Rams punch ticket to state cross country
Glenwood’s Megan Hughes was one of four Rams to qualifier for this week’s state cross country meet.
Grace Berglund, Breckyn Petersen, Megan Hughes and Madelyn Berglund punched tickets to the state cross country meet and the Glenwood girls captured the team title at the Class 3A state qualifying meet in Harlan last Wednesday.
The Rams topped a competitive field with 59 points to edge Harlan by 12 points. The top two teams and the top 12 individual runners at the state qualifier and the top 12 at-large times from around the state advance to this week’s Iowa State Cross Country meet at the Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge Nov. 1-2.
The Rams’ four individual state qualifiers match the school record set in 2020.
“It was a great night for our girls against some tough competition,” said Glenwood girls coach Marissa Klindt. “Both Grace and Megan ran smart, held on through the middle of the race, and finished strong. They both ran their best 5K times ever.”
Breckyn and Madelyn are both three-time individual state qualifiers, joining a small group of Glenwood girls who have done that.
Harlan’s Lindsey Sonderman won the meet with a time of 18:10.50. The Rams’ Grace Berglund wasn’t far behind with a time of 18:17.48.
Petersen added a ninth-place time of 19:57 followed by Megan Hughes in 10th (20:07.84) and Madelyn Berglund in 14th (20:27.60). As good as those four ran, Klindt said, Glenwood doesn’t win the meet without fifth place runner Katelyn Harms. Harms ran a 21:26.85 for 24th place.
“She really stepped up for us the second half of the race,” Klindt said. “We’re in a good place heading into next Friday’s state meet.”
On the boys side, Grinnell swept the team title and the individual title with Cadel Conner topping the field with a time of 16:14.07. ADM was the team runner up.
Glenwood finished 10th in the team standings with a score of 256.
Josh Leu paced the Rams with a 34th place finish time of 18:10.88. Bryce Keller was 44th, Cody Henderson was 51st, Grant Sorensen was 62nd and Jack Smithers 65th to round out the Rams’ scoring.
Glenwood’s girls will run in Friday’s Class 3A meet at 10:30 a.m.
Klindt said her team will be ready.
“We are strong as a team right now, and we’ve already been talking state meet strategies,” Klindt said. “However, when it comes down to it, we still have to race well next Friday if we want to go for one of those trophies.”
Class 3A State Qualifier
Girls Team Results
1. Glenwood, 59. 2. Harlan, 71. 3. North Polk, 76. 4. ADM, 117. 5. Bishop Heelan, 121. 6. Spencer, 159. 7. Denison, 203. 8. Carlisle, 236. 9. LeMars, 261. 10. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 276. 11. Grinnell, 284. 12. Boyer Valley-Hull-Rock Valley, 306.
Glenwood Girls Place Winners
2. Grace Berglund, 18:17.48. 9. Breckyn Petersen, 19:57. 10. Megan Hughes, 20:07.84. 14. Madelyn Berglund, 20:27.60. 24. Katelyn Harms, 21:26.85.
Boys Team Results
1. Grinnell, 50. 2. ADM, 53. 3. Carlisle, 104. 4. North Polk, 110. 5. Spencer, 138. 6. Bishop Heelan, 168. 7. Denison, 204. 8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 219. 9. Harlan, 246. 10. Glenwood, 256. 11. LeMars, 268.
Glenwood Boys Place Winners
34. Josh Leu, 18:10.88. 44. Bryce Keller, 18:50.32. 51. Cody Henderson, 19:08.56. 62. Grant Sorensen, 19:44.01. 65. Jack Smithers, 19:58.29.