×
×
homepage logo

Panther XC sees firsts, all-region finishes

By Staff | Oct 25, 2019

Submitted photo Quinn Neppl runs toward a 6th place finish.

Rugby High School’s Cross Country teams came away from the Class B East Regionals in Cooperstown last Saturday with four all-region finishers, a win for the varsity girls and a top 10 rank for the varsity boys.

The Panthers travel to the Souris Valley Golf Course in Minot today for the 2019 North Dakota High School Activities Association State Cross Country Meet.

Panther coach Bill Jansen explained the roster for today’s meet: “Each team in ND can run their top 10 runners at the state meet, there is no qualifying,” he noted.

However, in last week’s meet at Cooperstown, three top varsity girls and one top finisher among varsity boys in the 5000-meter events earned All Region distinctions.

“The girls did have a very good meet, winning the region for the first time since 2010 and beating the team that has won the region the last 8 years (Hillsboro/Central Valley),” Jansen noted.

Jansen said of the race overall, “The conditions were very wet and most of the course was muddy, so it made for a slower race than usual.”

All-region finishers in the girls’ 5000-meter event were Quinn Neppl, Brooklyn Bartsch and Amelia Shepard, who finished in sixth, seventh and 10th place respectively. Rugby varsity girls finished with a total of 66 team points, beating the 27 other schools participating in the regional meet.

Finish times and places for Rugby varsity girls were: Quinn Neppl, 20 minutes, 38 seconds; Bartsch, 20:49; Shepard, 21:08; Keely Arnston, 22:26, 21st place; Ella Jacobson, 22:32, 22nd place; Kendyl Hager, 22:33, 23rd place; Ellie Duchscherer, 23:03, 33rd place; Ashlyn Dibble, 23:09, 35th place; Mykell Heidlebaugh, 23:22, 38th place; Mikaylee Livedalen, 23:26, 40th place; Kinsey Arnston, 23:49, 49th place; Jaclyn Duchscher, 24:01, 55th place; Kristina Brossart, 24:11, 58th place; Joey Wolf, 24:31, 63rd place; Megan Schmaltz, 24:40, 66th place; Rylie Suchor, 25:12, 80th place; Haley Mayer, 25:21, 85th place; Mya Geisinger, 25:58, 102nd place; Rylah Hager, 25:59, 104th place; Anna Clements, 26:00, 105th place; Mya McNeff, 26:31, 119th place and Sophie Oppen, 28:03, 146th place.

Quinn Neppl’s brother, Kadin Neppl, finished with an all-region distinction in the varsity boys’ 5000-meter event. Kadin’s 18:48 time earned him 17th place, Rugby High School’s top spot in the race.

The Panther boys finished ninth for team point totals with a 250 score, placing in the top third among the 29 schools participating.

Other finishers and times for the varsity boys 5000-meter event were: Dawson Schepp, 19:00, 22nd place; Austin Dibble, 19:02, 23rd place; Riley Odden, 21:21, 92nd place; Robert Dibble, 21:29, 96th place; Kristian Fritz, 22:49, 121st place; Maddex Kirchofner, 23:02, 125th place; Connor Klein, 23:28, 137th place; Ethan Sveet, 24:26, 168th place and Trenton Sanford, 25:15, 181st place.