Morning move for home XC meet a good decision

After temperatures climbed past 100 degrees last Thursday, Chase County Schools staff and coaches were glad they moved the home cross country meet to morning.
The day turned out well for the Longhorn runners, too, as the boys finished second and the girls fifth in races featuring some top area runners.
Trevin Moreno was the only CCS medalist for the day in 10th place, but Coach Carl Zuege praised all of his runners for competitive races.
“Our boys’ second place in team points was a nice surprise,” Zuege said.
Noting Moreno has not been 100% for earlier races, Zuege said that changed last week.
“He had a good race. He was in 10th place at the mile and I don’t think he faded at all,” the coach said.
He said the reason they were able to claim the runner-up team title was due to his next three runners and their placings—Navy Smith 19th, Haven Hauxwell 21st and Andrew Wiest 24th.
He said Hauxwell is getting healthier and Wiest ran a very good race to score for CCS, also noting that all who scored were freshmen and sophomores.
It was a strong field of boys, with Class D’s top three ranked runners here, and who finished one, two and three in the meet.
Individual winner Trey Robertson of Wallace, a first year XC runner, was the Class D champion at the 2021 state track meet in the 3200, and third in the 1600. Blood clots forced him to stop running in April this year during track.
Runner-up Jarrett Miles of St. Pat’s finished sixth at state cross country last year in Class D, and in track, he won the 1600 and was third in the 3200 this spring.
Zuege said St. Pat’s, who won the team title last week with four in the top 10, is the overwhelming Class D state cross country favorite this year.
Seventy-two boys finished the varsity race.
Chase County’s girls didn’t make the medal stand, but Zuege said they ran competitively with most them in the top half of the field of 61 runners.
McKenzie Vogt was first across for the Longhorns in 21st place, followed by Tessa Smith, Faith Hauxwell, Paige Nickless and Maddie Hanes.
He said the girls competed hard which earned them the fifth place finish as a team.
Morning meet permanent?
Zuege said a straw poll taken among other coaches at last week’s meet showed strong support for Chase County’s meet to stay in a morning time slot.
“And, it seemed like a lot of people in town could still come with an earlier time,” he said.
When the girls race started at 9 a.m., temperatures were in the 70s. By the time the boys started it was in the 80s, and when junior high finished, the mercury was past 90.
Zuege said a move to morning would also ease that day’s CCS schedule, which also sees volleyball, football and softball games being played.
A permanent move to the morning would have be approved by A.D. Troy Hauxwell, the board and administration.
Boys’ results:
Team results—1. NPSP, 18; 2. Chase County, 62; 3. Bertrand, 72; 4. Hershey, 79; 5. Ogallala, 80; 6. Garden County, 97; 7. Paxton, 122; 8. Perkins County, 123; 9. Hitchcock County, 158; 10. Cambridge, 161.
Individual results—1. Trey Robertson, 16:26.70, Wallace; 2. Jarrett Miles, 16:27.50, NPSP; 3. Mason McGreer, 17:07.70, Perkins County; 4. Marcus Hernandez, 18:03.00, Bertrand; 5. Porter Connick, 18:03.70, NPSP; 6. Dax Connick, 18:08.40, NPSP; 7. Zeke Christiansen, 18:12.10, Garden County; 8. Rylin Johns, 18:15.70, Paxton; 9. Andrew Brosius, 18:23.20, NPSP; 10. Trevin Moreno, 18:27.20, CCS; 11. Caiden Castillo, 18:32.40, Ogallala; 12. Nate Billey, 18:34.80, Garden County; 13. Kyle Finney, 18:35.50, Mullen; 14. Billy Tolstedt, 18:37.20, NPSP; 15. Dimitri Pettit, 18:51.50, NPSP; 19. Navy Smith, 19:13.80, CCS; 21. Haven Hauxwell, 19:43.20, CCS; 24. Andrew Wiest, 20:03.10, CCS; 29. Brayan Reyes, 20:27.20, CCS; 30. Salvador Venegas, 20:29.50, CCS; 35. Peyton Dubas, 20:52.00, CCS; 36. Kobe Norman, 20:58.90, CCS; 56. Colin O’Neil, 22:51.10, CCS; 63. Cole Pankonin, 25:08.00, CCS.
Girls’ results:
Team results—1. Ogallala, 31; 2. Paxton, 39; 3. Sutherland , 61; 4. NPSP, 62; 5. Chase County, 66; 6. Cambridge, 75; 7. Bertrand, 102; 8. Hitchcock County, 110.
Individual results—1. Lindee Henning, 19:45.50, Ogallala; 2. Peyton Paxton, 20:21.50, Mullen; 3. Braelyn Gifford, 20:28.80, NPSP; 4. Ashley Robertson, 21:35.50, Wallace; 5. Brenna Deterding, 21:43.80, Cambridge; 6. Lauren Henning, 21:58.60, Ogallala; 7. Dajana Garrison, 22:03.90, Wallace; 8. Kinley Folchert, 22:10.10, Hershey; 9. Meredith Gloy, 22:23.70, Perkins County; 10. Ainsley McConnell, 22:49.90, Paxton; 11. Rachel Harris, 22:56.50, Cambridge; 12. Ryleigh Hanson, 23:16.20, Wallace; 13. Cydnie Wilson, 24:15.00, Sutherland; 14. Cloee Petersen, 24:27.90, Sutherland; 15. Emma Elliott, 24:35.00, Hershey; 21. McKenzie Vogt, 25:34.60, CCS; 25. Tessa Smith, 26:06.60, CCS; 26. Faith Hauxwell, 26:06.80, CCS; 33. Paige Nickless, 26:28.90, CCS; 44. Madelynn Hanes, 27:45.00, CCS.
Junior high boys’ team results—
1. Chase Co. 22, 2. Sutherland 24, 3. Hershey 34, 4. Hitchcock Co. 71.
Junior high boys’ results (3K)—1. Elijah Goodell, 10:38.90, Perkins Co.; 3. Connor Einspahr, 12:33.00, Chase Co.; 7. Brandon Chavira, 12:43.50, Chase Co.; 20. James Bomba, 13:54.20, Chase Co.; 25. Luke Kuenning, 14:48.10, Chase Co.; 31. Alex Nelson, 17:02.30, Chase Co.; 37. Jaxsen Villarreal, 19:31.50. Chase Co.