Fort Calhoun qualified two teams for Friday's NSAA State Cross-Country Championships last week.
“Just feeling relieved, happy and excited to watch this group next week,” said Pioneers coach Kyle McMahon when all was said and done last Thursday at Fort Atkinson.
“Everyone had their best race of the season and we are finishing nicely to try and get that top-10 finish at state,” he continued.
The FCHS boys earned a Class C1 District title with their efforts, while the Pioneer girls were third. Ely Olberding led the way with a 5-kilometer race win, pushing his squad to a 25-point victory over second-place Arlington.
“(The boys) are feeling very confident going into next week and I'm blown away at their improvement week-to-week,” McMahon said.
Olberding finished behind the Eagles' Nolan May during the regular season race at Fort Atkinson, but beat him by nearly 6 seconds Thursday, 16:46.8 to 16:52.2.
Jacob Rupp and Lance Olberding, meanwhile, finished third and fourth. They clocked in at 17:01.2 and 17:14.2, respectively.
The Pioneers' Johnathon Schwarte also medaled, claiming 15th in 18:09.3.
“Season best for him, and if he continues to run like that next week we will be pretty dangerous,” McMahon said.
Gage Nixon and Lawson Tjardes added 30th- and 40th-place finishes as well. They ran without teammate Travis Skelton, who rested an injury during the district meet, but will join the Pioneers in Kearney for state.
“I'm just really proud of this team's confidence level and work ethic at the end of the season,” McMahon said. “They are having fun and running well.”
The Fort Calhoun girls, meanwhile, battled a season's worth of adversity to claim a state spot with their district performance. With first- and second-place teams Douglas County West and Arlington competing at Fort Atkinson, McMahon said a Pioneers state qualification wasn't a given.
FCHS had to earn it.
“Seventeen points separated third through sixth place, so there wasn't a lot of room for error,” he said.
Bria Bench and Dala Drowne led the Pioneers' cause as medalists. Bench was fifth in 20:43.5 over 5K, while Drowne was 12th in 21:15.9.
Tess Skelton and Kaitlyn Thalman added their best races of the season to push Fort Calhoun past fourth-place Conestoga for the final state berth. The duo was 29th and 30th, respectively, while Harley Schwarte set a personal record for 34th. She finished in 23:42 behind Skelton's 23:03.4 and Thalman's 23:21.2.
Next, the Pioneers compete at Kearney Country Club, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Friday. State medals and championships will be on the line.
