AREA – North Tama and Union cross country runners competed last week Thursday, Oct. 22, in state-qualifying meets.

Redhawk girls just miss state berth

Redhawk senior Rachael Murty placed 11th in the highly competitive Class 1A state qualifier hosted by Colfax-Mingo at Thomas Mitchell Park near Mitchellville. In the girls race, she finished in 21 minutes, 18.68 seconds, less than two seconds behind individual qualifier Elsie Hauser of Baxter (21:16.55).

Colfax-Mingo’s Ashlynn Hosbond won the individual crown in 20:10.56, followed by Jayden Peters of Collins-Maxwell (20:13.99), Ava Anderson of Montezuma (20:24.08), Summer Isley of Pleasantville (20:40.86) and Adaline Jolly of Collins-Maxwell (20:42.13). Colo-NESCO’s Elizabeth Erickson clinched the fifth and final at-large spot, finishing seventh in 20:58.8.

Fourth-ranked Collins-Maxwell claimed the team title with 57 points, No. 16 Earlham was second at 94, and No. 17 North Tama took third with 109 points – narrowly missing out on a team state berth in a repeat of last season.

Sophomore Lucy Monat was the next Redhawk to finish, placing 26th (23:41.20), while her sister, freshman Abi Monat followed directly behind in 27th (23:41.81) and junior Isla Breakenridge took 34th (24:16.36). Sophomore Aniston Cooper rounded out the team scoring in 38th (24:45.12).

North Tama’s additional finishes came from junior Brynley Seda (58th, 26:55.92) and senior Violet Seda (61st, 27:14.48).

No Redhawk runners competed in the boys race.

Last season, Murty raced her way to a personal record in the Class 1A girls race at state, crossing the finish line 63rd out of 158 competitors with a time of 21:5.90.

Union harriers at Eagle Grove

The Union Knights cross country team competed in the Class 2A state-qualifying meet at Eagle Grove Golf Course where the girls placed ninth out of 11 scoring teams with 261 points, and the boys took 13th with 349 points.

The second-ranked West Marshall girls’ cross country team cruised to the championship, accumulating just 36 points. Seventh-ranked Van Meter was second with 58 points, and No. 11 Crestwood was third at 73.

Third-ranked Spirit Lake won the boys team title with 46 points, followed by No. 11 Okoboji in second (73) and No. 16 Van Meter in third (81).

Sophomore Olivia Schildroth paced the Knights in the girls race, finishing 38th with a time of 23:53.13. Union’s top runner in the boys race was junior Tristan Keister who came in 53rd with a time of 20:38.54.

Additional scoring from the Knights girls came from senior Katie Jackson (24:17.63), sophomore Linkyn Vaughn (59th, 26:27.18), freshman Ainsley Miller (66th, 27:14.72), and sophomore Kayla Toenges (67th, 27:22.99).

Additional scoring from the Knights boys came from junior Cayden Stoneman (62nd, 21:36.23), sophomore Phineas Beermann (66th, 21:44.70), senior Ian Grimm (86th, 25:17.87), and freshman Jagger Meier (90th, 27:04.91).