Several cross country runners from the area have qualified for next week’s State High School meet in Fort Dodge. In the Class 3A boys’ qualifier in Pella Wednesday (10/20), Pella was first in the team competition with Newton also qualifying for State after finishing third. Grinnell was fifth, Oskaloosa ninth and Knoxville 12th in the boys race. Individually, Newton’s Jackson Mace-Maynard finished first, followed by Pella’s Chase Lauman and Oskaloosa’s Patrick DeRonde. This will be DeRonde’s third trip to State. Other individuals qualifying in 3A boys’ cross country are Jonas Conner of Grinnell and Knoxville’s Seth Walraven.
Moving to the girls’ race, no teams from the area qualified; Pella was in fifth place, Newton sixth, Grinnell seventh, Oskaloosa eighth and Knoxville 11th. These girls qualified for State as individuals: Regan Schneider, Autumn Blink and Jacie Trine of Pella, Alyssa Shannon of Newton, Sage Adam of Oskaloosa and Thea Larsson of Grinnell. The State 3A cross country meet will be a week from Friday (10/29) in Fort Dodge.
State cross country qualifying continues Thursday (10/21). There’s a 2A qualifier in Williamsburg with Albia, EBF and PCM among the competitors. Pekin hosts a 1A qualifier with North Mahaska, Pella Christian, Twin Cedars and Pekin taking part. And there’s a 1A qualifier at Iowa City Regina with Sigourney, Montezuma, Lynnville-Sully and Tri-County running there.
