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Westside Cross Country tunes up for Metro Championship
September 30, 2022
Westside’s varsity cross country teams traveled out to Kearney on Monday, Sept. 26 to compete in the University of Nebraska at Kearney invitational. The overall team performance was decent on the course at the Kearney Country Club. The girls team finished tenth and the boys team placed eighth.
The performance by the girls team wasn’t quite what they wanted. The Warriors did have a highlight from freshman runner Mia Urosevich, who placed sixth with a time of 19:37.
“We raced a different lineup and it turned out okay,” coach Theresa Gosnell said. “Mia headed the lineup great.”
The next best finishers were juniors Cecilia Gerard, Elizabeth Blakely and freshman Eliana Wittmann. Westside’s top runners Stella Miner and Claire White did not compete and took off the meet to rest.
“I feel good about the performance of the team yesterday, despite having a different lineup from usual, we all had pretty good races,” Blakely said.
The Westside boys team had a better overall performance finishing eighth as a team. Junior Jayden Wall finished in 14th place, with a time of 16:46. Senior Jack Geard finished with a time of 17:21 and ended up in 28th place. Westside’s top runners Ryan Kugler and Connor Gross did not compete.
“I feel pretty good about the performance of the team as well. We all have been putting in hard work and it is paying off,” Wall said.
The team strives to continue to get better heading into Metro, District and State meets. There is uncertainty in the lineups going forward but it seems to be figuring itself out.
“The goals going forward are for the team to keep getting better this season. We have had a great team, but we have been missing a solid number five runner,” Wall said. “But thankfully we have a lot of guys who are all in good shape to be there by districts when it matters.”
Westside will compete in the Millard West Invitational on Friday, Sept. 30 at Walnut Grove Park. The Warriors are looking forward to the Metro Championships on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the Walnut Creek Recreation Area near Papillion South High School.