Misery

     With no cousin Jake to run against this year, it’s been a little tougher for Nolan Usher to be competitive while running for the New Hampton cross country team. But the junior, for the third straight year, became a Northeast Iowa Conference all-conference runner Tuesday at Waukon.    Tuesday. A miserable day.    “It was terrible, cold, wet, windy, sloppy, yes, the worst I’ve ever run in I’d have to say,” said Usher.    Even with the bad conditions, Usher ran the race in 18:14, a couple of seconds faster than he ran on the same course at Waukon earlier this season, under much better conditions.    The top 15 earned all-conference honors and Usher was 14th, the only Chickasaw runner to land honors. Both the boys and girls teams trailed the NEIC field of six complete teams and Decorah won both meets.    “It’s definitely a big deal to earn all-conference honors,” said Usher. “It’s a sense of pride, that all the hard work does pay off in the end.”    Coach Jamie Ohrt saw more than a few runners wipe out on the wet course.
     For all the New Hampton results, please see the Oct. 13 Tribune.