KEARNEY, Neb. – Juan Gonzalez joined the elite circle of three-time Class A champions as he led Fremont back to winning ways.

The nation’s No. 9 runner broke the meet record and was 1 second away from tying the course record as he repeated as the all-class gold medalist Friday at Kearney Country Club.

“I was worried when I came to the meeting. We have some fast guys in Class B that would take the race away from each other,” Gonzalez said. “I had to be the guy that goes out on his own and just goes after it.”

His 14:52.1 bettered the 14:58.3 of gold medalist Carson Noecker of Class C Hartington in 2022, as Gonzalez won the first of his three Class A titles.

Noecker holds the course record of 14:51, Gonzalez’s time goal for Friday.

“In the mile, I was almost 10 seconds away from where Noecker was (setting the record),” Gonzalez said. “I had a full tank. At mile two my coach told me I had a pretty good shot at that.

“I just fell a little short.”

Fremont had four medalists, all in the top 11, as it won Class A for the fourth time in five years (losing last year’s title on a tiebreaker) while extending its Class A record to 12 titles. Noah Miller was fifth, Michael Nichols eighth and Jase Laday 11th.

There are now four three-time state champions among the Class A boys. The others were Nate Nielsen of Lincoln Southeast, Colby Wissel of Kearney and Liem Chot of Lincoln North Star.

Gonzalez is being recruited by Oklahoma State, Oregon, Wake Forest and UNK.

Millard West was the last team, other than Lincoln East, to become Class A girls state champions.

The Wildcats were the ones to end East’s six-year streak on Friday.

They capped an undefeated season by capturing three medals and placing all seven runners in the top 29 at Kearney Country Club.

Millard West’s top finisher was Kate Ebmeier, four seconds ahead of champion Abigail Burger of Kearney.

Litsey Fredette placed sixth, Sadie Osher 15th and Katelyn Sanne 16th. Olivia McKlem, in 25th place, was their fifth runner.

“We have a very deep team. We have these seven, but we probably have 10 to 12 others that probably deserve to play here as well,” West coach Colin Johnston said. “Just the fact that so many people push each other every day wakes everyone up.

The Wildcats had 54 points to 93 for runner-up team Lincoln Southwest. Lincoln East finished eighth during a rebuilding season.

“Any time there’s a team that’s a little bit dominant, it’s going to raise everyone’s level,” Johnston said. “For six years in a row, everyone has been trying to take them out. And finally it happens.” .”

Burger was Kearney’s first individual winner since Monica Erickson in 1998.

Early in the race she had a fall.

“It was the combination of a tree root and another girl,” Burger said. “I got a few cuts on my knee, but I got back up.

“As if there was no other option, for my team and myself.”

No one from Elkhorn North left Friday’s state meet without two medals.

One for placing in the top 15 of the Class B race and one, a gold medal, for the Wolves winning their first team championship.

Wolves sophomore Leah Robinson was runner-up to repeating champion and all-class gold medalist Kendall Zavala of Norris. Ella Ford, returning from injury, was eighth, Kailey O’Brien was 10th, Paityn Christoffels 11th, Avery Melendrez 13th and Anna Ripley 15th.

They broke Norris’ three-year hold on the team title.

“We just worked extra hard and got dialed in because these are our last years together,” Robinson said. “It was really good to do it with this group of girls, especially to get one last good run.”

Zavala and Atlee Wallman, both seniors for the Titans, were 1-2 through the first two miles before Robinson got between them. Zavala’s time of 18:23.9 broke the Class B meet record of 18:32.5 set by Gretna’s Mazie Larsen in 2006.

Elkhorn North and Norris, who trailed the Wolves 26-32 on Friday, have gone back and forth at the top of Class B all season. With conference and state victories, the Wolves won the season series 4-2.

“They helped us a lot,” Robinson said. “Today we just remembered that we are all bigger than one and that all we thought about during the race was each other.”

Stay tuned for more updates from the Nebraska high school cross country meet