By Marisa Dawson, Courtesy Photos
The Bennington cross country teams turned in strong performances against a competitive field at the Eastern Midlands Conference Championships on Thursday, October 8, with the girls finishing third and the boys placing fifth.
The Badgers competed at Norris High School in unusually hot conditions, challenging runners across both races as the teams used the conference meet to prepare for district competition.
The Bennington girls finished third in the team standings with 60 points, trailing Gretna with 35 points and host Norris with 42 points. Gretna East placed fourth with 62 points, followed by Elkhorn (79), Waverly (92), Blair (110) and Hastings (124).
Selah Carson led the Badgers with a third-place individual finish in 20 minutes, 22 seconds. Maddie Scott followed in ninth place in 21:03, giving Bennington two runners in the top 10.
Mazlyn Cornett finished 18th in 22:22, while Nicole Huse placed 30th in 23:34 and Jayden Messerly finished 32nd in 23:41.
Head coach Joe Schumm said the challenging weather made times less important than how the runners placed against their conference competition.
“Unusually hot day for the conference meet. Everyone was disappointed in their times, but given the conditions we were not concerned with that as much as places,” Schumm said. “The girls ran well against one of the toughest conferences in the state. To be up close to the top of the list is very hard to do and that’s a credit to these young ladies. It was a good tune up for districts Wednesday.”
The Bennington boys finished fifth with 76 points in another competitive field. Elkhorn won the team title with 22 points, followed by Norris with 28, Gretna East with 44 and Gretna with 60. Blair finished sixth with 103 points, followed by Waverly (110) and Hastings (133).
Thomas Morgan led the Bennington boys, finishing 10th individually in 17:48. Carter Boyer placed 19th in 18:46, followed closely by Keaton Striffler in 20th in 18:51.
Alex O’Connell finished 27th in 19:12, and Brayden Kramer placed 28th in 19:14. Parker Houston rounded out the Badgers’ finishers in 32nd place in 19:29.
Schumm said the boys continued to run together as a group but will need to close the gap between the top finisher and the rest of the team to improve their overall score.
“The boys packed pretty well again, but we need them closer to Thomas to be able to get our score where it needs to be,” Schumm said.
Schumm also emphasized the strength of the conference field and the work ahead for the team as it pursues its postseason goals.
“Tough conference here too, I think everyone in front of us will be in Kearney in a couple of weeks. The boys are working hard and will need to be pretty resilient if they want to reach their goals next week.”
The Badgers began district competition today, Wednesday, October 14, with results expected to follow soon. The meet marks the next opportunity for both teams to build on their conference performances as the postseason continues.
