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Langford crosses finish line in 58th place at state meet
KEARNEY - The Laurel-Concord- Coleridge Lady Bears and Shane Langford enjoyed the fruits of their collective labors this fall with a 5.000-meter run over and around the hills of the Kearney Country Club on Oct. 24.
If you’ve never been to the state championships, it is a spectacle to behold.
“I am just so glad we got the whole team down here this season,” said the Lady Bears top finisher, Kate Tasler. “It was so much fun and a perfect day to run, I ran a PR which is what I was shooting for. I will miss this.”
For the record, Tasler finished in 20-minutes, 51.60 seconds which put her in 28th place overall.
Leah Gould was next for LCC in 58th with a 21:51.90, Addy Hoeppner was 89th in 22:57.10, Ava Christiansen was 97th in 23:13.60 and Faith Galvin was 98th in 23:15.70.
“This team was special, they all were committed to each other early on in the season, which carried over from track last season” said Laurel-Concord-Coleridge cross country coach Brandi Settje. “We really wanted them to focus on pack running, smarter running with pacing and building our mental toughness. Our ‘word’ for the season was ‘believe’ which stood for being empowered, live intentionally, elevate, vision, everyday. We tried to practice that in some shape or form through every practice, every meet and in many conversations we had together,” Tasler and Hoeppner are seniors, Gould and Christiansen are sophomores and Galvin is a junior.
Shane Langford, the lone Bear competing, is also a senior and placed 58th with a time of 18:23.00.
“Our senior leadership really blossomed this year and it was fun to see those seniors take on that role and so successfully,” said Settje. “They really helped grow our young runners and our cross country program.”
The Lady Bears ended the season with three runner-up plaques, four champion plaques and two thirdplace showings.
Langford finished in the top 15 for seven of the eight meets he ran and Tasler finished in the top 10 in all of the meets before state.
“State was a great time for all of our runners and a chance for them to show off all of their hard work,” Settje said. “Nearly all of them ran their season’s best, which says a lot on this difficult course. It is definitely the most difficult course we ran all season. They were excited to be here with each other and to push themselves for each other.”
Class D NSAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Girls Team Results: 1. McCool Junction 30; 2. Crofton 31; 3. Tri County 54; 4. Nebraska Christian 59; 5. Gordon-Rushville 68; 6. Elkhorn Valley 84; 7. Ainsworth 88; 8. Hemingford 89;. 9. Aquinas Catholic 93; 10. North Central 94; 11. Perkins County 97; 12. Hastings St. Cecilia 97; 13. Ponca 100; 14. Elm Creek 111; 15. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 111; 16. Brady 146; 17. Cambridge 160; 18. Cornerstone Christian 160.
LCC Individual Results: 28. Kate Tasler 20:51.60; 58. Leah Gould 21:51.90; 89. Addison Hoeppner 22:57.10; 97. Ava Christiansen 23:13.60; 98. Faith Galvin 23:15.70.
Boys Team Results (Top 5): 1. Doniphan- Trumbull 24; 2. Tri County 35; 3. Cornerstone Christian 43; 4. Norfolk Catholic 50; 5. Nebraska Christian 53. LCC Individual Result: 57. Shane Langford 18:23.00.
