Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney cross country teams placed first (women) and third (men) at the Platte River Rumble Gold meet Friday night in Ashland.
This was the season-opener for all squads. UNK returns to Mahoney State Park in October for the Platte River Rumble Collegiate.
The Loper women, ranked seventh in the Central Region, tallied 22 points to easily pace the eight-team field. South Dakota (65) was a distant second with NW Missouri (91), Creighton (97) and Nebraska-Omaha (106) the next finishers.
Blair freshman Reece Ewoldt (17:50.51) and Central City junior Ella Buhlke (17:53.79) finished first and second, respectively, in the 5k race with five other Lopers in the Top 10. That included York freshman Kassidy Stuckey (4th/17:57.09) and Kansas sophomore Charis Robinson (7th/18:14.83).
The UNK men, fifth in the region and receiving votes for the Top 30, didn’t have all its top runners available but still scored 83 points to best NW Missouri and Missouri Western. Creighton (37) edged USD by two points to win.
David City senior Payton Davis ran the 6k course in 18:13.94 to come in seventh with Kansas senior Brett Schoenhofer five places back (18:25.29). The ‘Yotes had the top two runners led by Natnael Kifle (18:00.67). Also cracking the Top 20 was Blair redshirt senior Sam Lueders (16th/18:30.12).
UNK heads to Lincoln for the Greeno/Dirksen Invite on Sept. 21
