Three Panthers advance to state cross country meet

GLENWOOD — The Creston cross country teams made history yet again here Thursday at a Class 3A State Qualifying Meet.

Seniors Cooper McDermott and Jessica Beatty, along with junior Ben Irr all qualified for next weekend’s State Cross Country Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge by placing in the top 15 of their respective races.

For Beatty and Irr, its the first time either of them has qualified for state as an individual. Irr previously qualified as a member of Creston’s 2013 boys team that made it to state.

McDermott, meanwhile, qualified for the state meet as an individual for the fourth time in his career — three times as a Panther after qualifying in Class 4A his freshman year at Newton.

He also became Creston’s first State Qualifying Meet individual champion, winning the boys race Thursday in 16:41.47, two seconds ahead of Dallas Center-Grimes’ Alex Thompson.

The three individual qualifiers ties the school record for most individual qualifiers in a single season, and now gives the Panthers 21 individual qualifiers in the past 16 years.

“Very proud moment for everyone who ran there,” Creston head coach Pat Schlapia said. “We said, let’s make special things happen. And special things did happen. Not ashamed to say, it does bring a coach to tears.”

Four-timer

McDermott settled into the middle of the lead pack early in the race, opting to let other runners do the bulk of the work on the course that winded back and forth across several terraces.

By the mile mark, McDermott had worked his way up from about eighth into the top three.

He slowly roped in Winterset’s Curtis Harryman, who led for much of the early portion of the race.

“It was nice that the Winterset kid went out and pushed it,” McDermott said. “That helped my race a lot.”

Eventually, Winterset’s Derek Koster assumed the lead and McDermott ran on his shoulder until 400 meters to go, when he left the Winterset harrier behind.

But the Panther senior had to hold off one final challenge from Thompson, who closed to within two seconds in the final stretch.

“Down here on the corner, I kind of glanced back and heard people yelling,” McDermott said. “That DC-G kid was coming. That’s when I knew I had to get rolling. It’s fun to finish like that, to just finish out with a good kick.”

McDermott becomes Creston’s third four-time individual qualifier, joining Paul Hoff in the late 1980s and Maria Mostek, who became the first Panther girl to accomplish the feat last year.

“This puts Cooper in rarefied air,” Schlapia said. “Cooper ran with a purpose from the get-go. The main thing was to qualify, but getting that first place gold is the icing on the cake for that young man.”

Irr maintained contact with McDermott through the early part of the race, hanging right with his teammate for the first mile.

The Panther junior found himself bouncing around the 12th, 13th and 14th spots in the race for much of the second half of the race.

“That whole last loop, I had to find another level and not stop,” he said. “I got 14th and people were just a couple of seconds behind me. It’s a great feeling once you’re done.”

Irr finished 14th in 17:12.65 to earn his first individual state meet qualification. He finished 11th at the State Qualifying Meet as a freshman, when only the top 10 individuals qualified.

“Here’s a kid who just missed out qualifying as a freshman and last year, in an injury-plagued season, finished 61st at the State Qualifying Meet,” Schlapia said. “That was quite a jump up. That shows you what grit and determination does.”

“It feels amazing,” Irr said. “Even though we made it as a team (in 2013), it’s not quite the same. It feels like an individual achievement.”

Hard work

Beatty, meanwhile, provides an example of what hard work can do for a runner.

Schlapia noted that Beatty’s previous State Qualifying Meet finishes were 56th as a freshman, 49th as a sophomore and 43rd as a junior.

But Thursday, Beatty punched her ticket to the state meet by finishing 15th in 20:51.18, claiming the final qualifying spot.

“I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard for anything, so it really feels good,” Beatty said.

The Panther senior was in 16th and 17th place for much of the second half of the race. With 400 meters to go, Beatty moved into 15th place and put a 6-second gap on Atlantic’s Ashley Wendt in those final 400 meters.

Beatty momentarily moved up into 14th, but Perry’s Grace Stewart caught her again just before the finish line.

“She’s jumped up all the way with her hard work,” Schlapia said. “She’s made herself into a state qualifier. From the very first practice this year, she’s been tough as nails. When you’ve seen the improvements she’s made through the years, she makes a person feel very proud.”

Consistent training throughout the summer, even when she didn’t feel like, turned Beatty into a state qualifier.

“I ran a lot this summer. Not necessarily an abundance of miles, but I just made sure I went out and ran every day,” she said. “Some days it was really hard to motivate myself to go out and run, but I just made sure I went out and ran at least a little bit.”

The Panther girls team finished eighth out of 12 teams with 195 points, just two back of ADM for seventh place. Dallas Center-Grimes, Harlan and Denison-Schleswig claimed the three team qualifying spots.

On the boys side, Creston finished ninth out of 12 teams with 209 points, four back of Saydel and six back of Denison-Schleswig. Dallas Center-Grimes, Winterset and Harlan took the three team qualifying spots.

Seniors Madison Hance and Amber Castillo ran their final races in a Panther uniform on Thursday.

“We wanted to make sure we went out with a bang,” Schlapia said. “We set a lot of PRs. We appreciate their leadership. That was a good way for a lot of them to end the season on a high note.”

CLASS 3A STATE QUALIFYING MEET

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Dallas Center-Grimes 57, 2. Harlan 72, 3. Denison-Schleswig 96, 4. Glenwood 107, 5. Winterset 116, 6. Atlantic 122, 7. ADM 193, 8. Creston 195, 9. Greene County 257, 10. Saydel 280, 11. Perry 297, 12. Clarke 319.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Lexi Smith, DCG, 19:08.93; 2. Tiffany Williams, Atl, 19:39.21; 3. Ellie Mendlik, Den, 19:52.15; 4. Raegan Andersen, Den, 19:56.52; 5. Sami Sterbenz, DCG, 20:00.40; 6. Kaitlyn Murano, DCG, 20:04.72; 7. Greichaly Kaster, Har, 20:07.72; 8. Aubrey McIntyre, Glen, 20:13.86; 9. Molly Eyerly, Wint, 20:28.84; 10. Layken Gurwell, Wint, 10:32.21; 11. Mercedee Mayberry, Har, 20:39.96; 12. Sydney Kaufman, Wint, 20:45.09; 13. Alyssa Wyman, Har, 20:47.50; 14. Grace Stewart, Perry, 20:50.59; 15. Jessica Beatty, Creston, 20:51.18.

Creston — 15. Jessica Beatty, 20:51.18; 36. Madison Hance, 22:33.64; 40. Rachel Shepherd, 22:47.43; 52. Lexie Little, 23:20.17; 54. Danielle Castillo, 23:29.02; 57. Amber Castillo, 23:35.56; 58. Kiersten Latham, 23:41.18.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Dallas Center-Grimes 41, 2. Winterset 70, 3. Harlan 106, 4. Atlantic 133, 5. Kuemper Catholic 149, 6. Glenwood 165, 7. Denison-Schleswig 203, 8. Saydel 205, 9. Creston 209, 10. Perry 264, 11. ADM 269, 12. Greene County 368.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Cooper McDermott, Creston, 16:41.47; 2. Alex Thompson, DCG, 16:43.62; 3. Derek Koster, Wint, 16:49.85; 4. Jared Bravard, DCG, 16:59.56; 5. Chandler Hagen, Kuemp, 17:00.94; 6. Curtis Harryman, Wint, 17:03.76; 7. Ryan Hawkins, Atl, 17:04.25; 8. David Parker, Say, 17:05.91; 9. Nathen Nelson, Say, 17:06.79; 10. Tyler Borneman, DCG, 17:07.35; 11. Michael Sciranko, Har, 17:08.15; 12 Blake Schaben, DCG, 17:08.47; 13. Jacob Cline, DCG, 17:09.63; 14. Ben Irr, Creston, 17:12.65; 15. Ean Followwill, DCG, 17:14.00.

Creston — 1. Cooper McDermott, 16:41.47; 14. Ben Irr, 17:12.65; 56. Isaac Wignall, 19:27.60; 66. Matthew Rouh, 20:12.06; 72. Dylan Linch, 20:57.69; 76. Steven Stow, 21:23.22.