Blair High School cross-country coach Darren Harsin didn't enlist his full varsity lineups for Thursday's 5-kilometer races in Omaha, but it didn't matter.
The Bears' girls team still notched six top-15 finishes to earn first at the Boys Town Invitational, while Zac Keeling and Ted Lueders claimed medals on the boys' side.
Hailey Amandus was BHS' standout, finishing second in 21:48.19 to Douglas County West's Olivia Malousek. She said a pre-race pep talk helped her to the best finish of her junior season thus far.
“It felt a lot better,” Amandus said. “I felt a lot more confident than usual.”
Behind her, the Bears' Cayli Penner, Lainey Bilau, Addie Sullivan, Ryleigh Schroeter and Emily Lamoureux finished 11th through 15th, respectively. They finished in a tight pack, clocking in between Penner's 23:01.35 and Lamoureux's 23:04.02 during the 37-runner event.
Keeling, meanwhile, earned a 18:58.47 time in the boys' race to claim sixth. The Blair junior finished just one spot ahead of Lueders, who stopped the clock in 18:58.87.
The Bear boys were fourth as a team with Jacob Czapla (23rd), Toby Ray (25th), Kade Ryden (26th) and Peter Clarke (31st) filling out the lineup.
BHS' Carter Mandarich (third), Caitlyn Haggstrom (14th) and Bailey Dingfield (15th) earned top-15 finishes in Boys Town junior varsity competition as well. The Bears next compete Thursday during the 4 p.m. Eastern Midlands Conference meet back on the same course.
