Arlington junior Colby Grefe has been steadfast and consistent this cross-country season.
“He never had a bad meet,” Eagles coach Michaela Curran said.
And that fact continued through Thursday's Class C District 1 5-kilometer race at Sycamore Farms near Waterloo. With a time of 17:30.2, Grefe qualified for Friday's NSAA State Championships at Kearney Country Club.
“All of that hard work paid off,” Curran said, noting the Eagle's significant improvement from his sophomore to junior season. “His confidence was really built up.”
Grefe finished 10th overall in the boys' race, while his AHS team was fourth — just one place shy of a team qualification. The Eagle girls, meanwhile, were ninth.
“I wanted (the boys) to get (to state) because they ran so well,” Curran said, noting that she couldn't have asked for more.
Behind Grefe, Arlington's Nolan May claimed 17th and Connor Flesner was 18th. The freshmen were just two and three places out of the individual state qualifications, clocking in at 17:50.50 and 17:50.53.
Senior Sebastyen Taylor, meanwhile, capped his high school career in 17:51.8 to claim 20th. Barrett Nielsen was 26th in 18:11.9 and senior Hunter Gilmore was 37th in 18:42.7.
On the AHS girls' side, Brynn Eckhart capped what Curran called an “impeccable” freshman season with a 20th-place finish at the district meet. She clocked in at 21:31.3, while former state qualifier Elizabeth Morrison finished her career with a 25th-place finish in 21:58.8.
“It's going to be weird,” Curran said about coaching the Eagles without the senior. “She was a really good leader.”
Eagles Charzlie Lambert (51st), Emily Marcucci (53rd) and Hailey Hill (56th) also competed on the Sycamore Farms course, logging times of 27:02.2, 28:44.9 and 32:05.9, respectively.
Grefe, meanwhile, has one more time to log this fall. His Class C race is set to begin at 2 p.m. Friday.
