By Marisa Dawson, Courtesy Photos
The Bennington cross country teams traveled to Kearney on Monday, September 28, for the UNK Invitational, where both the girls and boys squads faced a large field of competition as they continued building toward the heart of the season.
The Bennington girls finished ninth with 196 points, while the boys placed 11th with 315 points.
For the girls, Selah Carson led the way with a seventh-place finish in 19:33, earning a medal. Maddie Scott also medaled after placing 18th in 20:36.
Lucy Lampe finished in 21:39, followed by Mazlyn Cornett at 21:56. Jayden Messerly completed the course in 22:20, Nicole Huse in 22:21 and Brooklyn Reiner finished in 22:33, which was a new personal record for her.
Coach Joe Schumm described the girls’ performance as a mix of results, particularly as some runners encountered the Kearney course for the first time.
“This meet was a bit of a mixed bag for the girls,” Schumm said. “We had some runners that experienced the course for the first time and may not have been prepared for it, but I am happy with the results overall.”
Bennington finished behind several teams it had previously defeated this season, providing another opportunity for the team to identify areas for improvement.
“We got beat by some teams we have gotten the better of earlier in the season, so we know we could improve on some things and it was our first time against a lot of these teams, but overall it was a good meet,” Schumm said.
He was particularly pleased with Carson and Scott, who both came away with individual medals.
“Selah and Maddie had another solid race, very happy to see them medal,” Schumm said.
On the boys side, Thomas Morgan paced Bennington with a 26th-place finish in 17:30. Carter Boyer placed 68th in 18:21, while Keaton Striffler finished in 18:35.
Brayden Kramer completed the run in 18:49, followed by Alex O’Connell at 18:55 and Parker Houston at 18:58. Gideon Rogers rounded out the Bennington lineup with a time of 19:31.
Schumm said the boys started the meet strongly but encountered some difficulties in the middle portion of the race.
“The boys came out really strong to start the meet, but seemed to struggle a little in the middle,” he said.
The meet provided the coaching staff with another opportunity to learn more about how the runners respond during competition and where adjustments can be made heading into October.
“We’re learning a lot about how they race now and we’ll adjust things a bit going into October to give them the best chance to succeed as we get to the heart of the season,” Schumm said.
Morgan continued to lead the boys effort, while Boyer and Striffler are also establishing themselves as consistent contributors.
“Thomas ran a good race and Carter and Keaton are becoming really solid runners as well,” Schumm said.
Despite the challenges, Schumm considered the meet a positive experience for the team, particularly with another important opportunity on the horizon.
“Overall I think this was a successful meet for us,” he said. “The boys are still hungry to improve and they’ll get another chance at Conference to sharpen their race strategy.”
With the regular season moving into October, the Badgers will continue working to refine their race strategies and build on the experience gained against some of the state’s strongest competition at Kearney.
