KEARNEY -- Sidney Cross Country runners moved from Districts to the State competition. 

Head Coach Donna Wiedeburg said the finish was not as expected, but the team did well..

"We ended our season as the 15th team out of 15 teams at the State Meet. It was not our best day as a team but individually three girls set a new PR on the state course. I am proud of them and don't think they should focus on being 15/15 teams; our season cannot be shrunk into a number that easily. We had a major growth spurt this season with a lot of new athletes coming to cross country and some talented middle school runners moving up to the high school team," she said.

According to Wiedeburg accomplishments this year include having four girls on the District/State line before who had never competed at that level.

"I am excited to see what next year will be like now that our new athletes have had an entire season to understand how cross country works. For both boys and girls, the season ended with laughter, joy, and the excited utterances of what next year will be like. There are no words for how that makes me feel but I guess "blessed" comes close. As a coach, our hope is they leave us better people (and runners) and when it is all said and done, they learned that they can do hard things. The season came to a close on Friday and over the weekend, I have already been talking to coaches about what things we can do better/different next season," she said.

She said the cross country program is a family, a family that supports each other. She expects to see the team back together in June 2025.

State finishers:  

• Rayah Wolff (Junior) -- time: 22:04

• Kylee Kampfe (Sophomore)-- time: 22:55

• Lyrah Ogden (Freshman)-- time: 22:55.33

• Emily Bashtovoi (Sophomore) -- time: 24:00.27

• Katie Dowse (Junior) -- time: 23:44.36

• Kennedy Hobson (Junior) -- time: 23:41.54