Sidney girls place third, boys stumble at state meet

It was an emotionally draining Friday afternoon for the Sidney cross country teams at the Class C state meet in Kearney.

Between a strong finish for the girls' team, a disastrous ending for the boys' team and heartwarming scene at the end of the boys' race, Sidney's and other supporters from around the state experienced a roller coaster of an afternoon.

The girls' team placed third out of 12 teams with a team score of 58, behind second-place Wayne and champion Boone Central/Newman Grove.

The goal for the girls' team was to win a state title. It didn't accomplish that, but it still ran a great race for such a young team up against elite competition and the warmest weather it had run in since August.

Freshman Chantal Riggs, junior Preslie Allen and freshman Charlie Brockhaus all finished in the top 20, coming in 16th, 17th and 18th with times of 21:17, 21:24 and 21:29, respectively. Junior Erin Lindeman placed 24th with a time of 21:51. Abby Heller came in 29th with a 22:09, while Jami Flores – who came in first on the Sidney team at the district meet – posted a time of 22:14, good for 31st.

Riggs says she was pleased with the way she ran in her first state meet.

"I gave my best," Riggs said. "It wasn't enough to get the top spot, but I'm happy with how I ran."

Allen said she got a bit lightheaded during her run, but that didn't stop her from a 17th-place finish.

"I didn't hydrate as well as I should have, so I was kind of getting dizzy," Allen said. "But I did run as hard as I could and I know the rest of the girls did too. The heat kind of got to us."

Head coach Tony Neels thought his girls did a great job, given the conditions and the competitive field of other teams.

"I thought the girls ran a good race," Neels said. "We had a tough time finishing strong but I attribute that to how hard we competed in the middle of that race. With four of those girls being first-time state competitors, I thought they handled it well."

There were high expectations all around for the Sidney boys' team, especially after the girls' team took home third. They ran hard and were in first with their eyes on a first state title for Sidney with 1,000 meters to go.

But then everything fell apart.

Seniors Jachob Wiedeburg and Hayden Lienemann, both of whom had run phenomenally all season, suddenly lost their legs from under them.

Lienemann, who had designs on a top-10 finish, collapsed on the course 5:18 into the race and did not finish. At the time, Wiedeburg was OK and was one of the ones leading the pack.

But then, with a kilometer and a half to go, Wiedeburg began to stumble from side to side and eventually needed help across the finish line.

Senior Brody McKnight finished 12th overall with a time 17:49. He was the only Sidney runner to medal on the afternoon. Sophomore Ryan Aurich placed 17th with an 18:06. Junior Jacob Schaub crossed the finish line in 68th place with a time of 19:37, while his brother, freshman Josh Schaub, finished 11 seconds behind him in 73rd.

McKnight felt deeply for his team afterward, despite his 12th-place finish.

"I know Jake and Hayden gave it their all," McKnight said. "I feel like they might have done it at the wrong time. I'm not sure what was going through their heads. I wish the team would have finished better than it did. I wish Jake and Hayden could be up on the stage getting their medals with me too."

Nebraska Class C State Cross Country meet results @ University of Nebraska-Kearney

Girls’ Varsity Team Scores

1. Boone Central/Newman Grove 43

2. Wayne 48

3. Sidney 58

4. Columbus Scotus 68

5. Chadron 102

6. Ord 109

7. Cozad 132

8. Adams Central 133

9. Lincoln Christian 160

10. Fairbury 165

11. Syracuse 166

12. Wahoo 188

Girls 5K Individual Results

1. Celeste Cardona, Mitchell 20:17

2. Collette Williams, Lincoln Christian 20:20

3. Kiya Passero, Chadron 20:27

4. Sophia Conant, Adams Central 20:41

5. Marcella Jurotich, Wayne 20:45

6. Zoe Ritz, Ord 21:00

7. Drew Gieschen, Ogallala 21:04

8. Catherine Weeder, Boon Central 21:09

9. Gabriella al Kersenbro, O’Neill 21:11

10. Marta Pulfer, Wayne 21:13

11. Katherine Lansman, Ord 21:13

12. Taylor Starman, Boone Central 21:16

13. Sheldon Beierman, Boone Central 21:17

14. Kayla Weyers, Gothenburg 21:17

15. Cassandra Heier, Wayne 21:17

Sidney runners

16. Chantal Riggs 21:17

17. Preslie Allen 21:24

18. Charlie Brockhaus 21:29

24. Erin Lindeman 21:51

29. Abby Heller 22:09

31. Jami Flores 22:14

Boys’ Varsity Team Scores

1. Milford 47

2. Columbus Scotus 58

3. Syracuse 81

4. Mitchell 82

5. Minden 84

6. O’Neill 104

7. Omaha Concordia 113

8. Sidney 120

9. Adams Central 135

10. Columbus Lakeview 135

11. Bishop Neman 136

12. Keanrey Catholic 173

Boys’ 5k Individual Results

1. Tylin Masco, Milford 16:43

2. Hunter Jensen, Milford 17:09

3. Alexander Tietz, Fort Calhoun 17:18

4. Nathan Ostdiek, Columbus Scotus 17:23

5. Edward Grentz, Mitchell 17:33

6. Gerardo Najera, Douglas County 17:34

7. Grant Johnston, O’Neill 17:40

8. Keegan Pope, Syracuse 17:44

9. Nicholas Lindblad, Adams Central 17:43

10. Chase Watson, Mitchell 17:49

11. Jaco Henning, Ogallala 17:49

12. Brody McKnight, Sidney 17:49

13. Brian Santiago, Hartington 17:52

14. Kaleb Lusche, Columbus Lakeview 17:57

15. Tristan Nelson, Douglas County 17:59

Other Sidney runners

17. Ryan Aurich 18:06

68. Jacob Schaub 19:37

73. Joshua Schaub 19:48

88. Jachob Wiedeburg 22:13

94. Hayden Lienemann DNF