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Repeat the feat? No problem.
In fact, Boone Central/Newman Grove not only won a second straight Class C girls state cross country championship Friday, the Cardinals blew the field away.
With three runners among the Top 10 medalists, BC/NG breezed to the finish 16 points in front of runner-up Cozad (39-55) at the Kearney Country Club.
Cardinal Coach Tom Dickey, who collected his second state championship in short order after waiting 37 years for the first, was understandably excited and proud of his runners’ efforts.
“I’m just thrilled for these girls! They are a wonderful bunch of girls – they’ve all worked so hard and they deserve this,” Dickey praised. “They ran with great confidence and the results were fantastic!”
Boone Central/Newman Grove did not follow a routine script to its second title, however.
While Top 10 medalists Christina Stopak and Taylor Starman were both part of the 2014 championship, the Cardinals needed several new runners to step into gaps left by 2014 8th place medalist Catherine Weeder and Kendra Gonzalez, both lost to graduation, and 2014 medalist Sheldon Beierman, who missed almost the entire ‘15 season due to injury.
Boone Central senior Ashlynn Baker was probably one of the most unlikely stories of Friday’s competition. A previous state track qualifier, Baker ran cross country for the first time this fall, leading the Cardinals all season and more than replacing Weeder at Kearney with a 5th place finish in Class C and Boone Central record time of 20:25 over the UNK course.
With Starman (9th) repeating as a medalist and Stopak earning her first individual state medal, BC/NG had a leg up on the competition.
Further details and complete results in Print & Online editions of Albion News
