Oct. 20—MITCHELL — For a high school cross country team with aspirations of reaching the podium at the state meet, having experienced runners leading the way can make all the difference.
For the Mitchell Christian Golden Eagles, however, two of their biggest contributors this fall are also among the youngest runners on the team.
Freshman Laura Nemec and seventh-grader Lerae DeLine have established themselves as the top-two girls runners for Mitchell Christian this season, providing a combination of talent and energy as the Golden Eagles prepare for the Class B girls cross country state meet Saturday, Oct. 24, at Hart Ranch Camping Resort in Rapid City.
Despite their limited experience at the high-school level, the pair has consistently delivered strong performances while helping set the tone for a team looking to improve upon its seventh-place finish at last year's state meet.
"I feel like Laura and I just try to make things fun in our group because we are two of the younger runners on the team with Hanna (Thorsen, a seventh-grader)," DeLine said. "We keep the energy up and laugh and joke around, and it's been really fun to chase Laura this season. She gives me a lot of motivation and determination to try and catch her."
That competitive relationship has helped fuel both runners throughout the season, with Nemec emerging as one of the top runners in Class B and DeLine continuing to develop.
MCS coach Julie Holdeman said the emergence of the two young runners has come as little surprise to her and coach Jill Nydam.
"We actually knew that would happen," Holdeman said of Nemec and DeLine being the top runners. "We weren't surprised because they both just have a natural gift for it and work so hard."
Last fall, Nemec competed in the Class B state meet as an eighth grader and led the Golden Eagles with a 20th-place finish in 20 minutes, 32.08 seconds. She has continued building on that performance this season, showing both improved speed and the consistency needed to compete among the state's best runners.
Nemec opened this season with a victory at the Mitchell Kernel Invite on Aug. 27 at Wild Oak Golf Course before winning the Parker/Marion cross country meet on Sept. 9. She added a runner-up finish at the Howard meet on Oct. 5 and a third-place effort at the Platte-Geddes Invitational on Sept. 26.
"I have quickly learned to trust the people around me, and I feel like they have helped me impact the season just as much as I have for the team," Nemec said. "They have definitely pushed me to my very best, and I definitely look up to our two seniors Trudie (Hofer) and Amy (Henderson). This has been an awesome season."
Her most recent performance was arguably her most impressive. At the Region 3B meet in Freeman on Oct. 14, Nemec captured the individual title in 19:43.4, finishing 30 seconds ahead of second place. The victory provided another indication of Nemec's progress as she heads into the state meet with momentum and confidence.
"We actually bugged Laura into being a runner last year as she was into gymnastics and swimming," Holdeman said. "So, she came out last year, and we're glad she did. What has surprised me the most about Laura is not her running ability, but her ability to be a leader on the team already. We're losing our two seniors in Trudie and Amy, and she is ready to take over."
While Nemec has continued to build on her previous state meet experience, DeLine has spent her first season learning the demands of high school cross country and finding out just how much she can accomplish. The seventh grader has already established herself as a key runner of the lineup, consistently finishing among the top while showing steady improvement throughout the fall.
DeLine placed third at the Parker/Marion meet on Sept. 9, finished fourth at the Platte-Geddes Invitational and took 10th at the Flyer Invitational in Freeman on Sept. 16. She followed those performances with an 11th-place finish at the Region 3B meet, clocking a time of 20:50.3 to position herself for another opportunity to improve at the state meet.
"It's been a really fun first season," DeLine said. "I feel like I have been pushed much more than I ever have before, and I have just tried to put my best effort into each race and it's worked so far.
"Lerae is young, but she's growing and learning how to be a part of a team and how to handle all of that. She has been great in her first year," MCS coach Jill Nydam added. "She's learning how to discipline herself in a race and how to pace. In every meet, we have seen her learn more and understand how her body functions. She has a ton of raw talent and natural abilities."
Alongside Nemec and DeLine, Mitchell Christian will have three additional girls competing at the state meet with seniors Amy Henderson and Trudie Hofer and sophomore Nicole Kleinsasser.
Henderson finished 16th at the Region 3B meet in 21:36.1, while Kleinsasser placed 32nd in 23:23.6 and Hofer finished 39th in 24:53.9.
The Golden Eagles will need contributions throughout the lineup as they pursue a top-six finish and a Class B state plaque. After finishing seventh a season ago, the team enters Saturday's competition with an opportunity to take another step forward behind its top-two young runners.
"I definitely think we are capable of getting sixth place or higher at state," Nemec said. "We just have to put in our best efforts and not hold anything back. Getting top five at state would mean a lot to me, but I just want our team to do well more than anything."