By Becky Walz,
The foundation is set for the South Winn girls’ and boys’ cross country teams this fall.
With six total seniors, the Warriors have a strong core of harriers back, aiming for a conference title.
Leading the way are the co-coaches Kevin Kearney and Scott Conway. Kearney has been with the team for 28 years while Conway has been with the squad for 20.
A solid season
Both the Warrior girls’ and boys’ teams returned a strong group of youth last year.
Ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, the varsity girls won the Upper Iowa Conference title, scoring 57 points. Sophomore Billie Wagner came in third overall, with freshman Josie Tieskoetter taking fourth and Megan Hageman 12th, to earn all-conference honors.
Tallying 36 points, the third-ranked SW boys finished second at the UIC meet behind Class 2A No. 15 North Fayette Valley who had 30 points. Four Warriors claimed all-conference honors, led by Omar Flores as the overall runner-up. Other all-UIC harriers were Toby Conway in third, Chance Adam in fifth and Isaiah Kruckman in eighth.
It was a strong day at the state qualifying meet, with both squads winning titles and earning a trip to Fort Dodge for the first time since 2017. The girls punched their ticket to state by scoring 46 points, while the boys blazed the trail to post a final tally of 27 to advance.
With a trophy on the line, the Warriors had one of its best days on the course, finishing second at state to Hudson by two points with a score of 130 and average time of 21:15.3. The boys claimed third in the team standings with 140 points.
Wagner led the way for the Lady Warriors claimed silver in her second state meet in 19:19.8. Tieskoetter finished 14th in the team standings, while junior Eryn Sabelka toured the course to 22nd place. Despite finishing with just one shoe, Hageman’s time was good for 28th place and Ella Willey’s 64th finish completed the team scoring. In her first state meet, sophomore Anna Dietzenbach earned 67th place, while Emma Houdek concluded her high school career in 89th place.
In the boys’ race, South Winn had an average time of 17:52.9 and a spread of 1:16.9 led by Jamison Meyer in 12th place. Flores was the second Warrior to cross the finish line in 21st place, followed by Conway in 26th place. Kruckman posted a 37th place finish while Adam toured the course to take 44th and complete the team score. Junior Ethan Maldonado (77th) and sophomore Hunter Wagner (144th) also competed at state.
Pushing for varsity
The Warriors will have a strong core to help the younger athletes grow. Leading the way are five boys and six girls with state experience.
Wagner posted a time of 19:19.8 at state, with Tieskoetter at 20:52.7, Sabelka at 21:30.1, Hageman at 21:42.1, E. Willey at 22.56.4 and Dietzenbach at 22:56.4.
“This group of girls have competed well at the end of the year. In 2019, they ran strong races at the district meet and nearly qualified for state,” said Kearney and Conway. “Last season they consistently improved and pushed themselves to compete at a high level. Several of these returners showed up throughout the summer to work on their strength and conditioning.”
In addition to those six, the Lady Warriors have Izzy Kipp, Quinn Kruckman, Kira Ellingson, Aubrey Willey, Josie Tollefsrud, Izzy Kuboushek, Grace Zweibohmer and Karissa Wenthold rounding out the squad.
Leading the returning state runners for the boys will be Flores with a state time of 17:48.0, Kruckman at 18:11.0, Adam at 18:24.0, Maldonado at 19:33.8 and Wagner at 20:55.3.
“The amount of experience is a big benefits as we get to the end of the year. The boys did a nice job of putting in miles this summer and several of them made some big gains during the track season,” said the Co-Coaches.
Keys to success
Although the South Winn harriers appear to have what it takes on paper, the coaches know there’s still work to do.
“On the girls’ side, we return an experienced group who are hardworking, focused and determined. I think the keys for our girls are first and foremost to have a healthy season,” said the coaches. “Beyond that, our girls need to focus on their own improvement and challenging themselves to compete to the best of their ability. We also need to replace Emma (Houdek), who was a fantastic team leader for us. We feel confident that we have a good group of girls to fill these roles as leaders and great teammates.”
The coaches noted that the boys’ squad will need to see younger, less experienced runners improve and step into varsity roles.
“We have benefitted from a great deal of experience and talent over the past few years. We still bring back some solid front runners, but our depth is not quite where it has been over the last few seasons. Fortunately, we have some hardworking kids who we feel like can step into these roles for us. If our more experienced guys can provide good leadership and our younger guys can begin to step into roles as varsity runners, we have a great chance of becoming a competitive team over the course of the season,” said the coaches.
The outlook
Like in the past, it will be a strong Upper Iowa Conference race, with several teams having the opportunity to win the crown.
“Central, Kee, North Fayette Valley and Turkey Valley all have some excellent runners. We also return a very experienced team. If we are healthy, the girls should be able to compete with these teams for those top spots in the conference meet,” noted the co-coaches.
As for the boys, the SW coaches point out that North Fayette Valley returns a solid squad from last season. To compete for a top three, the Warriors need some of the younger athletes to improve over the course of the season.
The season opens Tuesday, Aug. 24, at Edgewood-Colesburg.
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