The scene of the crime

On September 29, following the UNK invitational meet, the cross country team began their voyage back home to Chadron. As the cardinals passed through Thedford, Nebraska, in two school vehicles, they rolled into the darkness beyond the comfort of city lights beaming, and the road inclined before them revealing a field of clay.

           According to Coach McCarty, “It looked like the road just ended.” As they inched closer, they realized that what lay in front of them was not clay, but blood! Dexter Applegarth said, "We were listening to 80s rock when we were interrupted by a loud thump and some sliding." The road, into the ditch, was covered in the corpses of cattle!

          According to Coach Uhing, “My brain, because of that much blood, did not register at first ‘Hey, this is blood'." Because the coaches were each driving separate vehicles, Coach Uhing called McCarty, who was following behind him, laughing profusely. McCarty then informed Uhing that he was still dragging pieces of carcass behind him.

          “The worst part was the smell, the absolute putrid smell,” said Uhing. The smell was so dreadful that Alison Gardner said, "We were gagging the whole way home." It seems a semi must have passed through, destroying dozens of cattle, but not stopping for a moment to see what had occurred. Although this theory seems the most probable, Coach Uhing believes a UFO is responsible for the massacre. In any case, someone was probably very upset at the loss of so many cattle.