Kimball runners run back-to-back conference meets

A challenging week for the Kimball High Cross Country team this past week as they ran at the SPVA Conference meet on Thursday and then the Western Trails Conference race on Friday. No problem) as most of the Longhorn runners ran better times on Friday using the Thursday meet as a warmup!

Senior Ryan Muneio was the only double medal winner on the week and the lone all conference runner for both meets as he finished 4th at both events. At Grant in the SPVA race he ran 18:32 and on Friday at Gordon he bettered his time to 17:59. All top ten medal winners are considered all conference.

Chase County was the boy's team champions at Grant with 14 points and had the individual champion in Holden Dreiling with a top time of 18:02. Bridgeport ran runner up with 35 points, Kimball was 3rd with 65 followed by Sutherland with 78, St. Pats 85, Hershey 98, and Perkins County 102. Kimball's other male runners were Kaden Adrian 18th in 20:51, Jordan Greenwood 24th in 21:36, Rowdy Keller 29th in 21:54, Joel Evertson 38th in 22:23, and Joseph Pagan 56th in 26:57.

On the girl's side at the SPVA meet Perkins County won the team title with 29 points, followed by st Pats with 32, Chase County 50, Bridgeport 63, Sutherland 80, Maxwell 86, and Kimball 87. The individual champion was Anna O'Malley of st Pats with a winning time of 20:21.

No one in the top ten medal group for Kimball but a good showing by Ivana Valle who turned in Kimball's fastest time of 24:29 to finish 13th. Kailey Dickerson who is still recovering from a bout of illness, ran 15th in 24:46. Alexis Gawith ran 35 in 28:05, Taylor Walker-Muldoon 36 in 28:19, Christianne Clower 38 in 28:25, Arica McCloud 39 in 28:37, Olivia Ryschon 41 in 29:33, Jessica Hanks 42 in 29:49, and Kennedy Lewis 44 in 32:06.

After a long ride home, a short night's rest, and a long bus ride to Gordon, the Longhorns had their running shoes on again. Only two schools with a full team in the girl's division with Bridgeport winning with 12 and Kimball runner up with 28. A pair of all conference runners for the Lady Longhorns with Dickerson 8th in 23:57 and Valle 9th in 24:39. The battle for individual honors was a three way race with home town runner Dani Wellnitz winning in 19:22, Jessi Smith of Bayard running second in 19:31 and Celeste Cardona of Mitchell third in 19:37. These three will also battle for state top honors, and of course district top honors first.

Other Kimball runners were Alexis Gawith 15 in 27:16, Muldoon 16 in 27:29, McCloud 17 in 27:47, Ryschon 18 in 28:41, Clower 20 in 30:01, and Lewis 21 in 30:32.

Mitchell won the boy's team title with 14 points and had the top 3 runners with Edward Grentz the individual champ with a time of 17:05. Bridgeport had 42 points, Hemingford 53, Gordon-Rushville 58, and Kimball 70.

As mentioned, Muneio ran 4th in 17:59, Adrian 21 in 20:48, Keller 27 in 21:33, Greenwood 32 in 21:59, Evertson 36 in 23:43, Pagan 40 in 25:45, and Devin Gardner 42 in 26:15.

Kimball also ran three runners in the junior high division with Beau Hanks running 33 in 11:26, Zavyer White 34 in 11:36, and Alex Flores 38 in 12:10.

Now, after a final week of preparation, it is back to Grant for the District meet where the top three teams and the top 15 individuals will advance to the state meet to be held at the Kearney Country Club Golf Course in Kearney on October 24. Coach Tiffany Johnson said, "We ran well this past week although I would like to see our girls improve this week and I know they can. Kailey (Dickerson) is coming off a bout of illness and I think she got down mentally a bit but came out of it at Gordon. Ivana (Valle) is getting more confident all the time. Ryan (Muneio) beat kids on Friday that beat him on Thursday and I think we can come back with some state qualifiers. Running is a mental thing as much as being in top condition and I preach that to our kids. Think you can do it and you can do it." Go Longhorns!