Several area cross country runners and teams capped their seasons at the Iowa state championships in Fort Dodge last week, with the Van Buren County girls finishing 12th as a team and a handful of local individuals earning top-100 finishes.
Class 1A — Friday, Oct. 30
Van Buren County Girls
The Van Buren County girls team, which won the Class 1A district championship on their home course in Keosauqua on Oct. 22, finished 12th as a team at the state meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Maquoketa Valley won the team title with 54 points. Madelyn Grothus of Madrid won the individual title at 18:17.6.
Rory Philips led the Warriors at the state meet with a 60th-place finish in 20:57.2. Kayley Snowgren, a two-time individual state qualifier, placed 78th in 21:28.2. Adalyn Snowgren finished 99th in 22:08.7, Gabby Titus 110th in 22:18.7, Cami Daugherty 125th in 23:20.6, Brystol Wiley 138th in 24:00.6 and Paisley Baker 145th in 24:24.5.
Emery Hall of HLV-TC also competed in the Class 1A girls race, finishing 80th at 21:36.7.
Class 1A Boys
Van Buren County’s Landry Loeffler placed 46th in 17:33.4 in the Class 1A boys race. Pekin’s Mason Dahlstrom, competing in his fourth consecutive state meet, finished 87th in 18:18.0. Haven Weers of Tri-Center won the individual title at 15:57.4. Riverside won the team title with 127 points.
Loeffler reflected on the experience after the race. “It felt amazing. Amazing accomplishment just to be up here running with these amazing 1A runners and everyone,” he said.
Dahlstrom said finishing the race was what mattered most. “I just kept telling myself go to the finish, go to the finish, and I did. I mean, it wasn’t my best race by no means, but I finished the race and that’s all that matters to me,” he said.
Class 2A Girls
Albia’s Mady Montgomery placed seventh in the Class 2A girls race at 19:13.1, improving on her 10th-place finish from a year ago. Mid-Prairie won the team title with 85 points, their seventh title in the last 10 years, led by Kendal Landstrum. Pella Christian finished 10th as a team, led by Harley Rens.
Montgomery said she was proud of how she competed. “I feel great. I mean, my goal this year was to get top 15 again. I’ve kind of had an up and down season. I didn’t really know how I’d be at this meet, and I’m just glad I got to come out here and give it my all. And I’m really proud. I think that was a PR for me,” she said.
Class 2A Boys
Pella Christian won the Class 2A boys team title with 62 points, led by Dean De Ronde in eighth at 16:26.3. Chariton finished third with 126 points, led by Lucas Anderson, who won the individual title at 15:57.3. Davis County was represented by Gage Moss in 83rd at 17:58.3 and Connor Garland in 114th at 18:37.9.
Class 3A — Saturday, Oct. 31
Class 3A Girls
Fairfield freshman Ava Jones, who earned her individual state berth with a 16th-place finish at the Class 3A district qualifying meet in Washington, placed 102nd at 21:12.3 in her first state meet appearance. Evelyn Meoller of Mount Vernon won the individual title at 17:07.5. Pella won the team title with 34 points, led by Elsie Brenneman at 17:38.6.
Fairfield head coach Jerrod Belzer praised Jones’s performance. “Ava had a great race today. She handled the pressure of competing at state really well and was able to go out and run a really solid time against one of the fastest 3A girls’ fields ever. Ava capped off an impressive season and I know she’s just going to continue getting faster as she goes,” he said.
Class 3A Boys
Logan Bleich of Gilbert won the Class 3A boys individual title at 15:12.2, with Gilbert also claiming the team title with 98 points. Pella finished 10th as a team. Oskaloosa’s Lane Smith placed ninth individually at 16:08.8.
