Arlington High School senior Keelianne Green didn't have her best cross-country race Thursday at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
“That was rough,” the defending state champ said after 5 kilometers.
But she and Eagles teammate Nolan May still led a strong county showing during the Arlington Invite. Coach Michaela Curran's AHS squad was second in both team standings, while the Fort Calhoun boys earned a one-point meet win.
Notably, the top-four runners in each race were either Eagles or Pioneers.
“I think they always push us to run faster,” Green said of coach Kyle McMahon's FCHS athletes.
May won the boys' race by nearly 23 seconds, finishing in 17:57.86. His average mile was 5:47.
Next, though, Ely Olberding of Fort Calhoun clocked in at 18:20.76. His brother, Lance, then beat Arlington's Kevin Flesner to the line for third in 18:22.27.
“Lance was the hero with his final sprint and pass in the final meters,” McMahon said. “Got them the win.”
Flesner, meanwhile, finished 5K in 18:22.27.
“It feels nice to be right up there with them,” the junior said, speaking of the Olberding brothers. “Just wish I could have kept my pace up at the end, stayed in that third position. But it was a great race.”
Eagles senior Luke Hammang was the next county runner in, finishing in 18:56.82 — just a little more than 10 seconds ahead of eighth-place Travis Skelton of FCHS.
The Pioneers' Will Dennis (11th), Gage Nixon (12th) and Lawson Tjardes (14th) added top-14 finishes, while AHS' John Morrison (13th), Kolby Tighe (15th) and Brayden Fuchs (22nd) also produced top efforts.
On the girls' side of the Arlington Invite, Green edged teammate Hailey O'Daniel for first place as Maelie Nelson and Bria Bench of Fort Calhoun took third and fourth, respectively.
Green clocked in at 21:37.22 over 5K, while O'Daniel finished just 0.33 seconds behind.
“I tried conserving it first mile,” the runner-up said of her energy levels. “And, then, second mile I tried picking it up.”
While Green led by a good margin early, the Eagles, essentially, ran side-by-side to the finish line next to the fairgrounds ballfield.
“We were working through it the whole time,” O'Daniel said.
Nelson, a FCHS freshman, said a junior teammate was key to her third-place finish in 21:59.38.
“Bria helped so much,” she said. “She's such a good teammate to run with. She's amazing.”
Bench stopped the clock in 22:12.29 ahead of 12th-place Pioneer Kaitlyn Thalman and 16th-place Bella McLaughlin. Calhoun's Emily Barta was 22nd and Ella Bouwman took 26th as well.
Arlington's Brynn Eckhart, meanwhile, took 14th in 24:16.18. Whitney Wollberg was 18th, Kelise Cook-Krivohlavek took 23rd and Kynlea Kleveland was 39th, too.
In junior varsity competition, the Eagles' Dallin Franzluebbers was first in 18:56.86. Harley Schwarte of FCHS won the girls' race in 26:10.77, too.
