The Tri County cross country teams had a good day at districts Oct. 17, despite the wind at the Oakland Golf Course.
The TCHS girls’ team was the meet runner-up, and the boys finished third, both qualifying for the state cross country meet Friday, Oct. 25.
“We were very excited to get both,” Coach Denise Tegtmeier said.
In pre-race calculations, she had figured that the girls had a good chance to qualify as a team but was surprised to see them get runner-up. She had penciled the boys as one of the top three teams.
The boys were the first on the course, and Sammy Holsing led the Trojans with a third-place finish in 17:15. Tegtmeier had recommended that Holsing run behind someone and let them do the work, but the first two runners were too far ahead for him to do that.
Drew Siems and Henry Kapke ran together and finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Siems’s time was 18:10, and Kapke was 18:11. Ethan Rosenthal just missed the medals in 17th with a time of 18:21, and Devon Rasmussen was 19th in 18:32.
Tri County finished one point ahead of Centennial and two behind Freeman.
In the girls’ race, Sage Holtmeier was the race runner-up in 20:13.53. Tegtmeier said there was enough distance between her and both the first- and third-place finishers, that she told Holtmeier to ease up to the finish and save herself for state.
Isabelle Peters finished third in 20:44.85, about where Tegtmeier thought she would.
“She ran a smart race,” the coach said. “She looked strong.”
Ashton Schwisow was 25th in 23:31.92 and continues to do what the coaches ask, Tegtmeier said. Jenna Woitalewicz rounded out the Trojans, finishing 44th in 25:44.16.
Both teams will compete in the state meet Friday, Oct. 25, at Kearney Country Club. The boys will run at 2:30 p.m. and the girls at 3:30 p.m.
Tegtmeier said she’d like to see three medals from the Trojans but added “you never know.” She said Holtmeier doesn’t get frazzled by the big stage, and both Peters and Holsing have been running well.
Both teams would like to cement their spots on the school record board with top 10 finishes.
“We are not done yet,” she said. “We have another job to do.”