The Schuyler Central High School had two Cross Country State qualifiers Mynor “Boo” Hernandez, a Freshman, and Miriam Deanda, a Sophomore. Miriam also qualified for State last year. These two athletes qualified for State at Districts in Overton, Nebraska on October 11. At Districts, Mynor’s time was 17 minutes 59 seconds 71 milliseconds, which placed him in 9th place. Miriam’s time was 22 minutes 23 seconds 40 milliseconds, which placed her in 12th place. These two athletics were coached by Rick Carter, the Boys Cross Country coach and Math teacher, and Adam Robinson, a sixth grade Math teacher, coached the Girls Cross Country team.
The State meet was on Friday, October 20, at Kearney, Nebraska. According to Coach Robinson, “The biggest struggle at State for Boo and Miriam was the hills on the State course.” Coach Robinson felt that they should have practiced the hills more this year. Coach Carter commented that, “It becomes really important to know the pace, the need to run, and not go out too fast.
“I felt really proud of myself when I made it to State, because I knew that all my hard work throughout the season paid off,” explained Miriam. At State, Miriam’s time was 23 minutes 8 seconds 10 seconds, which put her in 67th place. Last year at State, Miriam’s time was 21 minutes 52 seconds, which put her in 34th place. Miriam explained that, “Advice I would give another runner who would like to qualify for State is run in the summer, it really makes a difference.” At State, Boo’s time was 18:17.80, which placed him at 47th place. “I felt really excited to qualify as a freshman as well and was really hyped about it, but at the same time was nervous because it’s the most important race of the season,” shared Boo. Boo’s advice to other students would be “Just to run their own race really.”