The North Tama girls cross country team pictured following the state qualifier in Cascade last Thursday, October 21, from left to right: Larissa Morrison, Grace Lidgett, Daniela Moraru, Rachel Robinson, Jules Breakenridge, Jamie Jacobs, and Olivia Ketter. The girls team recorded stellar performances from all seven of their runners including two top five finishes. The Redhawks will head to the state championship on Saturday, October 30 for the first time as a team since 2007. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images.

The Redhawks girls cross country team has run their way to state this year.

On a balmy, cool Thursday last week, the North Tama girls team placed second with 50 points in the Class 1A State Qualifier on the Fillmore Fairways Golf Course in Cascade and will now be running in the 2021 Cross Country State Championship Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge on Saturday, October 30.

North Tama last competed in the state championships as a team in 2007 with the girls taking fourth overall in Class 1A that year according to data from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

And it was truly a team effort last Thursday — the girls managed to beat out 13th ranked Central Elkader by nine points thanks to the work all seven runners put in on the course.

Junior Grace Lidgett took third place in the state qualifier with a time of 20:44.1, while senior Jules Breakenridge took fifth with a time of 21:38.1. Both Lidgett and Breakenridge punched a ticket for state as individuals with their finishes on Thursday.

North Tama Cross Country Coach Katey Holbach (left) and Grace Lidgett (right) pictured following the state qualifier race in Cascade last Thursday. Lidgett took third place at the meet with a time of 20:44.1, earning herself a ticket to the state championship on Saturday. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Lidgett had been ranked 10th in the state for Class 1A going into the meet and Breakenridge had been ranked 21st by the Iowa High School Track and Field + Cross Country coaches poll.

Coming in back-to-back and not too far behind their top-scoring teammates, North Tama’s Jamie Jacobs (sophomore) finished with a time of 22:41.6 in 12th place and Olivia Ketter (junior) crossed the finish with a time of 22:45:4 in 13th place.

Sophomore Larissa Morrison rounded out the top five scoring Redhawks with a time of 26:08.6. Senior Rachel Robinson finished 49th with a time of 28:48 and senior Daniela Moraru finished 51st with a time of 29:55.1.

Lidgett’s mom Amy Lidgett — who was photographing the team — had nothing but praise for all the North Tama runners following the meet.

“Our girls who made the biggest impact on our team going to state were our third, fourth, and fifth scoring girls, especially our fifth scorer [Morrison],” Lidgett said in an email. “Larissa Morrison had a lot of pressure on her, and she truly was the biggest deciding factor for us going.”

Redhawks runners Jules Breakenridge (1263) and Grace Lidgett (1266) break out of the starting group during last Thursday’s 1A state qualifier in Cascade. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

The top scoring girls team Thursday was Hudson with 36 points with Calamus-Wheatland freshman Noelle Steines coming in first across the finish line with a time of 18:48.6.

The Redhawks girls team will head to Fort Dodge this weekend for the state meet. Class 1A girls are scheduled to run at 2:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony beginning at 4:00 p.m.

All spectators are required to have an admission ticket for the state meet. Tickets can be purchased online for $10 through Varsity Bound: https://ia.varsitybound.com/sports/girlscrosscountry/2021-22/tickets. There will be no cash on site sales the day of the state meet. Parking is allowed inside Kennedy Park at no charge.

Sophomore Larissa Morrison 1268) powers her way up the final hill ahead of a couple of Cascade runners in last Thursday’s Class 1A state qualifier. Morrison crossed the finish line with a time of 26:08.6 for 37th place and the fifth-scoring position for the North Tama girls team, thereby helping cement a second place finish overall for the Redhawks and a trip to state. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Members of the North Tama girls cross country team take a moment to mentally prepare ahead of the state qualifier race last Thursday on the grounds of Fillmore Fairways Golf Course in Cascade. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

North Tama’s Christian Dronebarger finishes strong in the boys 1A state qualifying meet last Thursday in Cascade. Dronebarger finished with a time of 22:52.4. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Junior Grace Lidgett works her way up the hill and across the finish line for third place in the Class 1A state qualifier last Thursday in Cascade. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Senior Jules Breakenridge runs her way to a fifth place finish in the Class 1A state qualifier last Thursday in Cascade. Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images.

Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images

Photo courtesy Amy Lidgett/Amy’s Images