FORT DODGE – North Tama junior Rachael Murty raced her way to a personal record on Saturday, Nov. 1, in Fort Dodge while competing in the 2025 Iowa High School Cross Country Championships Class 1A girls race held at Lakeside Golf Course.

Amid cloudy skies and temperatures hovering in the mid-40s, Murty crossed the finish line in 63rd place out of 100 competitors with a time of 21 minutes, 5.9 seconds to set a personal record.

Earlier that morning back in Traer, Murty was celebrated with a North Tama state sendoff. Alongside her fellow Redhawk girls runners – who just missed qualifying as a team for the state meet this season – Murty rode around Traer atop a firetruck before heading to Fort Dodge. Prior to the sendoff, Murty’s mother, Tiffany Murty told the newspaper her daughter spent much of the past offseason conditioning including this summer running hills with the Hilltoppers, a training program for junior high and high school cross country runners.

Defending state champion, St. Albert Council Bluffs senior Lili Denton won the 1A girls race on Saturday with a time of 17:56.6, breaking the state record she set in 2024. Denton was followed by Pekin senior Chloe Glosser in second (18:33.5), Starmont junior Lauren Krogmann in third (18:34.6), Martensdale-St. Marys senior Karson Oberender in fourth (18:50.9), and West Bend-Mallard senior Tyra Schupbach in fifth (19:03.4). The top-15 individuals received medals.

South Winneshiek won the Class 1A girls title with 125 points.