SEWARD — The high school track season being canceled earlier this year didn’t seem to have an overly negative impact on how fast Liem Chot will run.
The Lincoln North Star senior had an outstanding start to his final high school cross country season Thursday, winning the Charlie Thorell Invitational hosted by Seward High School.
Chot had a time of 15 minutes, 55 seconds, on the 5,000-meter course at Concordia University. That time was 47 seconds faster than his time on the same course in 2019, which is a remarkable improvement for a runner of his caliber.
“That’s exciting because this is the first meet and I already made that big of a jump,†Chot said. “We haven’t even done speed workouts. This is crazy.â€
And that time came on a challenging course that has a portion of uneven ground and includes several sharp turns through a wooded area.
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Chot’s time for the first 2 miles of the race was about 9:52, which is faster than his personal-best in the 3,200 meters in track.
“I feel really good,†Chot said. “The workouts leading up to this were amazing, so when I came here I was looking for a really good time.â€
When the track season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Chot kept training but focused on long runs instead of speed workouts.
Did Chot miss racing?
“Absolutely,†he said. “I enjoy training more than racing, but at a certain point, you want to see what you can do. I had no idea where I was at.â€
Chot was the Class A state champion the past two years and wants to do that again.
“The big goal of the season is I want to try to go sub-15 minutes this year,†said Chot, who hasn’t made a college commitment yet. “And it would be nice to defend my title. I’d be the third guy in high school history in Nebraska to be a three-time (Class A) state champion. And also win the all-class gold. Really high goals this year.â€
The North Star boys team also had a great start to the season, winning the team title with 25 points. The Gators’ four scoring runners were each in the top 15: Chot, Grant Wasserman (second), Ethan Zaborowski (ninth) and Matt Montes (13th).
Aquinas’ Payton Davis finished third, and was the top finisher not from a Class A school. Seward’s Nathan Nottingham was sixth, and Norris’ Zach Pittman was seventh.
In the girls race, Omaha Skutt senior Jaedan Bunda was the winner, with an impressive bounce-back to start the season. In her last race, at the Class B state meet last year, she finished 63rd and was the last runner on her team.
Bunda didn’t even go out for track last spring, saying she needed a break.
“This year I’ve been able to take care of myself a lot better," Bunda said.
Bunda won by 14 seconds. Omaha Marian freshman Stella Miner finished second. York’s Kassidy Stuckey finished third after winning her first high school race last week.
Seward’s Keegan Beisel and Tandee Masco finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Lincoln Christian junior Sadye Daniell was sixth.
Marian was the team champion, and Seward finished second.