Juan Gonzalez of Fremont sets state meet record, wins third Class A title
Juan Gonzalez of Fremont set the state meet record to win individual gold and lift the Tigers to the Class A team championship.
By News Channel NebraskaKEARNEY, Neb. — Juan Gonzalez of Fremont set the state meet record to win individual gold and lift the Tigers to the Class A team championship.
Gonzalez ran a time of 14:52.01, beating Carson Noecker of Hartington-Newcastle’s 14:58 from two years ago. Gonzalez came up one second short of the course record set by Noecker at the 2022 UNK Invite.
“It’s awesome,” Gonzalez said. “Just watching guys like him when I was just a sophomore watching him just do great things. To be a senior now and be able to get his time from when he was racing, it’s just awesome.”
Gonzalez finished an incredible 50 seconds in front of the second place runner, Josiah Bitker of Lincoln North Star. He finishes his cross country career as a three-time state champion and four-time medalist. Head coach Sean McMahon praised Gonzalez’s team-first mindset.
“Everything leading up to today was about the team,” McMahon said. “When we were in the huddle at the start, it’s all about the team. He wanted to see the team succeed.”
The Tigers comfortably won the team title with 47 points, ahead of Lincoln North Star’s 62. It is Fremont’s fourth title in the last five years.
“Just being able to go out and compete for your team is so much easier, it’s so much better than just going out there for yourself,” Gonzalez said.
1. 47 Fremont ( 15:58.97 1:19:54.87 1:57.26)
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1 1 Juan Gonzalez 12 14:52.01
2 5 Noah Miller 12 15:50.88
3 8 Michael Nichols 11 16:08.18
4 11 Jase Laday 12 16:14.53
5 22 Raymond Rise 12 16:49.27
6 ( 25) Mason Nau 12 16:53.40
7 ( 48) Aden Soto 10 17:23.22