Auburn Girls Edge Falls City for ECNC Cross Country Title as JCC Boys Claim Third

The Auburn girls cross country team edged Falls City by one point to win the East Central Nebraska Conference championship Oct. 6 at Auburn Country Club.
The Bulldogs scored 22 points to the Tigers' 23. Palmyra placed third with 45.
Sophomore Hailey Janssen led Auburn, placing second in 22:17.54 behind Palmyra's Ella Desh, who won in 21:21.74. Freshman Brindley Mazzulla was fifth in 23:20.27, freshman Maddie Vinson was seventh in 24:11.60 and sophomore Macy DeBuhr was eighth in 24:13.48.
Senior Addison Henry, Auburn's fifth runner, placed ninth in 24:22.56. Only a team's top four runners score, but the fifth and sixth runners can push back opponents. Henry finished one spot ahead of Falls City's fourth scorer, which added a point to the Tigers' total. Junior Emma Feilen was 12th in 25:47.77.
Elmwood-Murdock won the boys title with 23 points, followed by Palmyra with 35, Johnson County Central with 39, Weeping Water with 62 and Auburn with 79.
Sophomore Ashton Huskey led the Thunderbirds, placing fourth in 19:03.51. Sophomore Juan Aguilar was ninth in 20:14.07, and seniors Jonathon DeFreece and Harrison Bacon finished back-to-back in 14th and 15th with times of 20:41.98 and 20:48.48. Sophomore Damian Andrade placed 18th in 21:25.20, senior Jonas Lassen was 24th in 22:20.56 and sophomore Jose Aguilar was 33rd in 43:09.71.
Sophomore Ethan Pemberton paced Auburn with a 10th-place finish in 20:21.84. Junior Fenix Allgood was 22nd in 22:01.06, freshman Riley Reiman was 25th in 22:28.19, senior Zack Haynes was 27th in 23:31.47, freshman Everett Kadavy was 28th in 24:09.26 and junior Kale Davidson was 29th in 24:13.60.
Johnson County Central freshmen Natalya Kirkendall and Edith Blomstedt ran in the girls varsity race, placing 23rd in 31:17.59 and 25th in 38:11.22. The Thunderbirds did not have enough runners for a team score.
Junior varsity
Auburn freshman Zoey Siegel won the girls junior varsity race in 27:37.95, and the Bulldogs swept the top three with senior Tayla Jones second and junior Rylee Dotson third.
Johnson County Central junior Dalton Henderson placed second in the boys race in 21:23.19. Auburn senior Kyle Jones was ninth in 23:28.83.
Middle school
Auburn eighth grader Halle Jones won the girls 2.4-kilometer race in 12:39.94. Teammates Kayson Gogus, Skyler Hanley, Delaney Hemmingsen and Mckenzie Reid-Hansen finished third through sixth.
In the boys race, Auburn seventh graders Carter Aue and Sam Stahl placed third and fifth in 10:52.33 and 11:38.75.