DCS boys win team title, Lambleys qualify for state meet

BAYARD, Neb. -- Dundy County-Stratton's boys cross country team may not win many individual awards, but its depth is an envy for most Class D schools.

With three finishes in the top 12, the Tigers won the D-6 district title Thursday at Bayard's Chimney Rock Golf Course. DCS narrowly edged out Bridgeport, who scored 43 points, for first place.

The DCS team, consisting of Philip Boyd, Bailey Peckham, Eli Fink, Gideon Fink, Jeffrey Powell and Matthew Wissink, qualified for next week's state cross country meet that will be held at the Kearney Country Club on Friday.

"We are super happy with pulling off the win," said DCS head coach Scott Lambley. "Most of our team commented on things just not clicking today. It may have been the tough workouts we did, focus issues, or even the illnesses we've been battling lately. Thank goodness we came out of it intact and get a chance to work out for another week."

Individually, the Tigers were led by Boyd's sixth-place finish of 18:09. Peckham took seventh place with 18:11, while Eli Fink finished 12th with 18:39.

Gideon Fink (19:28), Powell (20:01) and Wissink (22:14) rounded out the DCS boys.

The overall champion was Brandon Barker of Kimball, who finished with 17:21.

In the girls' division, Madison and Sable Lambley swept the top honors. Madison was the overall D-6 champion with a time of 20:21, while Sable took second place with 20:48.

However, the rest of the DCS squad finished outside the top 15. As a team, DCS finished fifth with 81 points, meaning only the Lambley sisters qualified for next week's state meet.

"We knew it was a long shot for our girl's team to make it," Scott Lambley said. "We needed some big time drops and didn't get that."

Hitchcock County took top honors, and secured a state berth, with 57 points. The Falcons edged out North Platte St. Patrick's (59 points) for the team title, and were led by Amanda Mote's sixth-place finish of 22:02.

Savannah Beegle (23:26) took tenth place for the Falcons' other top-ten finish.

While the Lambley sisters won the top individual awards, Scott Lambley said they experienced some of the same issues the boys had.

"Madison and Sable ran pretty average times and lamented the same comments as the boys. Hopefully we get it figured out before next week's work begins."

Boys Division

Team Scores

1. DCS, 42; 2. Bridgeport, 43; 3. Kimball, 53; 4. Perkins County, 60; 5. Hemingford, 119; 6. Bayard, 142; 7. NPSP, 158; 8. Hershey, 158; 9. Sutherland, 162; 10. Paxton, 254.

Top 15

Girls Division

Team Scores

1. Hitchcock County, 57; 2. NPSP, 59; 3. Bridgeport, 70; 4. Bayard, 70; 5. DCS, 81; 6. Hershey, 88; 7. Wallace, 152.

Top 15