PELLA – Fort Madison will be sending three runners to the IGHSAU/IHSAA state cross country meet in Fort Dodge next Saturday.
They almost sent four.
Senior Paetyn Wiegand, and sophomores Avery Rump and Jacob Shottenkirk will make the trip to Kennedy Park for the Class 3A run.
Sophomore Addison Rump just missed finishing 19th overall in the girls run. Runners from the top three teams that finished in the top 15 and five at large runners qualified for the state meet.
Avery Rump had the best finish of the day, taking 4th place with a time of 19:15.28, which was 36 seconds off the pace set by Pella’s Marissa Ferebee.
The race was held at the Pella Sports Park and the home field advantage with Pella’s Ruth Dunham finished second at 19:08.65. Harlan’s Lindsey Sonderman, the state’s No. 1 runner in 3A, took third at 19:08.69. Wiegand was 8th overall at 20:06.68.
Pella won the meet with just 29 points with all five scoring runners finishing in the top 11, which brought all seven to the state meet. Harlan was second with 98 points and Clear Creek-Amana was third with 110. Those three qualified as teams. Washington was 4th with 112 points and Fort Madison was 5th with 122.
Rump said she’s not sure she was totally ready for the race, but it was fun and she got a look at the competition for next week.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I was prepared or not. It was a fun run and I’m glad I did as well as I did and I got a scope of the other kids that will be at state also, which was amazing,” Rump said.
Her strategy was to get out and run as hard as she could because she said she typically doesn’t have a rush at the end.
“I don’t usually have a kick at the end, I try my best to kick and it’s not a great kick.”
Rump said this year will be more exciting than her freshman state race, where she finished 8th overall with a 19:23.08.
“I feel like I’m a little more excited than scared this year because I know what to expect and I know the course. So I think it will be a little more fun than nerve-racking.”
Wiegand suffered an injury as a junior and wasn’t able to compete in Fort Dodge last year. She finished 8th overall on Wednesday and said qualifying was all she was after.
“I like this course, it felt like it ran a little faster than I’m used to and the Pella girls pushed me in this one.”
She said her goal was to finish in the top 15 and make it to state.
“It’s definitely going to be a lot harder competition than we see in our area,” she said.
Head Coach Brian Mendez said both Wiegand and Rump deserved to go to state.
“Coming on her injury and not having Paetyn here last year made her even more hungry,” Mendez said.
“She’s working really hard and improving every race. I didn’t have a single doubt that she would qualify here today.”
He said Avery Rump just gets to the line and goes.
“She just fires off and, if anyone wants to run fast, then it’s Let’s Go,” he said.
On the boys' side, Shottenkirk took 6th place for the boys with a healthy kick at the end where he erased about seven runners in the final 100 meters.
“When I was at a half mile left, I was sticking with a kid from Washington and I just stuck with him and saved myself up a bit. l felt fresh on the last 100 and I just kicked as hard as a I could,” he said.
He credits his 16:41.14 time with a fast start.
“Today, I got out the hardest I have of any meet. I knew I had to do that up here,” he said.
Mendez said he’s been letting the sophomore have space this season.
“He’s amazing. I haven’t gotten him figured out yet. But he has it figured out, so I stay out of his way. He’s a talent and he knows what he’s doing. He just runs smart. All these boys do, it just wasn’t their day. What do you do? We’re a top five team in a really tough district.”
Allison Lamb was 44th with a time of 23:09.99 followed by Hadley Wolfe in 47th at 23:22.71 for Fort Madison’s scoring runners. Ellie Huebner (57th) and Alexa Walz (71st) also competed for the Lady Hounds.
Mason McLey was the second Bloodhound to cross for the boys. He took 23rd overall with a time of 17:27.56. Nolan Guzman was 27th at 17:31.13 and Riley Tripp finished 29th at 17:35.85. Calvin Johnson was the other scoring runner for Fort Madison with a 37th-place finish at 18:03.89. Peyton Lambert was 38th at 18:07.47 and Hunter Wiegand was the other runner for the Hounds, finishing in 43rd place.
The boys also took 5th place with 122 points. Pella, Washington, Clear Creek-Amana, and Newton finished 1-4.
The girls' State meet will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28 with the boys to follow at 2:45.
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