Blair and Fort Calhoun cross-country runners combined for nine top-15 medals Tuesday during the season opening meet for both teams.
Coach Carson Norine's Bears were third in the Plattsmouth Invitational's boys standings and fourth in the girls' team race. Coach Kyle McMahon's Pioneers, meanwhile, were fifth and sixth, respectively.
BHS' Allie Czapla and Dawson Fricke were Washington County's top two finishers across 5 kilometers. All in all, Czapla deemed the season opener a success.
“We all got out strong and then we finished strong,” the junior said. “We've just been working hard this season.”
Czapla leads county girls
Czapla stopped the clock at 21:43.83 Tuesday, finishing behind just Omaha North's Nayera Abdessalam and Liston Crotty of Auburn.
The Blair standout credited a new cross-country teammate Reece Ewoldt for pushing her.
“Me and Reece had a solid pack,” Czapla said. “That helped us get ahead of people in the hills.”
Plattsmouth's Rhylander Park course has open valley running, but also intimidating hills under tree cover. Czapla ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Ewoldt at times in an effort to reach the front of the race.
“It just keeps you motivated,” she said. “Like, when I run with Reece, I know we're both really competitive and we both help each other get ahead.”
Ewoldt, a junior, took 11th in 22:17.42. Tuesday's race was her first-ever after competing in volleyball during her freshman and sophomore autumns.
“This is probably the hardest thing I've done,” she said. “Out of all of the sports I've ever done, I think this is the hardest.”
The Bear was proud of her effort, though, noting that she may start a little slower next time to save up some energy for later stages of the foot race.
Finishing just ahead of Ewoldt on Tuesday was the Fort Calhoun duo of junior Bria Bench and freshman Maelie Nelson. Bench was ninth in 22:03.05, while Nelson took 10th in her high school debut.
“It felt good to get out and be racing again,” Bench said.
She made the finish line ahead of Nelson by just 0.92 seconds.
“It was good to see her have good success already in her first meet,” Bench said. “It felt really good to just cross the line with my teammate right next to me, knowing that we did it together.”
In addition to the top-2 FCHS runners, Kaitlyn Thalman was 23rd, Bella McLaughlin was 32nd, Harley Schwarte took 35th and Kylie Perfetti finished 37th, respectively.
On Blair's side, Lainey Bilau finished just outside of the top-15 in 18th with a time of 23:12.47. Nadia Davey was 20th, too, while Addie Sullivan took 29th and senior Chloe Schrick was 34th.
Fricke, Olberdings finish in top-10
Fricke was smiling shortly after his first 5K of the 2022 season in Plattsmouth.
The Blair senior claimed third, finishing behind defending Class B state champion Mesuidi Ejerso of South Sioux City and the host Blue Devils' Elijah Dix.
“Well, I wish I would have beat Elijah, but that time was probably, like, 10 or 20 seconds faster than I thought it was going to be,” he said of his 17:06.41 mark. “So, that's really, really good.”
Fricke said the key to his finish was his ability to take advantage of the downhill sections of the Rhylander Park course.
“I just let it go,” he said.
It's a similar strategy to that of Fort Calhoun senior Ely Olberding, the top Pioneer returner from last year's Class C state championship team. He took ninth in 18:13.14, while his brother, Lance Olberding, was 10th in 18:17.02.
“Going into the last time up that hill, I just told myself, 'You got this. You got more in you,'” Ely said. “'Kill or be killed.'”
Blair's Ted Lueders was the next runner across the finish line. He took 11th in 18:17.47, while teammate Zac Keeling was 14th in 18:41.83.
Bears Calin O'Grady, Caleb Funk and freshman Isaac Field added 19th-, 32nd and 42nd-place finishes, while the Pioneers' Lawson Tjardes was 20th in 19:01.87. FCHS' Travis Skelton was 24th, Gage Nixon was 25th and Will Dennis was 28th, too.
JV runners shine
Runners from both Blair and Fort Calhoun excelled in junior varsity competition as well
Blair sophomore Ryleigh Schroeter won the girls' race by a wide margin, finishing with a time of 23:32.19. Bella Matzen was fifth, too, while Fort Calhoun freshman Emily Barta was eighth.
In the boys' JV race, the Pioneers' Jay Stoa III, Michael Maxon and Clayton Bohnenkamp took fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Seth Waters was 12th as well, while Zack Anderson and Peter Clarke led Blair in 18th and 19th.
