The North Platte girls’ cross-country team has been a force to be reckoned with and is locked and loaded for the fall.
With three consecutive seasons ending with a top-3 finish at state, the Lady Panthers are bringing back all their core runners plus a nice pair of up-and-coming freshmen. North Platte has five seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen this fall.
“In the last few years, we earned runner-up twice, third place last fall and added a track state championship in the spring,” North Platte head cross-country coach Brendan Cary said. “The success speaks for itself; for the girls it’s more about their attitude, staying healthy and coming together to put themselves in a position to run for a chance at the state championship.”
North Platte sophomore Brianna DeBord finished in fourth place at the 2021 Class 2 State Meet.
Three of the five seniors – Audrey Buckler, Jessa Cassity and Shelby Lingle – are entering their fourth year of cross-country at the high school level, being a part of the three best state finishes in program history. Alaina Scroggins and Lonee French joined last year to add depth to the already talented class.
Brianna DeBord was the Lady Panthers’ top runner last year when she finished her freshman campaign with a fourth-place finish in the Class 2 State Meet. Chloe Heckman and Lily Schaffart – who are sisters to the North Platte boys’ two reigning state qualifiers, Noah Heckman and Josh Schaffart – are going to be huge additions to this year’s squad.
“Chloe will come in and be one of our top runners; she’s already running in our top group at practice. We will see where Lily comes out as the season moves on,” Cary said.
The North Platte junior class includes Caitlyn Cummings who had health issues last year but is back and ready for the season. Kylee Sipes is a dual sport athlete and splits time with volleyball to fill out the junior class.
“We will stress a lot that what has happened in the past is a building block to build off of, but it’s not a high thing that we stare at every day and say we have to do this to be successful as a team. Our success is if we get better and if our kids grow along the way. If a by-product of that is hanging banners, winning championships, and those types of things, that’s a perk of what we do,” Cary said.