Bison senior has tough day at state run meet
KEARNEY, Neb. -- Molly Sughroue's running career didn't end at the 2013 Nebraska State High School Cross-Country Championships.
The McCook High School senior will likely continue running cross-country and track and field at the collegiate level next year, and she should be one of the top girls competitors in the state's prep middle distance events on the track next spring. A disappointing finish at the state cross-country meet Friday, Oct. 25, won't darken the accomplishments of one of McCook's best-ever competitors.
Disappointing may be a tough word to use when looking at Sughroue's sixth-place medal finish in the Class B girls division at state. But the Bison standout had her sights set on a gold medal at her final prep cross-country state meet held at the Kearney Country Club.
Sughroue finished the tough 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) run at the hilly Kearney course in 19 minutes, 27.6 seconds, far off her personal best.
"It wasn't her best day by any means," said McCook head coach Tom Sughroue. "But like I told her, for her to run the way she did, finishing in sixth place was a very good day for her. I don't know what the cause was -- maybe I worked her a little too hard early in the week. I don't know. It just wasn't her best race.
"She still had a great career. She didn't quite finish the way we wanted to, but you can't base a whole career, or a season, on one race. She's really been an outstanding runner and just a great role model for the younger kids. She's just done an excellent job for us."
MOLLY SUGHROUE competed at state in all four years of her prep cross-country career. She backed up a 44th-place effort as a freshmen with a fifth-place run in Class B as a sophomore. Last year, Molly finished second behind York's Erin Lee, then added her third straight state meet medal run last Friday.
Lee repeated as individual Class B state champion with a time of 18:55.5. Taylor Muncie of Scottsbluff ran second in 19:00.7, followed by Willa Koenig of Lincoln Pius X (19:03.5) and Shelbi Sloup of Seward (10:04.2). Rebekah Rawlings of Gering ran down Sughroue on the home stretch to place fifth in 19:24.7
Pius X placed four girls in the top 10 to claim the Class B girls team title with a low score of 25 points. Plattsmouth finished second with 75 points.
McCook rivals Scottsbluff and Lexington finished 1-2, respectively, in the Class B boys state meet team standings.
SUGHROUE was the long McCook runner qualifying for state. Coach Sughroue will have some big shoes to fill next year on the Bison girls team, while the future holds strong hopes for success on the boys side.
"We're real excited about the boys. They've got a lot of young kids," Sughroue said. "We lose a couple of seniors that have been very important to us. But the cupboard's not bare by any means on the boys side. A lot of good runners, and they're pretty excited for next year already. They're already talking about making plans and what we're going to do next summer, getting ready for the following fall."
The Bison coach will likely have just three girls returning next fall.
"I'm going to have to go rattle the halls a little bit, twist a few arms, so to speak, and see if we can talk a few girls into coming out and being part of our team," Sughroue said. "I know they're out there, I just have to find which ones will be willing to do it."
Senior boys on the McCook roster include Hunter Felker, Mikey Erickson and foreign exchange student Valentin Zech. Bison senior girls include Molly Sughroue, EmIlene Sides, Caitlin Leitner, Bryn Carriker, Kelsey Kilpatrick, Hannah Goss and Brittany Unger.
THE GAZETTE AREA was represented by a host of competitors in the Class D division at state.
Rodger Farr of the Eustis-Farnam/Medicine Valley co-op team paced area entries with his eight-place run in the Class D boys race. Farr covered the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course in 17 minutes, 26.1 seconds, about a minute of our first place.
Top area finisher in the Class D girls race was Madison Lambley of Dundy County-Stratton, who placed 15th with her time of 20:54.3 over the 5,000-meter run.
Chase County's boys finished sixth in the Class B team standings. The Longhorns scored 145 points. Dundy County-Stratton's boys also finished ninth in the Class D team standings.
DCS was 12th in the final Class D girls team standings with 199 points, and the E-F/Med Valley co-op squad finished 18th with 263 points.
NEBRASKA STATE HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday, Oct. 25 At Kearney Country Club
Gazette Area Individual Results
(All Times in Minutes:Seconds.Tenths)
CLASS D GIRLS
15. Madison Lambley, Dundy County-Stratton | 20:54.3 |
29. Justine Stone, Maywood | 21:19.1 |
58. Stephanie McCarthy, Dundy County-Stratton | 22:31.7 |
75. Andie Chapman, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 23:03.3 |
97. Laura Nelms, Dundy County-Stratton | 24:17.5 |
103. Courtney Russell, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 24:35.4 |
105. Bailey Anderson, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 24:38.8 |
110. Madison Clark, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 24:45.9 |
122. Keely Confer, Dundy County-Stratton | 26:11.4 |
124. Jade Earhart, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 26:25.2 |
129. Kayla Wiles, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 27:50.0 |
CLASS D BOYS
8. Rodger Farr, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 17:26.1 |
25. Indy Smith, Chase County | 18:17.6 |
33. Holden Dreiling, Chase County | 18:34.2 |
44. Ty Swenson, Dundy County-Stratton | 18:51.4 |
51. Quinton Phillips, Maywood | 19:02.3 |
54. Cade Duvel, Dundy County-Stratton | 19:09.0 |
60. Bailey Peckham, Dundy County-Stratton | 19:09.5 |
65. Garret Thompson, Chase County | 19:13.5 |
75. Isaac Maxwell, Chase County | 19:24.4 |
85. Christian Hughes, Dundy County-Stratton | 19:35.7 |
89. Stephen Welsh, Chase County | 19:42.7 |
98. Connor Russell, Eustis-Farnam/Med Valley | 19:51.8 |
105. Nikolas Willis, Dundy County-Stratton | 19:55.4 |
109. Caleb tenBensel, Cambridge | 20:14.2 |
136. Jacob Calvert, Dundy County-Stratton | 21:30.4 |