ANKENY — There’s one goal left on this year’s checklist for the Nodaway Valley boys cross country team after Thursday’s Class 1A state qualifying meet.
It’s a goal that no sport in Nodaway Valley school history has ever done — win back-to-back state championships.
It’s a goal the team is set on changing this season.
Nodaway Valley will race for its second consecutive state championship on Oct. 29 at Lakeside Muncipal Golf Course at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge. The Class 1A boys race starts at 2:30 p.m.
The top-ranked Wolverines cruised to the team title at the Class 1A state qualifying meet hosted by Ankeny Centennial.
The Wolverines placed five scoring runners in the top 12 and all seven in the top 22 to win with 33 points. Eagle Grove was a distant second with 98 points. West Fork was third with 125 points.
“We’ve never been back-to-back state champs in any sport,” said coach Darrell Burmeister. “We’ve challenged them on that. That’s been the challenge since the end of last year.”
Nodaway Valley dominated the field, sending a message to the rest of the teams in Class 1A.
The Wolverines’ average time was 17 minutes, 11 seconds. The spread between the top five was 31 seconds.
“It was a really good night,” Burmeister said. “I really liked the average time. I really liked the spread. It was a really strong outing by our boys.”
The boys team this season is the 25th Nodaway Valley team to made it to state since 1997. The boys have qualified for state 13 times and the girls 12 times.
Leading the way was state meet veteran Shane Breheny. The senior finished second in 16:54. West Fork senior Jacob Hansen, the top-ranked runner in Class 1A, was the champion in 16:38.
“Shane was with him for the first mile and a half,” Burmeister said. “Shane closed on him at the end.”
Rawlings, a junior, was a pleasant surprise in placing seventh, and third on the team.
“The big movement on the team was Skyler Rawlings,” Burmeister said.
Senior Brayten Funke was close behind in ninth place.
“Brayten has been solid all year,” Burmeister said.
Freshman Tyler Breheny was the lone freshman to qualify individually out of the meet with a 12th-place finish.
“To have a freshman qualify for the state meet is a big deal,” Burmeister said.
Senior Matthew Dickinson was injured at the state qualifying meet a year ago. He was able to recover and qualify individually this season in placing 13th. Senior Dallas Kreager rounded out the Wolverines lineup placing 22nd.
For Shane Breheny and Wallace, they continue their strong legacy.
“They’ve been with me all the way since junior high,” Burmeister said.k “We knew as freshmen we had something special. Now they’re juniors and seniors. They’ve put a lot of hard work in, a lot of miles over the summer. They’re just good kids.’
Burmeister was appreciative of the patrons who made their way up from the Nodaway Valley area to cheer the team on.
Weinheimer, Kuhns qualify for NV girls
On the girls side, Nodaway Valley freshman Reagan Weinheimer was a question coming into the meet.
It wasn’t because of her on course performance, but rather a medical ailment that nearly jeopardized her opportunity to run at the state qualifying meet.
Weinheimer made it to school on time, then survived the meet. She placed fourth overall in a time of 20:45 to punch her ticket to state.
The Class 1A girls race starts at 2 p.m. in Fort Dodge.
Weinheimer was running with a severe ear infection.
Burmeister noted she almost missed school Thursday, which would’ve kept her out of the meet.
“She just made it to school in time, by three minutes,” Burmeister said.
The day leading into the meet was not pleasant for Weinheimer, yet, she pushed through it.
“She was not able to keep anything down,” Burmeister said. “She went through a lot of different emotions, a lot of pain.”
Weinheimer was comfortably in the top five. At one point she was in second before settling for a fourth-place finish, five seconds ahead of fifth and comfortably in the top 15.
“She was playing it safe today,” Burmeister said. “She didn’t really push herself too hard. All we wanted was her to qualify.”
The big surprise for Nodaway Valley came courtesy of freshman Mallory Kuhns. Kuhns raced her way to a 14th-place finish in 21:57. She was one second ahead of 15th-place finisher Ilia Hostetter of Colfax-Mingo and 10 seconds ahead of 16th-place Abby Gruver of Lynnville-Sully.
Kuhns just took up the sport this fall.
“We’re glad she came out this year,” Burmeister said. “She took a chance.”
Kuhns started out strong and stayed within the top 15 throughout the race.
“She did great,” Burmeister said. “She started out great. She’s a strong-willed runner.”
Burmeister put the bug in Kuhns’ ear about a month ago that if she could get her time down to around 22 minutes, state was a possibility.
It certainly was.
“She was strong down the finish,” Bumeister said. “We’re happy for her.”
Girls team results — 1. Newman Catholic 68; 2. Colo-NESCO 89; 3. West Fork 92; 4. Eagle Grove 119; 5. Colfax-Mingo 125; 6. Madrid 161; 7. Lynnville-Sully 179; 8. North Mahaska 211; 9. Woodward-Granger 221; 10. Pleasantville 254; 11. Martensdale-St. Marys 268; 12. Sigourney 338; 14. B-G-M 370.
Nodaway Valley results — 4. Reagan Weinheimer 20:45; 14. Mallory Kuhns 21:57; 74. Madison Van Otterloo 25:44; 105. Jaida Claussen 28:36;
Boys team results — 1. Nodaway Valley 33; 2. Eagle Grove 98; 3. West Fork 125; 4. Newman Catholic 147; 5. Sigourney 178; 6. Ankeny Christian 262; 7. Martensdale-St. Marys 265; 8. B-G-M 269; 9. Lynnville-Sully 271; 10 Madrid 287; 11. Colfax-Mingo 297; 12. Cardinal, Eldon 329; 13. Colo-NESCO 329; 14. Montezuma 342; 15. Belmond-Klemme 356; 16. Southeast Warren 367; 17. Woodward-Granger 382; 18. Pleasantville 422; 19. Wayne 440.
Nodaway Valley results — 2. Shane Breheny 16:54; 3. Brycen Wallace 16:59; 7. Skyler Rawlings 17:18; 9. Brayten Funke 17:20; 12. Tyler Breheny 17:25; 13. Matthew Dickinson 17:28; 22. Dallas Kreager 18:02.