Kimball runners push for season and personal best

The Kimball Cross Country team competed in Alliance on Sturday, Sept. 17, according to head coach Tiffany Johnson.

"It was a really good day and all of our runners ran really well. Most of our athletes had their personal best or season best time at this meet," she said. "The race in Alliance starts a busy week for our athletes."

Kimball's varsity boys placed two in the top ten out of a field of 63 runners with Brandon Barker taking fifth in 18:11, followed by Zachery Wager in ninth place with a time of 18:33.

Thomas Lenzen complete the varsity course in 19:51 with teammates Kaden Adrian (21:05), Joel Evertson (21:08) and Nicholas Thomas-Lewis (21:08), rounding out the Longhorn team.

Junior Varsity competed very with Garrett Pedersen placing third out of a field of 53 competitors with a time of 20:37, while Grant Golding ran the course in 27:13 and Alex Flores completed it in 28:17.

The runners competed on Tuesday, Sept. 20 in Scottsbluff and and again today, Thursday, Sept. 22 in Ogallala.

"The high school boys continue to push each other in practice and want to continually get better. We are very proud of how they are competing at each meet," Johnson said. "The Jr. High runners are also pushing themselves each meet and continue to improve."

Junior high runners also did well, with Chantel Malson placing fourth in the girl's division with a total of 70 competitors.

Malson was followed by classmates Caelyn Long in 15:10, Raven Johnson 16:13, Maddison Merryfield (16:19), Katie Heeg 17:29, Maddie Cook 18:06, Ashlynn Guzman 19:02 and Alycia Vrbas 20:30.

Chris Barker was the top runner for the junior high boys, though he missed placing with a time of 16:17. Teammate Cole Henton followed closely with a time of 16:20, Cole Heim 17:06 and Gideon Casimiro with 21:04.

"We are excited to watch how everyone continues to push themselves throughout the rest of the season," Johnson said.