The O’Neill Eagles continued to show improvement at the West Holt Invitational, with the boys cross country team finishing runner-up to Doniphan-Trumbull, the No. 1-ranked Class D team in the state. The Eagles had four runners earn individual medals while putting together another strong team performance.
Paul Fonseca led the way for O’Neill, finishing fourth overall to earn a medal. Freshman Kyler Wettlaufer continued his strong season with an 11th-place finish, followed by Alonso Luna Hernandez in 12th. Jordan Ramirez Perez rounded out the Eagles’ medalists with a 19th-place finish.
O’Neill’s remaining boys runners included Tyson Becker, 37th; David Garcia, 42nd; Lane Dougherty, 51st; Brock Latzel, 66th; Jase Sanders, 78th; Angel Sanchez, 80th; Alex Otte, 92nd; Barrett Troester, 110th; Evan Cole, 116th; Alex Nelson, 121st; Fernando Cayax, 126th; Gavin Kruse, 139th; Liam Kennedy, 143rd; Kaleb Asche, 149th; and Tucker Cook, 152nd.
The O’Neill girls varsity team placed seventh out of 14 teams. Sophomore Kiarra Kennedy led the Eagles with a ninth-place finish and earned an individual medal. Emma French placed 29th, while Lynn Miner finished 51st and the Eagles’ fourth runner finished 71st.
The junior-high girls also turned in a strong performance, placing runner-up as a team. Josie Toester led the Eagles with a third-place finish, followed by Kinsley Berg in eighth, Madison Wettlaufer in 10th and Erandi Pantajo Martiniez in 13th. All four runners earned medals.
Other O’Neill junior-high girls included Elizabeth Trejo, 31st; Aiyana Brown, 33rd; Madia Sanchez Pompa, 44th; Humaya Luna Hernandea, 45th; Remi Kurtz, 56th; Assyllum Gomez Portillo, 58th; Mya McCormick, 59th; and Ruby Jackson, 61st.
The O’Neill junior-high boys placed fourth as a team. Nolan Jessen led the Eagles with a sixth-place finish, followed by Leo Calvo in seventh. Other O’Neill runners included Era French, 31st; Octavio Garcia, 39th; Coltyn Romesser, 46th; Justin Luzania, 52nd; Charlie Kaufman, 64th; Alvaro Garcia, 65th; Lars Miners, 67th; Hector Garcia, 71st; William Guzman, 72nd; and Miguel Arciniega, 80th.
Coach Hilker was pleased with the continued progress of the Eagles.
“Overall we are getting better every week. We still have a lot of room to improve.”
The Eagles will return to competition next week at the Mid-States Conference Meet. The high school girls will run first, with the race scheduled for 4:30 p.m.