Contributor: The Nerd
The finish line
It's become my tradition to review the District XC results each year and hope that the 16th-place finisher in each race is able to advance to Kearney as part of a qualifying team. Unfortunately, this year I counted 17 athletes who ended their season in 16th place at Districts. The most excruciating circumstance occurred in the A3 girls race where Omaha Central freshmen Violet Fannin and June Yamamoto (below) were initially listed as tying for 15th place in 21:15.20.
Because I've never seen a tie for the last qualifying spot in a Districts race, I reached out to two experienced coaches for guidance. They both replied that the race director must select a 15th-place finisher, either by reviewing the finish line camera or by relying on the finish line official's judgment.
The current NSAA rule allows for only the top 15 finishers and top 3 teams at each District meet. In Districts with a few dominating teams, this approach can make qualifying very difficult for runners competing for high school teams that lack depth. We discussed in an article last year our idea that there should be at least five or ten individual qualifiers beyond the three team qualifiers to ensure the State field includes more than just traditional powerhouses. In late September the Wisner-Pilger athletic director submitted a similar proposal for the NSAA membership to consider this fall, but that doesn't help the athletes who raced last Thursday.
The Kearney, Papio LaVista and Lincoln High girls teams qualified out of the A3 District. Four other girls finished in the top 15 and will advance to Kearney. Based on a review of the finish line camera, Violet was determined to have finished 15th place, making her the fourth-fastest finisher from a non-qualifying team. June was the fifth fastest, finishing a few thousandths of a second behind Violet. Violet will compete in Kearney; June will not.
I spoke with June and her mom on Sunday, three days after she narrowly missed that State berth. With two medals earned this season, June didn't have high expectations heading into Thursday. However, by the middle of the race she and Violet were running together and positioned well, and June began to think she had a chance to qualify. The final 200 meters of the Papio South course are brutal, with a steep 25-meter hill followed by a gradual climb to the finish line. Fans were yelling out placements to June that didn't agree; with 100 meters remaining she didn't know if she was in 14th, 15th or 16th. Violet had fallen behind June late in the race but suddenly appeared at June's shoulder just as they crossed the finish line.
The girls wandered back to the team tent without knowing what places they had finished. They eventually learned that they had the same time. The coaches spoke with the race director, camera frames were reviewed, and Violet was eventually given the nod. June was happy for Violet, 'bummed' for herself, and then frustrated a few days later as she realized how close she had come to qualifying. However, the experience hasn't made her disheartened. Indeed, it's given her more motivation to work hard for the track season and next fall.
One of the most interesting parts of our conservation was about June's summer training schedule. Her father was born and raised in Japan, so June and her sister Ellie spent most of the month of June living with her paternal grandparents in Nakano, a neighborhood in Tokyo. June trained throughout her stay in Tokyo, putting in most of her miles at a nearby park. Neither June nor Ellie are fluent in Japanese, but by the end of their stay they could carry on a limited conversation with their grandparents.
On Sunday morning June ran the Hot Cider Hustle 10k, finishing 2nd in her age group and 8th among all women. She's back at practice this week to help Violet prepare for State.
June's Japanese may be a bit rough, but she already seems to be fluent in good sportsmanship.
No room for fear or doubt
It's State week. You're battling nerves, expectations, uncertainty and a bunch of other things that won't help you race well.
We've got you covered. Here is the link to one of most widely-read articles, "No Room for Fear or Doubt." Relax. You can do this.
Back from the dead
We hate to receive news that an injured athlete is done for the season, so the B1 girls race was enjoyable due to all of the athletes who excelled on Thursday after facing injuries or illnesses earlier this season . Those comebacks included:
Emma Steffensen of Waverly has been fighting mid-race fatigue for much of the season. In just her third result of the season, she ran a season-best 19:48 to finish 3rd.
Ella Ford of Elkhorn North made her season debut at the EMC meet after rehabbing a significant summer injury. She finished 5th in 19:50.
Cece Kramper of Duchesne has been fighting a hip injury that limited her to less than 20 miles in practice over the past month. She ran a season-best 20:01 for 6th.
Paityn Christoffels of Elkhorn North missed the previous three meets due to pneumonia. She finished 8th in 20:11.
Gabi Westfall of Skutt missed her conference meet due to an illness but bounced back for 12th in 20:40.
Maggie Lickteig of Duchesne has perhaps had the roughest season of all, missing several meets due to COVID and a subsequent bout with pneumonia. She returned to action for two races but then missed her conference meet with lower leg pain that is likely a stress fracture or stress reaction. In the week prior to Districts she ran just one uncomfortable mile. She refused to sit out a District race that could have been her last XC meet with Duchesne, and she gutted out 13th place with a 20:47 to help the Duchesne team finish 2nd and advance to State. If Maggie had not raced, my math reflects that Duchesne would have finished in 4th place.
State preparation
The NSAA has a good website for all things related to the State meet at https://nsaahome.org/nsaa-cross-country-championships-hq/. You should purchase your tickets in advance to speed up entry.
Here's the schedule for the State meet races on Friday:
12:00 Class B boys
12:30 Class A boys
1:00 Class B girls
1:30 Class A girls
2:00 Awards ceremony
2:30 Class D boys
3:00 Class C boys
3:30 Class D girls
4:00 Class C girls
There's a high likelihood that at least one athlete will take more than 30 minutes to finish. The start of the next race WILL NOT be delayed because of that. Unless there's an unusual circumstance, the races will start at the scheduled time regardless of what is happening in the previous race.
A few things to consider:
There is a huge crowd at the State meet. You will either have to use a shuttle or walk quite a distance to get to the course at the Kearney Country Club. Avoid the stress and arrive early. The line at the KCC Clubhouse gate can be long at times so this is definitely different than every other meet you've attended this year.
Plan your viewing points in advance. Staying on the north side of the course allows you - with little or no jogging - to see your athlete at the start line, at a second spot somewhere between 1500 and 2200 meters, at 3400 meters, at 4300-4500 meters, and at the finish line. Here's the link to the course map: https://nsaahome.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-State-CC-Course-Map-Schedule.pdf
Most of the course marshals are UNK student athletes. Please give them a thank you if you get the chance.
The 2:00 awards ceremony will not be completed by 2:30 when the Class D boys race starts. Plan accordingly.
Black Squirrel Timing will be posting live results at the athletic.net LIVE website at https://results.blacksquirreltiming.com/meets/41237. I've never had particularly good luck getting a cell phone signal on the course but this will be the best way to find out team and individual results.
The Nerd team will be out in force for the State. If you see someone in Nerd gear carrying a large camera, be sure to give us a 'Howdy Nerd.' Better yet, write it on your leg.
What's your sign?
One of our favorite things to do is capture photos of the signs we see. Please bring your 'A' game to Kearney so we can capture it.
Results
Our results page at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/xcresults has the link for every high school race held in Nebraska last week. With the season nearly over, we'd like to send a huge thank you to the coaches and fans who helped us find meet results that weren't posted on athletic.net. Out of the 175+ high school meets held since August 29, there were only three high school meets where we couldn't find the results.
Rankings
There was a small celebration at Nerd HQ on Sunday afternoon once we completed the final set of rankings of the season. The weekly process of reviewing results and updating the rankings allows us to get to know the names and results of the 30-40 top runners in each division but... it's not a quick task. If we didn't rank you or your athlete as high as you wanted, you can settle your score with us on Friday by outrunning your ranking.
As we've noted countless times this season, you are not defined by your ranking or your finish at State. If you've done it correctly, distance running has brought about some pretty significant changes in your life: self-discipline, better grades, closer friends, higher confidence and increased accountability. A ranking could never capture all of those things, and those should be your biggest accomplishments of the season.
Individual Nerd rankings and coaches team rankings for the entire season can be found at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/rankings.
Photos
The Nerds peaked at the right time and recorded their busiest week of the season. We were able to cover 15 of 19 District meets, 2.5 JV meets and 1 college meet. Since last week we've posted to Facebook the following albums: Dordt collegiate (10/12), JH State (10/12), the Fremont JV meet (10/18), the Millard West JV meet (10/18), Platte River Rumble (10/18) and the following District locations: Papio South (A1/A3), Pioneers' Park (A2/A4), Walnut Grove (B1/B2), Overton (B3/B4), Omaha Concordia (C2), Ogallala (C5), Oakland-Craig (D1), Ainsworth (D3), McCool Junction (D4) and Grant (D6). We still owe you photos from Pender (D2) and the boys' race at the 10/15 LSE JV meet (we didn't capture the girls' race).
Facebook appears to have changed how it links individual photos to albums so the best way to find your album is to go to our Facebook album listing at https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums. Here are shots from each race we have posted since the last Nerdsletter:
End of an era
Last Friday's Platte River Rumble meet was bittersweet for Nerd HQ after Henry (Nerd the Third) ran his final collegiate cross country race. The race marked the end of a 12-year span where Henry and Jack (Nerd Junior) competed for the Cornhusker Flyers, Creighton Prep, UNL (Jack) and Creighton (Henry). The boys' careers were an interesting contrast. While Jack had immediate success in high school, Henry struggled through three years of growth spurts before finally hitting his stride as a senior. Like many collegiate runners, both boys battled injuries and yet still found immeasurable rewards beyond any success on the course or track.
My high school running career was mediocre at best but I've had a 45-year love affair with running. Jack surprised me in 7th grade when he told me he was going out for the track team, and both boys kept surprising me at each stage of their development. Watching my kids compete in a sport I love - and seeing how that sport helped shape them into the incredible adults they've become - has been incredibly gratifying, and it's part of the reason we give so much of our personal time to Nerding.
It's been a helluva ride - the road trips, plane trips, seasons cancelled or delayed by COVID, injuries, victories, disappointments, varsity spots, great races, bad races and the countless PR dinners.
Distance running changes lives, including the lives of the runners' parents. No Nerd tears were shed on the course last Friday, but I am forever grateful for the joy ride that Jack and Henry gave us.
Odds and ends
We will not be writing a State meet recap this year. While we appreciate the followers who read it last year, writing it would consume most of our free time next week. The 20+ Nerds have put in a ton of time since we began writing the season previews in early August. As soon as we publish State photos, most of us will put away our cameras and spend some quality time with the family.
A follower shared with us that the Palmyra boys were inadvertently announced as the District C1 third-place team on Thursday because the preliminary scores reflected five scorers instead of the correct four. Fortunately, Palmyra was aware of the correct score so they had no false hopes of advancing to State, but the boys did take a moment to have some fun. They took a team picture with the third-place plaque before humbly handing it over to the rightful owner, Lincoln Lutheran.
We're sending a 'get well soon' message to Oliver Sorensen. After an up-and-down season, Oliver was fit and looking to be a scorer for Mount Michael heading into the B1 District meet. My camera images had him in 23rd place at 3400 meters and within striking distance of a top-15 qualifying spot. Unfortunately, at some point during the next kilometer he fractured his fibula, which reduced his pace to a shuffle by the time I saw him again at 4400 meters. By that point he was no longer in scoring position (Mount Michael finished 3rd) and he could have easily walked off the course. Instead, in what was likely the last cross country race of his career, he gutted out a 23:15. He finished. He's a winner in my book.
Twitter was abuzz last week with the announcement that Grand Island, one of Nebraska's largest high schools by sophomore-to-senior enrollment, will not be fielding a girls varsity basketball team this winter due to the lack of participating juniors and seniors. In the same week, Omaha Benson announced that it was forfeiting its last two football games due to low participation and safety concerns. Everyone is giving their opinion on why this came to be, so I might as well jump in.
In my opinion, sports specialization prior to high school is killing the multi-sport athlete. Kids can now participate almost year-round in any of these sports - volleyball, baseball, wrestling, basketball, soccer, football, golf, tennis, running or dance - IN FOURTH GRADE! When athletes specialize so early, they stop developing the skills and experience that are needed to compete in a second or third sport. If they burn out of their only sports pursuit, they often don't have a backup sport that could keep providing the positive benefits of being part of a team. If the do stick with the sport, families are spending tens of thousands of dollars on club fees for an athlete to... wait for it... potentially earn a partial athletic scholarship that may pale in comparison to their academic scholarship. Please... let your young kids play multiple sports.
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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on October 23, 2024. If you find an error, shoot us an e-mail at jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it fixed.
Like this coverage of the Nebraska cross country scene? There's more of this at www.preprunningnerd.com. Check out the Blog tab for our frequent stories and the Results tab for every Nebraska high school meet we can find. If you want to see meet photos or just need to kill a few hours on social media, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PrepRunningNerd or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/preprunningnerd.
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.