NORFOLK,Neb.- With 12 different schools and over 60 girls looking for a ticket to the state finals in Kearney, it was a new competitor with a familiar last name who cashed in her ticket.

Crofton Freshman Avery Arens crossed the finish line with the time of 17:53.7, which would have qualified her for the boy's state race.
 
“It feels really good,” said Arens. “Me and my team have been doing this like the whole entire time. We’ve been like working up to this, and we were ready for this in the beginning.”
 
Crofton also finished in first with a combined score of 10. Both Arens and the team qualify for the NSAA Cross Country Championship in Kearney.
 
In the boy's race, Norfolk Catholic remained in a tight pack up front the entire time.
 
At the end, freshman Teddy Haake took home first place in his first district race. Haake didn’t think he'd win but knew if he kept up with his team, success would follow.
 
“My team, we’ve all been like switching winning at races, "said Haake. “And we’ve all been running together, so my goal this meet was just to stay with my teammates because we’ve all been running well together.”
 
Haake finished with a time of 17:33.5 and his team also took first.