Girls Cross Country Finishes Their Season in 9th Place at State
November 11, 2019
The gun goes off. The race starts. This is what the training was for. What the blood, sweat, and tears were for. All for this race: the state meet. Running till collapse and running past that. Running all to cross the finish line, see the time flash across the board, and be proud of it.
“If somebody passes you, go with them. Remember that. It is not because they are faster. It is a dare from the competitor next to you. Be brave in the first mile. Remind yourself that you have trained, you are fit, you are strong, and we are a strong team. Do some damage tonight,” said co-head coach Lynn Ahlers just before the varsity race at Divisionals on Thursday, October 17.
The girls have been training six times a week every week since before school started, all to get to that moment. With summer running starting around June 17, that is approximately 120 practices on the way to state.
“I’m very nervous. I’m so excited that the whole team is going to be able to go. I’m looking forward to racing against so many people, [there is] really stiff competition there. I’m looking forward to our team getting the experience of state,” Rowan Boulter ‘22 said the week leading up to state.
On October 24, the girls competed in Cedar Falls at the District meet. Rowan Boulter ‘22, Lillian Reynolds ‘21, Erin Anderson ‘23, and Iris Wedemeyer ‘23 qualified individually, leading the team to qualify as well. Earning 53 points as a team, the girls pulled out a second-place finish just behind Dubuque Senior.
“We are so strong. We use each other. When I am tired, a girl would help the other girl get through that and then it was a domino effect. It was this domino effect of positivity for each other,” Lucy Corbin ’22 said after her race at districts.
On November 2, the girls competed in Fort Dodge at the State meet. Boulter led the team and finished in 21st place with a time of 19:08. Second on the team, Wedemeyer placed 42nd with a time of 19:43, a personal record. Reynolds came in third for the team with a time of 19:49 putting her in 52nd place. Anderson was their fourth runner with a time of 20:22 and in 81st place. Mary Bounds ‘20 came in 94th place with a time of 20:32. The sixth runner on the team was Lucy Corbin ‘22, coming in 107th place with a time of 20:57. Esti Brady ‘20 was the seventh runner with a time of 21:22 and in the 112th place.
“The team was insanely hard working, especially the people I was around. It seemed like everybody had one similar goal. I think part of it was due to coming back. Not making it state last year, I think it just made everyone a lot more determined. I think that the whole vibe of workouts was more competitive,” said sophomore Tatum Frazier.
The girls had a successful night, running a full team of seven, compared to last year, when Boulter was the only qualifier. After a second place finish at Divisionals, the girls ended the season finishing in ninth place at state with 223 total points.
