Chase County, Alliance capture team titles at Scottsbluff Distance Festival

SCOTTSBLUFF – Chase County won the girls team title and Alliance claimed the boys championship Friday at the Scottsbluff Distance Festival at the Scottsbluff Country Club.

In the girls race, Chase County edged Scottsbluff and Chadron with a team score of 26. Scottsbluff and Chadron tied for second at 32 points. Sidney placed fourth with 67 followed by Gering with 76.

Chadron’s Gracie Calkins won the girls 5,000-meter race in 20 minutes, 35.02 seconds, narrowly finishing ahead of Scottsbluff’s Natalee Bentley (20:35.20). Chase County’s Addison Hauxwell took third in 20:58.14, followed by Chadron’s Jentsyn Fuller (21:39.91) and Chase County’s Alayna Smith (21:51.61) to round out the top five.

For the boys, Alliance took the team title with 26 points, led by three top-10 finishes. Scottsbluff followed closely in second with 29 points, while Gering placed third with 52. Sidney finished fourth with 74, ahead of Chadron and Chase County, who tied for fifth at 80.

Gering’s Axton Stone won the boys race in 16:25.71. Alliance’s Trevor Zurn was second (16:54.13) and Chase County’s Haven Hauxwell placed third (17:08.88). Scottsbluff’s Gavin Wemhoff (17:19.51) and Jacob Maser (17:30.39) rounded out the top five.

Sidney’s top finishers were Rayah Wolff (10th, 22:56.24) for the girls and Devin Roach (13th, 18:35.90) and Jonah Graham (14th, 18:36.04) for the boys.