State of the State: Issue Three

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🏃🏃 Vikings Keep Running in Rare Air

You can forgive most of the Class B running prognosticators for not recognizing that Grand Island Northwest might be a podium contender at the NSAA State Cross Country meet later this month.

Coach Joel Hope’s two top “returners” — junior Ethan Smith and senior Joe Sutherland — were both hampered by foot injuries last season. And, after that, who knew where their points would come from. The Vikings didn’t take a single runner to the 2024 state meet.

But, ask the coach, and he would tell you he had a hunch in the summer.

Now, Northwest checks in at No. 2 in the latest coaches association poll. Defending champion Lincoln Pius X who Hope calls “really, really good” leads the list.

“As a coach, you can take a team so far,” he said after his Vikings won their first Central Conference title since 1997 on Wednesday at Lakeside Golf Club at Johnson Lake. “But when you are lucky enough to have the leadership we right now that would drag kids out on Saturday’s and do Fourth of July Fun Runs you know you have a group that cares about each other.

“So we thought if we could stay healthy we’d be back to being a team that could qualify for state. But, to say that we could do what we have done, I didn’t think we would be that good.”

Smith has been the lynchpin so far for Northwest, as he finished second to Lexington’s Isac Portillo-Munoz on Wednesday. He is ranked seventh in Class B by the Prep Running Nerd and won the conference as a freshman before battling a broken foot last fall.

Sutherland has also slowly rebounded from a late season foot injury last fall and his getting healthier. He was 9th on Wednesday and finished in the top-20 at last Monday’s UNK Invite, where the Vikings won the team race putting most of Class B on notice that they may hang around for a few more weeks.

“Having Ethan back has been a difference maker for us,” Hope said. “You kind of have a blueprint (for the rest of the team) of what good should look like.

“Last year it was kind of like having an extra coach because he is so knowledgable. I think he learned so much about race strategy being out, but he’s just always been so tenacious and just has a desire to do big things. And, Joe has been great. He’s getting healthier, and he really is just trying to get our young guys better.”

It’s maybe what they have done with the rest of the team that has meant more to the Vikings in 2025.

Sophomores Jaxon Cushing and Corbin Roy have become consistent performers for Northwest, with Cushing also cracking the Class B rankings. He finished third on Wednesday with Roy in 14th as the Vikings edged No. 8 Seward 28-33 for the team title.

Senior Deacon Bayne and freshman Jaiden Glandt round out the Northwest six.

“Jaxon has just been a huge difference maker,” Hope said. “He literally came out of nowhere. But he did exactly the right amount of miles (this summer). And he’s still learning. I don’t think he has any clue in practice how fast he should go and he can just go run with Ethan.

“We definitely didn’t see a top-10 Class B runner in him. He didn’t just run the miles this summer, he ran quality miles. Now he can train at a different level and his early success has been big for his confidence.”

Now, heading down the home stretch Hope and the Vikings are looking for success they haven’t had in almost 30 years. That conference title they last won in 1997 was also accompanied by a UNK and district win before Northwest finished third at state.

So, now the goals are set for the rest of the month.

“We’d like to do that 1997 team one better,” Hope said.

On North Road, the time to run in rare air seems to be no better than in the present.

 📈 📉 Rank ‘Em

The postseason is upon is softball as the Class C district finals are set for Friday and Saturday with Classes A and B in district play as well. State softball brackets will be set on Saturday. The playoff picture will start to come into play after week seven games this week in football. And, volleyball nears conference tournament season with district pairings released in the next two weeks.

Here are the coaches polls: Football | Volleyball | Softball

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⛳️⛳️ Girls State Golf Set

Some schools battled the weather on Monday. Still others waited until a beautiful day on Tuesday for their district golf meet (whether planned or unplanned).

In Nebraska City at the B-3 District it got wild as the rain — supposed to let up by mid-morning — never stopped and they had to haul players off the course on Monday and start over on Tuesday. That said the 13 districts (in three classes) were completed setting up next Monday and Tuesday’s state golf tournament at three sites across the state.

Here’s a quick run down of the district meets in each class. Classes A and B take 12 teams to state plus a maximum of 15 individuals. In Class C, 15 teams from five districts advance with any individuals in the top-10 also advancing; a total of 95 players this year.

Class A: Omaha Marian, Omaha Westside, Columbus and Kearney were district champions. Individual champions were: Tasha Kolbas (Lincoln East), Addison Benge (Omaha Westside), Molly Goc (Columbus) and Ellen Bode (Elkhorn South). Monday Tee Times at Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island.

Class B: Omaha Duchesne, Elkhorn North, Gretna East and Norris were district champions. Individual champions were: Whitney Dahir (Omaha Duchesne), Avery Peter (Elkhorn North), Hadley Babe (Gretna East) and Addison Peck (Scottsbluff). Monday Tee Times at Scotts Bluff Country Club.

Class C: Sutton, Scotus Central Catholic, West Holt, Minden and Valentine were district champions. Individual champions were: Mia Hiebner (H&H), Kiya Taylor (Scotus Central Catholic), Daleni Knust (West Holt), Peyton Hartman (Adams Central) and Tierney Miller (Valentine). Monday Tee Times at Lake Maloney Golf Course in North Platte.

🏐🏐 The Volleyball Roundup

Quick hitters from Tuesday night action around the state.

• You could listen to Class A, No. 2 Lincoln North Star’s epic five-set win over No. 4 Westside from Tuesday night right here. 

• Class B, No. 6 Pius with a clean sweep of Class C-1, No. 2 Lincoln Lutheran.

• A big win for Hastings St. Cecilia on Tuesday in a ranked matchup with Centura. The Hawkettes prevailed in four sets and Wayne State pledge Payton Sullivan get her 1,000th kill.

• Is Class D-1 Osceola a bit under the radar? A sweep of Class D-2, No. 8 on Tuesday night has the Dawgs 15-3.

• The Big Game Chain on a Wednesday as Omaha Marian came back from down 2-1 against Lincoln Southwest to win 15-13 in the fifth in a ranked volleyball matchup, in Class A.

• The EMC Tournament at Gretna East this Saturday will be a SHOW. BRACKET

All The Scores

Odds and Ends

• TENNIS: Brackets are set for the 2025 boys state tennis duals that will be Saturday and Monday in Kearney. In Class B, defending champion Elkhorn Mt. Michael is the top seed, while Lincoln East is the top seed in Class A. The event is the lead up to the NSAA State Meet in Lincoln, where Class A will compete on October 16 and 17, and Class B on October 20 and 21. CLASS A BRACKET | CLASS B BRACKET

• SOFTBALL: All of the Class A top seeds are still alive in district play heading into Thursday’s final day. Six of seven are unbeaten with only Gretna (A-7) facing a win-or-go-home game to start the day. Class B districts — new this year with a serpentine — begin today with best-of-three finals on Friday. And in Class C, the district final best-of-three final round is set. 

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