KEARNEY — The Lincoln Pius X boys are back at the top in high school cross country.
The Thunderbolts are one of the most successful programs in state history with 22 combined state championships.
They added another one Friday.
Top-ranked Pius X dominated the 12-team race with a score of 38 for the Class B title. Hastings finished second with 66 points and defending champion Omaha Skutt was third with 79.
Pius X returned to Class B this season after being in Class A for several years.
Before Friday, the Bolts' most recent state championship came in 2007 under longtime head coach George O’Boyle, who is still on staff as an assistant coach for Bill Rice.
Now, both the Pius boys and girls teams have 11 state championships. The Pius X boys have the third-most state titles in the 65-year history of the meet, trailing only Scottsbluff (14) and Fremont (12).
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On Friday, the Pius X boys ran about as well as they could under cool and calm conditions during the first race of the day at Kearney Country Club.
“We ran super-fast,†Rice said. “Those were all probably personal records. We had five guys under 17 minutes, which is really good.â€
It was only two weeks into the season, after winning at Papillion-La Vista South and the Platte River Rumble, that Rice had an idea this could be a championship-caliber team.
“We just had a feeling this was a special group if we could keep them healthy. It worked out,†Rice said.
Gretna East senior Braden Lofquist was the Class B individual champion in 15 minutes, 14 seconds to complete an unbeaten season. He was just barely able to get across the line before collapsing from exhaustion.
Austin Carrera of Hastings finished second (15:18).
Pius X won on the strength of both top-end talent and a solid No. 3 and No. 4 runner.
The Bolts put each of its four runners for the team score in the top 20: Joe Majerus (fourth), David Krier (fifth), George Ivanov (18th) and Joseph Norman (19th).
Damien Johnson and Noah Zach were also championship team members.
“These guys started working on this last July when we started training,†Rice said. “We never talked about it at all, but I think in the back of their minds they knew we could be state champions in they put the work in. And they did.â€
What Norman did, placing 19th at state as a freshman, was especially important for a team that graduated three seniors from its state team last year. He was the only freshman in the top 40.
“This was his best race by far, and I’m really proud of how he put it together and had a great race,†Krier said.
In Class B girls, Norris senior Kendall Zavala repeated as the champion in a time of 18:23, which was a 40-second improvement from last season.
She also won the all-class gold medal — the first to do so outside of Class A in seven years.
Zavala was 10 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Leah Robinson of Elkhorn North, and Zavala was able to soak in what she had accomplished in the final moments of the race.
“Hearing that I’m a couple of yards ahead of the next person and I can just enjoy the last part of my season and high school cross country, it’s an amazing feeling,†the Nebraska track commit said.
Atlee Wallman of Norris finished third and Annah Perdue of York was fourth.
Elkhorn North edged Norris 26-32 for the team state championship in what had been a back-and-forth competition all season. The Pius X girls were third.
Elkhorn North got its first state championship and ended Norris’ run of three consecutive state championships. Elkhorn North had a 2-8-10-11 finish.
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Reach Brent C. Wagner at bwagner@journalstar.com or 402-473-7435.
Brent Wagner
Husker volleyball/women's basketball reporter
