NELIGH — Cross country season for Wolfpack runners Samantha Stuhr and Matthew Kerkman came to a close in the late afternoon sunlight at Antelope Country Club last week.
On Thursday, a day which began with light rain along with cold and windy conditions, ended with the sun shining on the Antelope Country Club, site of the district cross country meet.
Some of the best long distance runners from across the state stepped up to the starting line to compete for berths at the state meet to be held later this week at Kearney.
The girls race was first and with it the Wolfpack’s best chance to qualify their first-ever state contestant.
The top 15 individuals would automatically qualify for the state meet.
All season long, Wolfpack senior Samantha Stuhr has been at or near the top of every race she has competed in a season which began in the heat at Albion and concluded today in Neligh.
Stuhr got off to a good start and stayed in contact with the lead runners for most of the race. But, in the last 1,000 meters the front of the pack pulled away, led by Niobrara-Verdigre’s Delani Runnels.
Runnels crossed the finish line in a time of 19:29.73, more than 40 seconds ahead of second place finisher Reagan Moody of Ainsworth at 20:18.21.
Stuhr finished 17th, crossing the finish line in a time of 22:45.49, a personal best for 5,000 meters. There to greet her at the finish line were her parents, her classmates and other friends. The Wolfpack had a large contingent of students at the meet from Pope John and EPS.
The boys race followed, getting underway close to 4 p.m.
Wolfpack junior Matthew Kerkman started near the middle of the runners on the starting line.
Like Stuhr, he would need to finish among the top 15 to qualify as an individual runner at state.
And, in the middle of the pack is where he finished the race. He finished 35th with a time of 20:29.58 out of 70 runners who were on the course.
Winning the race was Dutch Miller of Loup City. He was a notch above all the other runners on the course. His winning time was 16:41.02, 50 seconds faster than second place finisher James Piskorski of Ord who turned in a time of 17:31.76.
