Rams returning to state cross country

For the second straight year the Glenwood boys’ and girls’ cross country team will compete at the Iowa State Cross Country meet.

Competing on their own Glenwood Lake Park course Thursday, the Ram boys dominated the field for the district title and the girls placed second to punch tickets to this week’s state meet at

Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge. The top three teams and the top 15 individual runners advance to state.

Just how dominant were the Glenwood boys?

All seven of head coach Todd Peverill’s runners placed among the top 15 to qualify for state. Their team score of 30, was 53 points better than runner up Council Bluffs Lewis Central. The seven state qualifiers are a school record and Glenwood is the lone team in believed to be the lone team in the state to qualify all of its district runners.

“Just wow,” is how Peverill summed up his performance. “It’s never happened at Glenwood, but Dallas Center-Grimes did it here a few years ago but never Glenwood.”

Peverill said he could see his team’s confidence building heading into the Hawkeye 10 Conference meet. That confidence carried over into the state qualifier.

“We knew we could do well, and I sat down with them and showed each of them what they were doing each meet and I told them they’ve plateaued, and they’re due to cut some major time off.

We did that. We ran fast. Every one of them cut 24 to 32 seconds off their best times. It was incredible.

The Titans’ Ethan Eichhorn edged the Rams’ Bryant Keller by three seconds for first place, but Keller wasn’t alone among the top finishers. Keller’s time of 15:39 was a personal best and he was followed closely by teammates Andrew Smith in second, Liam Hays in fourth and Kevin Coots in ninth.

“That’s flying,” Peverill said of Keller’s time. “(Former Ram star) Johnny Fuller didn’t run that fast on this course if that tells you what kind of performance that was. I knew he’d break 16 but he hung with Eichhorn the whole way and was dead on running it perfect while Eichhorn was a little too wide.”
Peverill said Keller has a legitimate shot at a top three finish at state.

As good as Keller, Smith and Hays ran, it was the running of Preston Slayman (12th), Dillon Anderson (13th), and Jackson Griffin (15th) that was the clincher for the Rams. They will be big factors if the Rams are to take that next step and reach their ultimate goal: the school’s first cross country state title.

“They’re the key to the whole thing if we’re going to win it,” Peverill said. “Bryant and Andrew and Liam are going to do their thing to set us up but it’s those other guys who can put it away for us. Pella is deep too, and West Polk has been ranked second all year, but I don’t think they have our depth.”

The Glenwood girls’ squad finished second to Adel-DeSoto-Minburn in the team scores, 49 to 64. Led by Geneva Timmerman’s blistering time of 17:59, 57 seconds better than runner up

Lindsey Sonderman of Harlan, A-D-M punched its first every team berth in the state meet.

The Rams saw the return of top runner Madelyn Berglund at districts. And the sophomore didn’t waste her chance after missing the last two meets with an injury. She ran a 19:31 to finish seventh and punch her second trip to state. Teammates Breckyn Petersen was ninth and Lauren Hughes 13th to nail down state bids of their own.

“The girls ran so well,” said Glenwood coach Marissa Klindt. “We had the majority of our girls ran a season PR (personal record). Madelyn and Breckyn really stood out to us.”
Petersen cut 30 seconds from her season best and ran a 19:44. Haylee Hughes also had an “amazing race,” according to Klindt but just missed qualifying, finishing 16th.

“Our one through seven split was 1:38, which is the best we’ve had all season,” Klindt said. “We’re super excited for next Saturday in Fort Dodge.”

The girls will run in the Class 3A portion of the state meet on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. followed 45 minutes later by the boys.

State Qualifying Meet
Girls Team Results
    1. A-D-M, 49. 2. Glenwood, 64. 3. Harlan, 76. 4. Atlantic, 80. 5. Denison, 145. 6. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 178. 7. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 207. 8. Kuemper Catholic, 213. 9. Creston, 256. 10. Perry, 285. 11. Saydel, 317.

Glenwood Girls Place Winners
    7. Madelyn Berglund, 19:31. 9. Breckyn Petersen, 19:44. 13. Lauren Hughes, 20:21. 16. Haylee Hughes, 20:48. 19. Emerson Griffin, 20:54. 20. Brooklyn Schultz, 21:01. 23. Ryley Nebel, 21:09.

Boys Team Results
    1. Glenwood, 30. 2. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 83. 3. A-D-M, 91. 4. Sergeant Bluff-Luton, 129. 5. Denison, 148. 6. Kuemper Catholic, 158. 7. Atlantic, 164. 8. Harlan, 177. 9. Clarke, 235. 10. Perry, 281. 11. Creston, 305. 12. Saydel, 346.

Glenwood Boys Place Winners
    2. Bryant Keller, 15:39. 3. Andrew Smith, 16:15. 4. Liam Hays, 16:27. 9. Kevin Coots, 16:49. 12. Preston Slayman, 16:56. 13. Dillon Anderson, 16:59. 15. Jackson Griffin, 17:00.

 

The Opinion-Tribune

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