By Becky Walz,
South Winn teammates (l-r) Izzy Kuboushek, Karissa Wenthold, Maddy Jansen and Tessa Phillips share hugs and shed tears as they learned they were one point short of third place. (Photo by Becky Walz)
Standing on the deck was just not in the cards for the Winneshiek County teams Friday and Saturday following the Class 3A and 1A races at the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge.
“One of our goals each season is to field the team with the most depth,” said South Winn Co-Head Coach Kevin Kearney. “They were able to achieve that goal for the fifth straight year as we were able to get all seven of our runners in before any other team. It is a real testament to their competitiveness and determination that they have been able to compete so consistently up and down the lineup year in and year out. It has really become the hallmark of our teams’ ability to compete at such a high level.”
When the meet wrapped up, the Class 1A South Winn girls squad finished one point out of third and making its fifth straight appearance in the top three on the deck.
The Decorah boys’ team also finished fourth, finishing ahead of Mount Vernon-Lisbon who had won the Class 3A state qualifying race over the Vikings a week earlier. The Viking girls wrapped up the season in 14th.
Oh-so-close
Posting 173 points, the South Winn girls had an average time of 21:07 and a 2:02 spread of its seven runners.
“Our girls finished the season with their best team performance of the season. We had struggled with injury and illness on and off all season. But, in spite of that, they were able to maintain their focus and kept their eyes on the end of the year. We were probably the seventh to ninth best team heading into the meet, so the fact that they were able to compete inside the top five was really a fantastic accomplishment. We really could not have asked for a better effort,” said SW coach Kearney.
Earlham took the Class 1A title with 91, followed by Madrid with 109 and Treynor with 172.
Leading the Warriors to the line in 35th place was Ava Franzen, in 20:16.5, slicing 17 seconds off her time from a year ago. She was able to finish the year as the conference champion, an individual state qualifier and then led the Warrior team with a lifetime best effort at the state meet.
“Her consistency this season at the front was really important for our team,” noted coach Kearney.
Annie Hageman and Maddy Jansen finished nearly together in 53rd and 55th places, respectively. Hageman posted a time of 20:43.4, while Jansen toured the course in 20:46.4. In her second trip to state with the Warrior squad Lauren Ondrashek had a time of 21:46.5, good for 89th place and 18 seconds faster than last year. Izzy Kuboushek was the final contributor to South Winn’s score in 99th place. She capped off her career with a time of 22:04.6.
Tessa Phillips and Karissa Wenthold were also competitive on the course. Phillips stopped the clock at 22:18.0, good for 105th with Wenthold on her heels in 106th with a time of 22:19.2.
“Our seniors – Karissa, Izzy and Katie (Shimek) – did a great job all year long. Having the right mix of hard work, determination, competitiveness and fun is important to the success of a team. Their leadership and experience will be missed next season and there will be big shoes to be filled in their absence,” concluded coach Kearney.
PR for SW’s Conway
Hugh Conway was the first freshman to qualify for state for South Winn as an individual and finished Saturday’s race in 31st place with a personal record time of 17:06.5.
Throughout the season, Conway broke the freshman cross country record time multiple times, taking 40 seconds off the record over the course of the season.
“His performance at state was really outstanding. He handled everything as if he was a senior. To come in as a freshman and compete that well and with that much composure is really rare. It was great to see him finish with such a great performance,” said SW coach Kearney.
Excellent day
Having missed qualifying as a team in 2023, the Decorah boys’ team made the most of its return trip to the Class 3A state event, finishing with 142 points behind Gilbert (33), Des Moines Christian (78) and Pella (92). The Vikes had an average time of 16:54 and spread of 32 seconds among the top five scoring harriers.
Garrett See and Grant Zilka crossed the finish line together in 21st and 22nd places. See had the Vikings’ best time, a personal record, of 16:36.9, while Zilka toured the course in 16:37.8. In 16:58.2, Davis Coppola earned 39th place. Posting a time of 17:08.0, Mitchell Stemper took 51st, just ahead of teammate and final scoring runner Thomas Hammel who was 52nd in 17:09.1, a personal record for the senior.
Also running for the Vikes were seniors Landyn Hook (55th, 17:11.1) and D’mitry Lesser (81st, 17:31.8).
Viking girls
Among a talented Class 3A girls’ field, the Viking girls finished with 277 points in 14th place. Pella set a new record in team scoring at 23 points to win the day, well ahead of Sioux Center (142) and Mount Vernon-Lisbon (145). The Decorah girls posted a spread of 2:37 among their seven runners and had an average time of 20:48.
Posting a time of 19:35.8, Olivia Volkmann led Decorah to the finish to take 28th place. She was the only Viking to go under 20:00. In 78th came Raelyn Newhouse with a time of 20:47.7, while Riley Christopher took 89th in 20:59.5. Leah Garcia-Prats toured the course in 21:12.4, good for 101st with Deborah Hougen capping off the scoring in 107th. Hougen posted a time of 21:28.9.
In 21:53.3, Brinlee Courtney took 119th with Amelia Wadsworth rounding out the varsity scorecard in 125th with a time of 22:13.4.
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.