan Classic 1600, and we don’t expect to see any losses this fall.
The second-fastest returner in the field is Leah Robinson (2:14, 5:11) of Elkhorn North, whose 18:51 4th-place time edges the 18:58 ran by Ashlyn Carter (2:16, 5:05) of Papio South. Leah is the only 2025 Class B medalist moving to Class A this fall. Maya Freyer (2:16, 5:04, 10:55) was a hair faster than Ashlyn and Leah in the fall - and just one of three returners who has run a sub-11:00 3200 - but and any of these three girls could finish second this season if they stay healthy.
One of the top girls in this year’s field has yet to run a high school race. Madison Scott has posted times of 1:01, 2:28 and 5:06 while competing for Millard Russell and the 402 Track Club. A former teammate of Emily Hegge, she’s the last girl to beat Emily on the cross country course in November 2024. A lot has changed since then, but Madison’s seen enough competition that we expect her to be Millard West’s top runner by the end of the season. Millard West also adds Harper Dubas, who finished 5th at the JH State XC meet.
Beside Hegge and Freyer, Meredith Marsh (2:23, 5:14, 10:59) of Lincoln Southwest is the third returner who has run a sub-11:00 3200, and she should move up from her 11th-place finish in 2025. My neighbor Sadie Osher (5:19, 11:25) of Millard West has the fourth-fastest 3200 time among returners, while Sammmara Alfayo (1:02, 2:20, 5:24) of Lincoln Northeast will be a top-ten contender. Grace Volzke (2:20, 5:18, 11:28) of Elkhorn South finished 5th in 2024 but appeared to have an injury-plagued 2025 XC season, finishing 37th. Based on the 2:21 and 5:19 marks she ran during track season, just off her PRs, she should be in good form for this campaign.
A few girls had track seasons that were a step up from their 2025 State XC finishes: Isabella Miron (2:28, 5:33, 11:34, 22nd at State XC) of Lincoln Southwest, Caitlyn Steliga (5:27, 11:30, 26th) of Omaha Westside, and Evan Sindelar (2:23, 5:22, 11:38, 38th) of Lincoln North Star.
There are six girls among the top 25 returners that didn’t post any marks during track season either due to soccer or injuries. While we expect Hannah Soucie (LSW), Taia Green (Millard West), Julia Kubat (Marian), Layla Synder (Papio LaVista) and Caitlyn Olsen (LSE) to be competitive, we don’t have any recent data to suggest how competitive.
We’ve listed above a number of freshman who could have a big impact. Kearney has at least two solid additions. Jenna Dahl of Fremont has been beating up on old guys in road races for what seems like a decade, so it’s nice to see her finally enter high school.
As in past years, we’ll be posting individual rankings every Tuesday during the season. As a reminder, we provide rankings to generate increased interest in the sport, and we’re not out to hurt anyone’s feelings. The great thing about cross country is that the State meet represents the only rankings that matter. Even then, that’s just one day and just one race, a snapshot in time, and it in no way reflects an athlete’s future or their chance of success in life. We don’t love distance running because of the medals; we love distance running because it makes us better people. Keep that in mind if you face a few struggles this season.
Team outlook
After six straight titles by Lincoln East from 2018 through 2023, Millard West and Omaha Marian have won the last two titles. Omaha Marian did not graduate any of its 2025 State runners, although at least four of those girls saw limited or no action in the spring due to either injury or playing another sport. Marian will likely add a few talented freshmen. We didn’t expect Marian to race four freshmen at last year’s State meet, so who knows what talent their incoming class holds?
Lincoln Southwest returns four high-level competitors and we could make a strong argument why they’re the preseason favorite. Likewise, Millard West has five returners plus freshman Madison Scott whose junior high 1600 mark of 5:06 would have been the 7th fastest time in Class A last spring. While freshman can struggle to adapt to the 5k distance, Scott won the State JH XC 3k-meter title twice and regularly raced 4k at USATF XC meets the past two years.
Papio South did not graduate any of its 2025 State runners, but they will need to close the gap between their elite top two (Emily Hegge and Ashley Carter) and the next three scorers to be State title contenders. Fortunately, Alexis Carter had an impressive spring running 2:18 and 5:24, while Taylor Pier (2:22) and Jenna Stanger (2:26) registered improvements. In addition, Gracie Suppes has transferred from Papio LaVista to Papio South and is eligible to compete for the Titans. After injuries limited her sophomore and junior cross country seasons, she returned to form last spring and posted season bests of 2:23 and 5:28. Her PRs of 2:16 and 5:06 are from her freshman year, the same year she finished 9th in her only State XC meet appearance. We learned about her transfer after we had completed the first draft of this preview, and her addition is so significant that it moves the Titans from fourth to first on our pre-season predictions.
Kearney and Papio-LaVista return four and five athletes, respectively, but both lost their top two finishers from 2025. Kearney may be adding freshmen Sarah Burger, (2:31, 5:34), Madison Vetter (2:27, 5:29) and Sofia Loza (2:39, 5:51), who finished 2nd, 3rd and 21st at the JH State XC for Zion Lutheran meet last fall. Norfolk returns its top five and six of seven from 2025, but they’ll need to get more girls under 20:00 to compete for a top-three finish.
Nerd predictions
1. Papio South
2. Omaha Marian
3. Millard West
4. Lincoln Southwest
5. Kearney
Errors and omissions
Our season previews are based on prior results and an assumption that underclassmen competing at State in 2025 will run again this year. If you’re aware of an error in the article above, or have information on an impactful runner not listed above, please email jayslagle@hotmail.com so we can determine whether the article should be updated. Our goal as volunteers is to be a resource for fans of Nebraska high school country, but we readily acknowledge that we need feedback from followers and coaches to provide accurate information.
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Originally written and published in August 2026 at www.preprunningnerd.com.
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