Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle
Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle
Lincoln East High School's home of Spartan news

The Oracle

Lincoln East cross country proves to be tough competition at LPS Championships

Avari Wischhof, Co-Editor-in-Chief • October 24, 2023
Photo by Hope Shortridge
The Lincoln East girls support each other before running their race at the LPS Championships on Friday, September 30, 2023. The girls team won the meet with a score of 23 points overall.

On Friday, September 30, 2023, the Lincoln Public Schools cross country championships took place at Pioneers Park. In both the girl’s and boy’s races, East dominated with a first place overall finish for the girls, and a second place finish for the boys.

Coming into the meet, the girls team knew what they had to do. Winning for the ninth year in a row, the girls kept the streak alive and proved their dominance, once again, over the other Lincoln schools. Winning for the third season in a row, senior Mia Murray led the pack, followed by Sadie Yager (third), Peyton Svehla (fourth), Ella Herzberg (sixth), Kadence Hurley (ninth), and Jordyn Wissing (tenth). With six girls finishing top 10, the team prevailed with a score of 23 points, followed by Lincoln Southwest with 59 points.

The boys team also had major success. Even without their top male runner, Hudson Davy, the Spartan boys still rallied and finished second overall, just one point behind the North Star Gators. Max Myers of Lincoln Southwest took first place, however four East boys snuck their way into the top 14. Junior Caleb Ruch finished third, followed by sophomore Ben Schlegemilch (seventh), sophomore Daren Linscott (ninth), and sophomore Chahn Tran (fourteenth). Even with tough circumstances, the boys team persevered and competed well.

“I think that with losing Hudson, everyone knew that we all had to step up if we wanted to have a chance at winning, and I think that everyone stepped up and did what we needed to do,” junior Caleb Ruch said. “So in terms of competing, I thought we fought really hard, we just came up short of our goals.”

With the championship season right around the corner, East will be a team to look out for.

“It makes me really excited for the rest of the season,” senior Mia Murray said. “We had some competition in Lincoln, but it definitely doesn’t compare to what we have coming for State and in the future, so it makes me really excited to see us compete as a team.”

Make sure to catch the results from districts on October 12 and the State meet on October 20.

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About the Contributors
Avari Wischhof
Avari Wischhof, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Avari Wischhof is a senior at East High School and has been involved in the Oracle for three years. She is also a part of the National Honors Society, and Key Club where she volunteers for Meals on Wheels and Sunken Gardens. She has one sister, along with her Mom, Dad, and two dogs and has been swimming for nine years. She states that “One time I was at the pool with my friend and her Dad said I was really good at swimming and should try it out, and I’ve been doing it ever since.” Using those skills she is a lifeguard and swim coach at Hillcrest. The way she’s able to keep up with all her activities and school work is by having her favorite drink, coffee.
Hope Shortridge
Hope Shortridge, Staff Writer, Co-Editor-In-Chief
Hope Shortridge is a senior at East and this is her third year on the Oracle staff. She is the Co-Editor in Chief with Peyton Svehla. For the Oracle this year, Hope wants to make the online version of the publication more well known, as well as covering all varsity sporting events as she did last year. At school she is in orchestra, Hope Squad, Unified Bowling, the Feminist Club, and is the founding member and president of the Broadcasting Club. When she’s not in school or reporting on the latest East sporting event, she loves watching sports, especially baseball, and Husker football and volleyball. She also works at Eastmont Retirement Home as a server. She has a twin brother named Paul, and two Italian greyhounds: Sam and Iris at home. It might be her last year at East, but “I’m a Spart till I die,” Hope says.