District XC/State Softball Update (Oct. 13, 2022)

Every county XC team qualifies for state; Bears fall to 2-1 in Class B softball

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The postseason was in full swing Thursday. All six Washington County boys and girls cross-country teams qualified for the state meet, while the Blair softball team dropped to 2-1 — but remains alive — at the Class B tourney in Hastings.

XC runners earn state berths
Every cross-country runner from Arlington, Blair and Fort Calhoun to compete in a varsity district race Thursday will next compete at the NSAA State Championships on Oct. 21 in Kearney.
The Blair boys finished second at the B-1 District meet at Elkhorn Mount Michael, while the girls in B-2 competition on the same 5-kilometer course.
The Fort Calhoun boys, meanwhile, won the C-2 District race at Sycamore Farms near Waterloo. The Pioneer girls were second.
The Arlington boys were second and the girls were third, too, earning automatic state spots for all team members. The qualifiers are:

Eagles: Keelianne Green (C-2 District champ), Hailey O’Daniel (third), Brynn Eckhart (25th), Kelise Cook-Krivohlavek (26th), Whitney Wollberg (30th), April Klein (47th), Nolan May (fourth), Kevin Flesner (fifth), Dallin Franzluebbers (ninth), John Morrison (13th), Kolby Tighe (14th) and Luke Hammang (18th).

Blair Bears: Reece Ewoldt (second), Allie Czapla (10th), Lainey Bilau (20th), Addie Sullivan (22nd), Bella Matzen (26th), Nadia Davey (31st), Dawson Fricke (second), Calin O’Grady (seventh), Zac Keeling (ninth), Ted Lueders (13th), Caleb Funk (24th) and Isaac Field (27th).

Fort Calhoun Pioneers: Maelie Nelson (sixth), Bria Bench (eighth), Kaitlyn Thalman (14th), Bella McLaughlin (15th), Dala Drowne (19th), Harley Schwarte (27th), Ely Olberding (second), Lance Olberding (third), Lawson Tjardes (10th), Travis Skelton (11th), Will Dennis (16th) and Gage Nixon (19th).

Washington County will start state cross-country competition at 12:30 Oct. 21 in Kearney with the Class C boys race. The girls’ C race is at 1:30 before the Class B races at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., respectively.

BHS softball falls to Northwest
The Blair High School softball team lost its Thursday evening Class B state tournament game to Grand Island Northwest, 6-5.
The Bears are 2-1 at state in Hastings and will play 11:30 a.m. Friday against Elkhorn in an elimination semifinals game. If they can beat the Antlers, they’ll then need to beat Northwest twice to win a state championship later Friday.
On Thursday, though, Blair’s Kalli Ulven and Leah Chance hit homers in defeat. Nessa McMillen notched three hits, too.
Northwest had three less errors than the Bears, though, coming back from a 5-0 deficit to win.

For the full story from all three events and more, check out Tuesday’s edition of the Washington County Pilot-Tribune. Online updates will continue through the end of the state softball tournament before all coverage will be uploaded to enterprisepub.com/sports next Tuesday, too.

District cross-country