NELIGH — Wolfpack runners Samantha Stuhr and Matthew Kerkman competed with some of northeast Nebraska’s best runners last week.
On Monday, Sept. 14, the Wolfpack were among a large number of schools competing at the N-O Cross Country Invite held at Antelope Country Club.
In the boys 5000 race, Miles Clausen of Battle Creek bested the field with a time of 17:24.64. Placing second was North Central’s Nate Frick who crossed the finish line in 18:10.15.
Wolfpack junior Matthew Kerkman clocked in with a time of 21:13.43 to place 37th. “The course felt a little bit mushy today,” he said about conditions.
Earlier, in the girls 5000 meter race, Delani Runnels of Niobrara-Verdigre again dominanted the field. She won the race with a time of 20:28.02, nearlly 50 seconds ahead of second place runner Mazzy Kuchar of Elkhorn Valley at 21:17.55.
Wolfpack senior Samantha Stuhr placed 18th with a time of 24:38.80. “I feel like I was slower than last time by, like 10 seconds,” she said.
Coach Shanda Schindler said that despite the conditions of the day, it was a good experience to get to know the new course as it will be the site of the district meet next month where the top 15 individual runners will earn a trip to state.
“I felt that well, one of the challenges where you just have to get used to like a newer course here. It’s good to get experience on the course,” Schindler said.
Friday action
On Friday, Wolfpack runners competed at the O’Neill Invite held at the O’Neill Country Club.
In the Boys 5000, winning the race was Alex Carnes of Madison with a time of 20:39.5. Kerkman finished 39th with a time of 21:05.1.
Amelia Buhlke of Central City won the Girls 5000 race with a time of 19:59.1.
Stuhr crossed the finish line with a time of 23:43.9 to place 21st.
