Sidney Cross Country Takes State Title

For the first time in school history, the Sidney Red Raiders are State Champions in Cross Country.

An historic season featuring nine wins in a row by the boy's squad was capped by a Class B State Championship. Senior captain Collin Brauer led the team with a fifth place finish, followed by senior Carlos Lucero in 13th place.

The Sidney team finished first overall with 53 points, followed by rival Holdrege with 58 points, and Lincoln Christian finishing third with 81 points.

Sidney cross country head coach Donna Wiedeburg was thrilled with the effort on the boy's squad.

"We knew Holdrege was going to be tough to beat for the fourth time, but the boys did it to claim the first Cross Country State Championship for Sidney High School. It was important to them to do this for this town and this community, their school, and each other," she said

Coach Wiedeburg talked about how they planned for the race,.

"We had strategized about this course and they knew how they needed to run it, and they needed to run smart. We had practiced a similar start last week, as well as simulated the last 1K during our practices at Hillside Golf Course.  We had talked about how every single point would matter more than ever during State, and it did," she said

The girls' squad also sent two runners to the State Tournament, and junior Taighlor Arnett placed 27th and freshman Lydia Peters placed 36th overall individually.

The Sidney boys have been invited to compete in one more race this season, the Nike-NXR Heartland Regional Championships in South Dakota on Nov. 11.

Individual Results (Boys)

5th Collin Brauer 17:21.5

13th Carlos Lucero 17:43.5

25th Daniel Bashtovoi 18:13.2

35th Cameron Brauer 18:25.8

43rd Ben Bashtovoi 18:42.7

45th Alex Jallen 18:45.6

Individual Results (Girls)

27th Taighlor Arnett 21:51.2

36th Lydia Peters 22:21.6