Westside wins first Metro cross country title

The Westside cross country teams competed in the Metro conference cross country championships on Thursday, Oct. 6  at the Walnut Creek course near Papillion-LaVista South high school. The girls team won the Metro team title for the first time in school history. The boys team had a solid performance and took sixth place.

The Westside girls team had some great performances, as three Warriors ended up in the top five runners. Junior Stella Miner finished in first place with a time of 19:10.  Junior Claire White was the runner-up and finished in 19:25. Freshman Mia Urosevich competed in her first Metro meet and placed fifth. Miner became the first runner from Westside to win the Metro championship.

“My teammates help so much, those two especially [Urosevich and White],” said Miner. “I really needed them to get through.”

Reese Quinlivan and CeCe Gerard rounded out the team total by finishing 30th and 31st in the meet. The Warriors ended with a team total of 63 points. Millard North was a distant second with 93. The championship is the first ever Metro title for head coach Theresa Gosnell and the girls cross country team. The team worked so hard towards winning and placing high in the Metro meet. 

“It really means so much,” White said. “We put so much hard work into the season.”

The team has made a lot of progress since the beginning of the season in August. Many personal records were set by different runners. The biggest jump of all was Urosevich,who cut off nearly two minutes of her time on the course. 

“The first time I ran this course [Walnut Creek] I got a 21 something [21:08],” said Urosevich. “Since then I’ve PR’ed by two minutes.”

The girls team placing first really overshadowed the performance by the boys team. Westside placed sixth with 165 points. Junior Jayden Wall earned a medal and took 11th place with a time of 16:52. Sophomores Connor Gross and Ryan Kugler placed 17th and 30th respectively. 

This year’s boys team is one of the best they’ve had in recent years. The team says individual improvement from last year to this year is why they’re doing so good. 

“We had runners who didn’t have great freshman years that really kicked it into gear this year,” Wall said. 

Both teams look forward to the District meet on Oct. 13 in Lincoln, when they will compete at Pioneer Park. The State cross country championship is set for Friday, Oct. 21 in Kearney.