Sidney Cross Country earns ticket to State

OGALLALA -- The Sidney High School Cross Country runners showed well today, earning a place in the State Meet.

The State meet will be held October 25 at the Kearney Country Club in Kearney. Races start at noon with the Class B Boys. Class B and A awards are scheduled for 2 p.m. The Boys Class D race starts at 2:30 p.m. and Class C at 3 p.m. Girls Class D starts at 3:30 p.m. and Class C at 4 p.m. The Class D and C awards presentation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Sidney Head Cross Country Coach Donna Wiedeburg commended the boys for their performance at the District meet today.

"I am very happy with how our boys stepped up today and while they didn’t end their season in Kearney, on the State course, they ended it with 2 of our runners getting new PR’s and lots of laughter and talk of what will next season look like?  We are young on the boys side and we are excited to continue to watch them grow," she said.

The Sidney boys finished in 11th place as a team with 161 points. The Sidney girls finished in third place with 66 points. 

Wiedeburg congratulated the girls on their third place finish in Districts.

"The girls put it all on the line today and made it happen. They all knew what they needed to do to make it to state as a team and I’m so proud of them because they each did what needed to be done for the success of the team. We had two girls run new PR’s and again, lots of joy and excitement on the way home from the girls team," she said.

She said the Lady Raiders finish is even more noteworthy because of their youth in the District competition.

"The girls team brought 4 teammates to the start line today that had never competed at Districts. I commend the veteran runners today for their incredible leadership and grace under pressure attitudes. They work well together as a team and they encourage each other so much that you cannot help but smile just watching them. What a blessing they all are! It was another great day to be a Running Raider," Wiedeburg said.

For the Sidney boys: Mario Maytorena finished with a time of 19:21.08, Jonah Graham with a time of 19:44.71, Noah Canas with a time of 19:50.96, Devin Roach with a time of 19:53.41, Daniel Hardin with a time of 20:33.78, and Dillon Cagle with a time of 21:37.77.

Kylee Kampfe led the Sidney girls in fourth place with a time of 20:39.87. Rayah Wolff finished 13th with a time of 22:10.62, Katie Dowse finished 24th with a time of 23:06.39, Lyrah Ogden finished in 27th place with a time of 23:14.40, Emily Bashtovoi finished 32nd place with a time of 23:27.64 and Kennedy Hobson finished 35th with a time of 24:01.96.

The top 15 runners make it to State and the top three teams at Districts. Team scores are computed by adding the top four runners' scores. The fifth runner's score can be used as a tiebreaker.