Racing for glory:
Runners battle it out at the State Cross-Country meet
By: Brielle Bruns
On Friday, October 24th, the boys' DT cross country team and girls' team member Sevyn Russell competed in the state cross-country meet. They ran on the Kearney Country Club course. The boys' team, consisting of juniors Kaser Johnson and Bladen Rainforth, seniors Rylen Soundy and Jacob Zakrzewski, and sophomore Carter Hannon, brought home the gold, finishing in 1st as a team and bringing home the school’s first XC state championship trophy. Hannon and Johnson medaled individually, with Hannon finishing 10th, and Johnson clinching the title and becoming DT’s first XC state champion.
“It feels amazing, it’s a lot of weight off my shoulders as this has been the one thing on my mind since the start of summer training,” says Johnson about his win.
Johnson earned a PR at state with a time of 15.42.48, setting a new school record. Johnson’s first-place finish led the whole team to victory, but it was the course PRs from every member of the team that cemented the title.
Going into the race, the team was ranked sixth, and while head coach Cory Hatt had faith in his team, the win came as a surprise to many.
“The UNK course ends in a valley, so when you finish, you stumble through the chute to your teammates. Once I had caught my breath and found them, I saw Coach Hatt and my mom run over the hill yelling, ‘We did it! We won!’ In that moment, I was both confused and excited, since I had no idea how my other teammates had finished. We all huddled together, cheered, and took the moment in.”
While the championship title came as a surprise, and the team was ecstatic about the win, all the hard work the team put in both during and prior to the season paved the way for the team’s win.
“Our runners have put in such hard work to earn a state title, so I'm overjoyed for their success,” says assistant coach Mr. Robert Kerr.
Hatt’s motto for this year is “nothing new,” and the team took this to heart, running their own race each time they stepped up to the line and carrying this mentality all the way to the finish line at state.
“We really developed in the off-season and fostered that championship standard throughout the season, both in practice and competition, and it paid off,” Soundy says. “It was truly awesome to share that experience with my team after so much hard work and after having fallen short in the past.”