The Westside cross country teams continued their dominance this season at the Harold Scott Invitational in Lincoln. The boys placed third and the girls finished fourth at Pioneers Park on Thursday, Sept.14.
This year there have been some new standout runners that have had to step up into bigger roles this season. Junior Ryan Kugler has taken his running to another level as an upperclassman and a captain on the team.
“As captain and as a junior, if I’m telling the other guys to try hard and do good then I feel like I have to kind of set that more to do with myself,” Kugler said.
Kugler placed eighth at the meet running his second fastest time of the season and finished with a time of 16:30.1.
Senior Jayden Wall took third in the meet coming in with a time of 16:23.00. Right behind him in fourth was junior Conor Gross running a time of 16:23.90.
Wall has settled into the season and is consistently placing in the top 10 at meets.
“It’s nice to do good, especially with the whole team doing it too,” Wall said.
Wall’s main goal heading into the end of the season is to place high in meets.
“If I can go sub 16 (minutes) that’d be great, but otherwise if I place in the top five. Perfect,” Wall said.
Runners filling new roles this season don’t have to worry about added pressure on themselves because they have upperclassmen to lean on.
The girls have continued their success with seniors Claire White and Stella Miner taking second and third place. White finished in a time of 18:32.12 and Miner was clocked in 18:44.85.
Sophomore Mia Urosevich has struggled a bit this season due to a lingering ankle injury, but this was one of her better meets, running a time of 20:21.6.
Even facing some adversity, Urosevich is still keeping a positive outlook on the season.
“I think I’m nervous, but also excited because I feel like the meets have been really fun lately,” Urosevich said.
Urosevich’s goal is to run in the low 19 minute range and place in the top 10 heading into the end of the season.
The Warriors are looking forward to the Metro Championships on Thursday, Oct. 5.
