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Running away before long! But Bison love home
McCOOK, Neb. — Feel like badmouthing Nebraska and some of God’s beautiful buzzing creations?
Haha! Not when they are trying to make new homes somewhere up your nose during a long hot September race!
“I remember needing to take a breath, but I couldn’t without (inhaling) a bunch of bugs,” McCook’s four-year cross country runner recalled about the infamous bug-shortened 2017 McCook Invitational across Heritage Hills golf course.
“I was pulling bugs out of my eye sockets for two days,” classmate T.J. Renner recalled.
Bugs, dogs, cats, chickens, fish, less-than-hospitable parakeets.
Elsianna has seen a lot during her McCook High days as has Renner when called to feed all those Rodewald family pets.
“The parakeet didn’t seem to like me much,” he admitted.
Through it all, their vision has remained clear through every kind of track or cross-country race.
“Watch out for (low-hanging) tree branches,” Renner said about cross country. “I learned that pretty quickly.”
Yet also appreciate what’s been around them all these years.
“I love Nebraska. I think it’s absolutely beautiful,” she said despite observing the Nebraska native Gazette sports scribbler Thursday afternoon. “And I love that all my family including both sets of grandparents are all less than an hour away.”
Renner’s words all agreed with his friend since sixth grade. He’s actually been a four-sport McCook athlete when counting Unified Bowling, track, cross country and swimming.
“I tried to get a boys’ volleyball program started when I was in seventh grade,” this Bison representative to McCook school board meetings revealed. “I guess I didn’t try too hard.”
However, he’s clearly enjoyed all these sports whether it meant challenging Unified teammates to roll strikes or running against Class B’s best at Omaha Burke Stadium.
“I’m a little upset track got canceled. I wanted to run at Burke one more time,” the two-time state qualifier said. “People say state is just another race, but it’s not. The runners are way more aggressive (watch out for elbows!) and you’re so close together on the track.”
“Plus there’s nothing like being there with 10,000 people watching,” he added.
Renner ran the opening leg on last year’s state medalist 3200-meter relay which won both GNAC and Southwest Conference championships last spring.
His steady, strong distance running helped the Bison boys capture four more consecutive B-6 district team titles.
Beyond all that, Renner marvels how big races aren’t even needed to fire up the “once-shy” Rodewald.
“We’ve done a lot of workouts. Elsi can’t sprint that well, but she sure tries her hardest and gets a little mad,” he proclaimed. “There have been a lot of times she has got me motivated. I’m sitting on the couch and she calls to say ‘let’s go run’.”
Rodewald has known all about going the distance ever since her Bison debut as a freshman in 2016.
No area runner has more consistently helped lead her team as Elsi reached the Class B state meet in Kearney twice.
She immediately was a top 20 placer in 2016, then earned her Class B Top 10 medal two years later.
Elsianna finished top 10 or higher during every race of that junior season.
Plus she also learned how to navigate through those tight, intense and sometimes truly “sharp” cross country races.
“There was one girl (remains unidentified) who liked to throw elbows at me,” Elsi recalled. “I finally gave her one back, and I never got an elbow again from her.”
Sadly, injuries did slow her senior quest to make state again last fall.
“We’re still not exactly sure what it (the injury) was,” she said. “My lower right leg and calf was hurting.”
Sad, but not so sad considering how much Elsi enjoyed her sports beyond times or places.
Elsi saw little sister /freshman Sami Rodewald reach state last fall to continue this family tradition.
Equally fun was all those friendships developing both on and away from her Bison team.
“It’s gotten to where we (rival runners) all know each other by first name,” she said. “Not winning is not the end of the world. And when we go to state, all the (McCook) team has fun. They do a roll down one big (Kearney Country Club) hill.”
Obviously, the two seniors are far downhill to that home stretch of their high school days.
They’re all-state academic students who will both be leaving McCook behind soon.
Rodewald, a dedicated FFA member, plans to start her poultry science pursuits at the Nebraska College of Technical Agricuture.
Then she will be entering a strange new land where fans shout “S-E-C! S-E-C!”
“I’m going to Mississippi State University,” she declared. “They have a great poultry program.”
Meanwhile, Renner won’t like a chicken from his goals to attend the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He’ll major in business and finance with an emphasis on accounting.
A pair of totally different paths that would love to reach one similar goal:
Being back home.
“My dream would be to open a hatchery in McCook,” Elsianna said. “So obviously, I’d like to see them allow hens in town.”
“I hope to be a financial advisor and certified public account in McCook,” Renner confirmed.
“I love McCook. I love going to stores because I always seem someone I know,” he added. “It’s my kind of town.”