Contributors: The Nerd team
This is our fourth of eight previews of the 2024 Nebraska high school cross country season. While we have connected with some coaches, keep in mind that we may not know about injuries, transfers, lack of summer training, bad break-ups or anything else that might impact athletes this season. If we didn't highlight your athlete, it's not out of spite; it's takes a lot of research to write eight articles and at some point we just got tired. If we've made an error, please DM us or e-mail jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it corrected.
Now that Class A and Class B have been reset to include 65 teams instead of last year’s 60, Class C looks a bit different in 2024. Alliance, McCook, Mount Michael, Omaha Gross and Platteview have been shipped off to Class B, while GICC, Omaha Nation, JCC and Lincoln Lutheran jump from Class D to C. Madison is the only school stepping down, moving to Class D in 2024. (If you're curious about XC classifications, here's the NSAA link: https://nsaahome.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-CC-Classifications-to-Post.pdf)
Top returners from 2023 State meet with current grade listed:
2, Tyler Hetz, 10, Gothenburg, 16:35.9
4, Avery Carter, 11, Milford, 16:53.5
5, Michael Rodgers, 12, Mount Michael, 16:54.4 (to Class B)
7, Luke Woockman, 11, Bloomfield-Wausa, 17:14.2
9, Haven Hauxwell, 11, Chase County, 17:21.9
12, Trevin Opp, 10, Lincoln Christian, 17:24.5
13, Jaxon Kilmurry, 12, Battle Creek, 17:27.2 (not competing)
14, Trevor Zurn, 11, Alliance, 17:27.5 (to Class B)
16, Jackson Teetor, 12, Mount Michael, 17:33.6 (to Class B)
17, Esten Shane Kohl, 10, Platteview, 17:34.6 (to Class B)
18, Payton Day, 11, Omaha Concordia, 17:43.2
19, Miles Sughroue, 12, Kearney Catholic, 17:46.4
20, Nolan Engel, 11, Lincoln Christian, 17:48.0
21, Mesach Nkurubujango, 10, Mount Michael, 17:48.1 (to Class B)
22, Dayton Graves, 11, Syracuse, 17:48.2
25, Yahriel Gaeta, 12, Gothenburg, 17:53.2
27, Roman Urbom, 11, Holdrege, 17:57.6
28, Brier Cerny, 12, North Bend Central, 17:58.3
29, Tallan Zimmerman, 11, Falls City, 17:58.6
30, Kolby Tighe, 12, Arlington, 17:59.4
33, Chris Post-Whiteowl, 11, Fort Calhoun, 18:04.3
34, Jack Carda, 12, Mount Michael, 18:04.5 (to Class B)
35, William Dennis, 11, Fort Calhoun, 18:04.5
36, Maxwell Teetor, 10, Mount Michael, 18:07.9 (to Class B)
37, Jackson Hansen, 12, Broken Bow, 18:08.7
38, Michael Golus, 11, Holdrege, 18:10.5
39, Charles Evans, 12, Aurora, 18:12.7
41, Logan Spence, 12, Boone Central, 18:14.3
42, Emmanuel Gonzalez, 10, Wayne, 18:15.8
45, Evan Odvody, 11, Wilber-Clatonia, 18:20.9
46, Sawyer Laflan, 11, Ogallala, 18:22.1
48, Drew Miller, 11, Wayne, 18:23.3
50, Devin Graham, 10, Alliance, 18:24.2 (to Class B)
For Class B and C, varsity squads consist of six runners with the top four finishers count towards the team total.
Top teams in 2023:
1. Gothenburg, 38 points (3 of 6 2023 State runners return)
2. Lincoln Christian, 45 points (2)
3. Mount Michael, 57 points (Moves to Class B in 2024)
4. Fort Calhoun, 112 points (4)
5. Syracuse, 114 points (5)
6. Milford, 129 points (5)
In contrast to Class A and B, Class C features very few teams who bring back multiple top-50 finishers from 2023. In fact, only 24 top-50 runners from 2023 will be competing in Class C this fall. Even more surprising, Class C will only feature five returning medalists.
The reclassification changes appear to strengthen two-time defending champion Gothenburg’s already-high-odds of achieving a three-peat. While the Swedes graduated Parker Graves, Ethan Olsen and Nathan Sager, they return runner-up Tyler Hetz, 25th-place Yahriel Gaeta and Evan Pelzer, who had a very strong freshman year. To that they add Bryon Neals, the coach’s son. Bryson finished 2nd at the Junior High State XC meet before running 2:05 and 4:41 (and long jumping 20-05.25!) during track season.
Avery Carter of Milford had a solid sophomore track season, setting PRs of 1:58, 4:31 and 10:22. Luke Woockman (PRs of 5:00/10:26) of Bloomfield-Wausa will have to adjust to a new coach with Duane Wilken retiring after 52 years of coaching but we're not worried; Luke has finished 16th and 7th in his first two State meets. Haven Hauxwell of Chase County improved his 1600 and 3200 PRs by 19 seconds each this spring, running 4:41 and 10:11.
Lincoln Christian graduated four of the six boys from its 2023 runner-up team but it returns the #2 and #3 finishers, Trevin Opp and Nolan Engel. Trevin ran 4:39 and 9:45 this spring, solid marks as a freshman, while Nolan’s track season appeared to end early due to an injury. Lincoln Christian has a solid program and should rebuild quickly.
Fort Calhoun won the 2021 State title, finished 3rd in 2022 and nabbed 4th place in 2023. While they graduated their top finisher, Gage Nixon, he finished just one second ahead of their second and third runners. While none of their boys were ranked last year, they return significant experience. Their returners include Chris Post-White Owl (#527 above, 2:07, 4:58), William Dennis (2:05, 4:49), Lawson Tjardes (2:03, 4:38) Seth Waters (2:15, 2:11 split) and Travis Skelton (2:11 split, 11:03). Fort Calhoun finished 5th in the Open division of the Junior High State XC meet with Sean Waters (12th place), Connor Reed and Boyd Buker as their top 8th graders. Waters ran a 5:22 1600 in the spring, a solid time for junior high.
Brier Cerny of North Bend Central seems poised to make the biggest leap from last year’s XC season. He finished 28th last October, but then at State Track finished 4th in the 1600 (4:33) and 8th in the 3200 (10:11). He improved his 1600 PR by 19 seconds and his 3200 PR by 39 seconds from the 2022 track season.
Other runners of note:
Jaxon Kilmurry of Battle Creek medaled last fall, finished 2nd in the 1600 at State (4:30) and PR’d in the 3200 with a 10:15. He is skipping the cross country season to focus on basketball. His teammate Miles Clausen ran a 10:20 3200 this spring as a freshman, and that’s a competitive 3200 time for Class C cross country.
Payton Day of Omaha Concordia broke into the Nerd rankings late in the 2023 season, topping out at 13th. He’ll likely be on the initial 2024 rankings due to his 2:01, 4:36 and 10:24 PRs set during the track season.
Miles Sughroue of Kearney Catholic posted times of 5:04 and 10:44 during the 2024 track season. There’s a ton of excitement in the Kearney Catholic program after (a) the girls won the State track title in May and (b) construction of the school’s first-ever track has begun, so perhaps aptly-named Miles can soak up a bit of that magic.
Dayton Graves of Syracuse qualified for the State track in the four distance events, and he finished the season with PRs of 2:06, 4:44 and 10:21. Look for him to be a medal contender this fall. Teammate Nolan Gartner finished 4th at State T&F in the 800 with his first sub-2:00 effort (1:59.71), so look for him to move up from his 53rd-place finish in 2023.
Drew Miller (#602) of Wayne was in the Nerd XC rankings for two weeks in early 2023 before finishing 48th at State, another victim of the brutal heat on race day. He rebounded with PRs of 4:51 and 10:15 in the spring and should be a solid medal contender.
Max Prochnow of Lincoln Lutheran finished 62nd in the Class D meet last fall, but he ran a 4:42 1600 at the State meet in May and should be competitive this fall.
Kolby Tighe from Arlington qualified for State T&F in both the 1600 and 3200, and he established new PRs of 2:10 (split), 4:44 and 10:09 during the track season.
Sam Cederburg of Minden was in our 2023 XC rankings for four weeks before a rough State XC meet, but he returned this spring to post a 10:10 3200. We expect Coach Wheelock to help Sam take it up a notch this fall.
Gannon Hubbard (right, above) of Palmyra qualified for State XC last fall but had a disappointing result. This past spring he set PRs of 4:48 and 10:22 – and that 10:22 puts him in contention for a State XC medal this fall.
Holdrege only graduated one boy from their 9th-place team in 2023. We mistakenly listed them as moving up to Class B in our first version is this article, so here's an attempt to correct. They return two top-50 performers from last year - Roman Urbom (4:53/10:24 in the spring) and Michael Golus (2:05/4:46). Their fastest returner may be sophomore Christophe Taylor, who ran 2:05.83 and 4:35 during track season. They are also expected to return Dominic Deaver (5:12/11:27) and Mitchell May (2:10). We won't change our predictions below but Holdrege may have the horse power to vie for a top-5 finish.
With only 24 returners from last year’s top 50 finishers, the competition for a medal in the Class C boys’ race is wide open. We’ve got a few favorites in mind but success will likely be decided by summer mileage and who stays healthy.
Way-Too-Early team predictions:
Nerd Senior: Gothenburg, Fort Calhoun, Lincoln Christian
Nerd Junior: Gothenburg, Milford, Fort Calhoun
Nerd the Third: Gothenburg, Syracuse, Milford
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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on August 23, 2024. If you find an error, shoot us an e-mail at jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it fixed.
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Finally, if you think runners, jumpers and throwers are the best things on earth, you'll enjoy our two most popular articles. In 2018 we published "The Runner with the Broken Heart" about a high school boy who finished last in nearly every race he ran. In 2022 we published, "The Fall and Rise of Emmett Hassenstab," a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadrapalegic after a swimming accident.