By Becky Walz,
The South Winn girls’ cross country punched its ticket to state Thursday with team members (l-r) Maddy Jansen, Ava Franzen, Lauren Ondrashek, Tessa Phillips, Izzy Kuboushek, Karissa Wenthold and Annie Hageman. (Photo by Becky Walz)
Get on the deck to get a medal – that is the dream for three Winneshiek County cross country teams and one individual.
Following a missed season at state in 2022, the Decorah girls will return for the second straight season, this time joined by the Viking boys’ team which has missed out on competing the past two seasons. Wednesday, Oct. 23, the Viking teams both finished second in Waverly at the Class 3A state-qualifier.
For South Winn girls, it would be the fifth straight season on the deck following their runner-up finish at the Class 1A state-qualifying race at North Linn Thursday, Oct. 24. One individual will make his appearance on the course in Fort Dodge. The quest — finish in the top three overall or top 15 as an individual to make it on the deck and earn a medal.
The teams
The Decorah girls will be running at state for the 23rd time in history and will be aiming for the ninth state Class 3A title. The Vikes ranked No. 14 in the state, and were the runner-up at the Waverly state qualifying race with 89 points behind Mount Vernon-Lisbon who tallied 47. Clear Lake also qualified as a team with 98 points.
The No. 6 Vikings boys qualified for the state meet as the runner-up as well at Waverly last week. The team has tied the record for the most trips to state with 39. It is also 20 of the last 22 seasons. Mount Vernon-Lisbon took the team title with 64 points, while Decorah finished with 72. Clear Creek-Amana was the third qualifying team with 76.
In a tight Class 1A race, the third-ranked South Winn girls’ team finished with 51 points at the North Linn qualifier, two points behind the champion Maquoketa Valley.
Also on to state is South Winn freshman Hugh Conway, who finished sixth individually to advance.
The top three teams and top 15 individuals from each qualifying site for Class 3A earned a ticket to compete at state, while in Class 1A it was the top two teams and top 10 individuals.
The state cross country meet is Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2, in Fort Dodge at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course. Class 3A girls will run Friday at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Class 3A boys at 11:15 a.m. The Class 1A girls will be on the course Saturday at 10:30 a.m., followed by the Class 1A boys at 11:15 a.m.
Looking for a trophy
The Lady Vikes who claimed a state qualifying spot will be going for a spot on the deck Friday. Last week Decorah had an average time of 20:13 and a spread of 1:08 among its top five runners, the second-best spread among the teams at the qualifier.
“We had a great team effort and I am very proud of our runners and their competitiveness! Thanks to all who traveled to cheer us on,” said Vikings Girls’ Head Coach Cristy Nimrod.
Leading the way will likely be Olivia Volkmann who was the first Decorah harrier to cross the finish line and punch an individual ticket to the state meet in sixth place. The sophomore’s time of 19:30.1 was a personal record that she only looks to improve upon. Raelyn Newhouse also was an individual qualifier with a PR of 19:57.0 which earned her 14th place.
Brinlee Courtney and Leah Garcia-Prats crossed the finish line together in 21st and 22nd place. Courtney posted a time of 20:30.7, while Garcia-Prats stopped the clock at 20:31.0. Riley Christopher rounded out the team score in 26th in 20:38.5.
In 20:58.8, senior Amelia Wadsworth took 32nd with Deborah Hougen completing the varsity line-up in 38th. She had a time of 21:14.7.
Peaking at the right time
All seven boys for Decorah crossed the finish line in 41 seconds at the state qualifier last week as the Vikes posted an average time of 16:43 among the top five to finish second and punch their ticket.
“The team ran very well and is positioned to have exceptional performances at state next Friday,” said Decorah Boys’ Head Coach Brad Johansen.
Davis Coppola, Grant Zilka and Landyn Hook all took home individual qualifier spots as well for finishing in the top 15. Coppola’s time of 16:31.8 earned him the 10th spot. Zilka, the lone Viking individual qualifier last season, took 12th in 16:37.5. Hook took the 15th and final individual qualifying spot in 16:44.0. Mitchell Stemper and D’mitry Lesser wrapped up the scoring as they finished back-to-back in 17th and 18th. Stemper, a junior, had a time of 16:50.6, while Lesser toured the course in 16:53.7.
Garrett See and Thomas Hammel were also on the course. See finished in 16:57.7, good for 21st. Hammel came home 26th in 17:13.7.
Hoping for five
For the past four seasons the South Winn girls have been on the deck after the Class 1A race, finishing second three times and claiming the title in 2021. The Warriors are looking to continue that trend Saturday as they roll into Fort Dodge with six of the seven members of last year’s runner-up team.
The Warriors fell just short of the title at the qualifier with an average time of 21:32 and spread of 1:26.
Ava Franzen qualified individually for the big meet by finishing in the top 10. Franzen, a sophomore, earned ninth with a time of 20:49.1. Maddy Jansen just missed one of those coveted spots, crossing the finish line in 21:12.2 as the 11th place finisher. Next came Annie Hageman. The sophomore’s time of 21:16.9 gave her 12th place.
The next three Warriors came back-to-back-to-back in 22nd, 23rd and 24th. Tessa Phillips was the first of the trio in 22:11.1, followed by Karissa Wenthold in 22:15.6 and Lauren Ondrashek in 22:20.2. Rounding out the varsity line-up in 28th was senior Izzy Kuboushek with a season best time of 22:40.2.
Conway moving on
The South Winn boys also ran into some stiff competition Thursday at North Linn. When the dust settled, the Warriors were on the outside looking in. They placed fifth overall with 122 points. Moving on were Springville who tallied 73 points and Columbus Community with 81.
Freshman Hugh Conway punched his first pass to Fort Dodge, earning sixth overall in 17:22.0. Brad Dahl concluded a good season by taking 18th in 18:13.9. Cameron Einck clocked in a 18:27.7, earning 21st. Lukas Weiss posted a time of19:33.7, placing 38th. Clayton Kuboushek concluded the Warrior team score in 57th. The freshman had a time of 20:29.9.
Levi Feickert and Caden Tieskoetter also ran at North Linn. Feickert placed 60th in 20:36.6, while Tieskoetter was 64th in 20:39.8.
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