Recap: Boys and Girls XC Prepares For Final Meet

Natallie Pease, Sports Journalism Staff Writer|October 8, 2020

Erin Pinhero

The boys and girls varsity cross country teams have been busy the past couple weeks, competing against other teams across the metro in preparation for their districts and state meet. The district meet will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15, while the state meet will be on Friday, Oct. 23. 

The team competed in a meet at Walnut Creek on Saturday, Sept. 12, hosted by Papillion-La Vista South. Head Coach Theresa Gosnell talked about the difficulties running that course.

“The course at Walnut Creek has a couple hills in it that are tough,” Gosnell said. “It’s mentally taxing. It’s a mentally tough course.”

At the meet, the girls placed fifth as a team. Three individual runners, freshman Claire White and Juniors Noelle Abels and Reece Young-Oestman, placed in the top ten. Claire White placed second in the meet, finishing only six seconds after Stella Miner of Marian High School.

The boys team placed sixth, with no runners finishing in the top thirty. Both the boys and girls teams placed lower than Papillion-La Vista South and Millard West.

The cross country team ran their third meet of the season on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Fremont.

“The [course] at Fremont was very flat, [so the team got] fast times there,” Gosnell said. 

Claire White, a freshman who broke a school record earlier this season, placed second once again. She finished after Kaylie Crews of Papillion-La Vista South, who is currently ranked first in the state.

As a team, the girls finished fourth. Westside runners Ables, Young-Oestman, and White placed in the top 15

In the same meet, the boys placed fifth as a team, with only one runner placing in the top 35 individually.

The boys and girls cross country teams have one meet left in the regular season. It will take place on Oct. 10 at Walnut Creek. Gosnell said she feels it’s good to go up against similar competition. 

“We always [compete against] Papillion-La Vista South, and their team is really good,” she said. “We [compete against] Fremont again this time and their team is really good. This meet will be another tough one.”