The varsity cross country team placed second at the Plattsmouth Invitational on Sept 3. The team finished behind only Gretna, a Class A school. The junior varsity team finished third behind Gretna and Blair.

In the varsity race, Sam Wooten ‘20 and Jack Sorensen ‘21 finished less than half a second apart, with Wooten edging out Sorensen as the top finisher for the Knights. The rest of the varsity lineup finished with Cameron Mallisee ‘21, John Schroll ‘20, Mark Schroll ‘22, and Ryan McMahon ‘21.

Sorensen was still happy with his result.

“There is always room for improvement, but I feel like I ran well because I stayed hydrated during the day and trained hard during the summer,” he said. 

Going into the first varsity meet, he had goals for himself and the team.

“I wanted to finish top ten and have the team finish top two,” Sorensen said. 

In the junior varsity race, Drew Van Haute ‘23 finished first for the Knights and sixth overall, followed by Dane Storch ‘21, who finished seventh.

Storch also had both an individual goal and a team goal for the race.

“Going in, I wanted to place in the top ten, and I wanted the team to finish first overall,” he said. “I met my goal of placing in the top ten, so I am super happy with my seventh place finish.” 

The racers not only dealt with other runners, but also the weather. It was 85 degrees and with only a slight breeze at race time. 

“The hot weather made it difficult to run and slowed down my time,” Storch said.

Head coach John Gathje hoped to use the first meet as a baseline to see how the team would perform this year.

“I wanted to see what we had and to place well,” Gathje said. “Mark Schroll, Sam Wooten, and Jack Sorenesen all ran better than I expected. Dane Storch and Drew Van Haute were nice surprises too.” 

The team’s next competition is at Wahoo on Sept. 12.