Last year the boys cross country team finished 8th at state. The Wolves had four key runners, Jake Sullivan, Ryker Pithan, Jack Sinnott, and Connor Lindquist.
This year underclassmen had to work to fill their spots. In the summer, the cross country program was the definition of a summer grind with their long morning runs. Most cross country athletes also run track or play soccer, this helps them work on their endurance all year round.
“This summer we saw a lot of improvement in our athletes,” head coach Jordan Fuglestad said. “We had a lot of underclassmen and didn’t know what was going to happen this season.”
To begin the season, the Wolves ran at the John Votta Invite in Norris. Against some tough competition, the boys finished 6th.
Shortly after Norris, the boys raced at the Charlie Thorell Invite on Sept. 5. They placed fifth as a team with junior Derek Rieck-Capellan as the boys top finisher in 13th.
On Sept. 12 the boys participated in the Platte River Rumble at Mahoney State Park, where the boys finished 17th and Rieck-Capellan led in 18th place.
“This is when I knew that we could do well for the rest of the season and be a competitive team,” Reick-Capellan said.
On Sept. 19 the boys ran in the Harold Scott Invite and finished 15th.
At Mount Micheal the boys had a taste of success, where they finished 4th as a team; Rieck-Capellan was 6th individually.
After the long trip to Kearney, the boys were ready to give it their all at the University of Nebraska- Kearney Invite. They ended up finishing 13th.
Junior Tomasz Kissel and Rieck Capellan had enduring injuries this season. Even with constant injuries the team still managed to put out results.
“The Kearney Invite was the first time we had even 80% of our full team racing together, and gave us a good idea of where we were at,” Fuglestad said.
Being in the hardest conference in Class B pushes athletes to do their best. At the Eastern Midlands Conference on Oct. 10, the Wolves came in 7th and Rieck-Capellan meadaled 8th.
At districts on October 16th, the boys had an opportunity to qualify for state. After a hard race, they finished 5th. Rieck-Capellan and freshman Jude Martz placed top 15 and qualified individually.
“It was sad to not have the rest of the team going into state with me and Jude, but we were focused,” Rieck-Capellan said.
After the state race, Rieck-Capellan finished with a 16:34.5 in 15th place, and Martz finished in 50th with a 17:37.6. Rieck-Capellan is the first boy in Elkhorn North boys cross country history to medal at state. Riek-Capellan is now the fastest boy in school history to run at state with Martz being the third fastest.
“I was exhilarated with my state results, and with our program as a whole,” Rieck-Capellan said.
Congratulations to the boys cross country team on their success this season!
