Harper returns to state; injury trips up Scar

PANORA — One was just relieved to have “survived” the treacherous conditions.

The other was heartbroken, slowed by a lingering injury.

Elite area girls cross country runners Emma Harper of East Union and Destiny Scar of Nodaway Valley had battled all season throughout southwest Iowa. But when the Class 1A State Qualifying Meet was over here Thursday, only one was making a return trip to the state meet on Nov. 1.

Harper ran eighth in 16:52.87 to snag one of the 10 individual state qualifying positions. Scar had to settle for 15th place in 17:24.58, fading from ninth place about two miles into the race.

Scar’s stamina has taken a hit since aggravating a stress fracture in her lower leg about three weeks ago, and has been limited to running five miles a week along with some cross training and swimming pool workouts.

“It’s disappointing,” said Scar, who placed eighth at state last year as a sophomore in her second trip to Fort Dodge. “But I just haven’t been able to run enough.”

“She only ran one meet in the last two weeks, and that was the Pride of Iowa,” Nodaway Valley coach Darrell Burmeister said. “She did a good job there as runner-up to Emma. She’s been training in the water and biking, but the therapist said only five miles of running a week. That’s pretty tough. Today she was ninth coming out of the woods, but you could tell she was starting to tire and some of the other girls were looking fresher. It wasn’t from lack of effort. It was just a matter of conditioning, and pain in her leg.”

Burmeister said time off before the spring track season should give Scar a chance to get back to full speed.

Harper, meanwhile, came into Thursday’s meet knowing that earning a repeat trip to state wouldn’t be easy in a loaded field, topped by three-time state champion Rebekah Topham of Griswold, who won Thursday by 57 seconds.

Three other ranked runners were in the 1A race, led by 10th-ranked Karley Larson of Underwood who placed second in 16:17.05.

Harper avoided the pitfalls of the competitive field and the mud created by overnight rains to take eighth in 16:52.87. In doing so she earned a return trip to state, where she ran 17th as a freshman.

“I was going to try for the top five,” Harper said, “but I figured out real quickly that there was a lot of good competition here, and I’m just proud to be where I was and get back there.”

Harper made up some ground in the last mile of the race, sitting in a pack of four runners in ninth through 12th along with Scar coming out of a treacherous trip through the woods, with tight turns on greasy footing from the rain. It continually got worse after the two Class 2A races preceded the 1A competition.

“That corner at the start, as you go down the hill there’s a sharp turn, it was completely mud and a lot of girls fell down right in front of me there,” Harper said.

Perhaps from struggling to stay upright on the slick areas, Harper started to collapse short of the finish line and coach Rich Bryson, standing about 100 yards up the course, was concerned at first that she had made it.

Harper said the last 50 yards was a matter of willpower.

“When we got to that last stretch and a girl started to pass me, I just felt I was going to drop,” Harper said. “I lost all of my energy. I saw the finish line and I just thought, ‘You gotta make it there! Keep going!’ I stumbled about 50 yards from the finish line.”

Harper stayed on her feet just long enough.

“I got there, and I had to lunge to get to the line, because I would have fallen right in front to it,” Harper said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that ‘I’m gonna fall’ kind of feeling before.”

“It’s a killer course just to try to stay up,” Bryson said. “Kids were talking about going down all over the place. We saw this mud at Chariton, but not the hills. If nothing else, she survived! Today the times weren’t that good, but between the mud and terrain, that’s to be expected. She has a goal of top 10 at state.”

The Class 1A girls race is 2 p.m. Nov. 1 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course north of Fort Dodge.

Alyssa Proffitt was unable to finish for the Eagles with an injury, which affected the team score. The Eagles ended up 11th with 300 points, one spot behind Southwest Valley at 288. Mount Ayr and Bedford took 16th and 17th in the 19-team field.

Three ranked teams snagged the state qualifying spots led by No. 7 Griswold at 74, three points in front of sixth-ranked Panorama. No. 11 Underwood took third with 118 points.

Griswold’s Topham ran 15:20.57 on her quest to win a fourth state title. Teammate Alyx Flippin was sixth.

Mount Ayr’s Adrian Richards, a two-time state qualifier, was slowed by a lingering foot injury and ran 33rd in 18:54.30, one spot behind Bedford’s Charissa Mogler. Jena Proffitt of East Union and Southwest Valley’s Kendra Top were 44th and 45th in the 136-runner field in times of 19:33.48 and 19:34.34, respectively.

CLASS 1A STATE QUALIFYING MEET

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Griswold 74, 2. Panorama 77, 3. Underwood 118, 4. Exira/EHK 138, 5. IKM-Manning 145, 6. Earlham 153, 7. South Hamilton 194, 8. Council Bluffs St. Albert 214, 9. Adair-Casey/CAM 282, 10. Southwest Valley 288, 11. East Union 300, 12. Treynor 315, 13. Audubon 331, 14. Tri-Center 347, 15. AHSTW 398, 16. Mount Ayr 427, 17. Bedford 443, 18. Riverside 464, 19. Van Meter 513.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Rebekah Topham, Gris, 15:20.10; 2. Karley Larson, Und, 16:17.05; 3. Payton Sporrer, IKM, 16:27.88; 4. Devyn Kemble, Pan, 16:30.28; 5. Kristen Weber, Earl, 16:35.71; 6. Alyx Flippin, Gris, 16:47.74; 7. Emily Copic, E/EHK, 16:50.70; 8. Emma Harper, EU, 16:52.87; 9. Hannah Appleseth, Pan, 16:53.64; 10. Jacey Martin, CBSA, 17:01.30.

Bedford — 32. Charissa Mogler, 18:54.09; 90. Calyn Matheny, 21:37.29; 126. Madelynn Burn, 24:44.64; 127. Cassidy Strickland, 24:51.70; 133. Whitney Henry, 24:57.43.

East Union — 8. Emma Harper, 16:52.87; 44. Jena Proffitt, 19:33.48; 56. Allison Hadley, 20:11.06; 98. Hannah Bartlett, 21:59.50; 116. Kacie Ripperger, 24:13.28; 129. Kendra Kirkland, 24:57.43.

Lenox — 66. Ashley Lucio, 20:41.83

Mount Ayr — 33. Adrian Richards, 18:54.30; 84. Neesie Brand, 21:27.11; 104. Christiana Overholtzer, 22:37.63; 111. Chania Vos, 23:36.86; 131. Ica Hague, 24:57.43; 132. MaiLynn Taylor, 24:57.43.

Nodaway Valley — 15. Destiny Scar, 17:24.58.

Southwest Valley — 45. Kendra Top, 19:34.34; 55. Elizabeth Herzberg, 20:08.41; 60. Diana Berggren, 20:22.50; 70. Elizabeth Fuller, 20:50.15; 73. Chloe Keefe, 21:08.35; 91. Darien Keefe, 21:38.61; 97. Payton Thomas, 21:53.51.