‘A very special day’

WINTERSET – It was a rollercoaster of emotions type of day in Winterset Wednesday night for Creston cross country, but ultimately, the Panthers qualified three runners for the state meet in Fort Dodge next Friday.

Braelyn Baker and Paige Davis will make returns to state, a third time for Davis and the fourth for Baker. But, one of the biggest stories of the afternoon out of Creston’s camp was the day of Clayton Stafford.

Stafford, who nearly qualified last season, officially qualified for state for the second time. With confusion arising again on his finish and if he had qualified, it seemed like a deja vu situation from 2019 where he was believed to be 15th, but instead was 1.48 seconds away from a qualifying position.

Nearing the line, and entering the v-shaped opening leading to the finish, Stafford battled with Winterset’s Mason Back for position while runners from Perry and Dallas Center-Grimes trailed him. As the two neared the line, both Stafford and Back ran stride for stride, not allowing others to make a passing attempt.

Crossing the line, Stafford clocked in at 17 minutes even for 14th-place. Back was at 17:01 for 15th, the final position for qualifying.

“I was behind all of them (towards the end), and told (myself) ‘you can give up now, and your whole season’s done, or you can give it everything you’ve got.’ I gave it everything I got, and thankfully, it was just enough to get there,” said Stafford.

Stafford, who bounced around from 10th to 18th in positioning, said he got confused on his placing at one point, but found the pack he needed to chase down and get with.

“Everybody was telling me I was in, ... I was 16th for a while,” said Stafford. “... Then two kids passed me and I got confused where I was. ... I was trying to get that group.”

The group in question finished bunched up from eighth to 15th. Four seconds separated everyone in the pack, with three runners (Stafford included) running a time of 17:00.

An emotional Pat Schlapia, Creston’s head coach, reflected on the happiness in telling his top boys runner after seeing the work he has put in for four seasons.

“We needed to be in the hunt. We didn’t want a repeat of last year,” said Schlapia. “... I knew he was passing some, but there’s coming back. I know he got 18th or better, but it was like ‘holy cow, you just don’t know.’ ... The tears we had last year to the tears we had today, it was a hundred times better. Those were tears of joy. As a coach, being able to tell someone ‘hey, you made it.’ Nothing tops that.”

Schlapia noted the time didn’t matter, and that when he saw the initial results he double checked to see the placing was correct before telling Stafford. Upon telling him, the team cheered and emotions ran wild on coaches, parents and the athletes themselves.

The trip to state will be the second for Stafford. He qualified in 2017, placing 69th.

“I’m just happy because my team has been there the whole year for me, and especially the senior girls,” said Stafford. “I love my team so much. That’s the reason I stay out. I just love them and they help me (succeed).”

Along with Stafford in the boys race was Riley Wipperman in 64th, clocking a time of 19:39. Anthony Eblen was 68th at 19:54 and Carson Smith was 80th at 21:11.

Davis, Baker return

Class 3A No. 12 Braelyn Baker and Paige Davis were back-to-back in finishes for the Panthers, placing sixth and seventh at 19:59 and 20:02.

A goal for Davis all season was to close the gap on Baker, which she did. A three-second difference is not only the closest she’s drawn to Creston’s No. 1, but is her best time, according to Schlapia.

“Paige, she stepped up,” Schlapia said. “... You could see her coming on in these last few weeks. It seemed like she was starting to get her confidence back, ... and once October hit she started to move. That 20:02, that’s her best ever. That was nice to see.”

“I thought I was doing really well, because usually she’s more than a minute (ahead) and then last week it was 40 seconds,” said Davis. “This meet, I was really close. I was proud of myself. ... I was a little nervous when I got here, but it turned out to be really nice and it was perfect (in temperature).”

For Baker, she was looking to get out ahead early on so she wasn’t trapped behind the pack. Off the start, nearly 100 yards out from the starting stripe, Baker was running behind eventual district winner Class 3A No. 6 Geneva Timmerman of No. 13 ADM.

“I like to get out fast so I don’t get trapped, and then I can find where I can run the rest of the race,” said Baker. “... I was just looking at those people ahead of me and just trying to stay with them.”

On seeing the gap close between her and Davis, Baker said she was happy her teammate had a career day.

“I was very happy for her. She’s been trying to close the gap, and she did really well today,” Baker said.

Schlapia mentioned Baker was not ‘feeling the best’ at Wednesday’s race, and was racing a little under the weather. But, her time was still impressive with the strength of the meet Wednesday.

“She was sitting around fourth to fifth, ... that was nice to see her get in. She was feeling kind of rough, but it was nice to see her get in,” Schlapia said.

As a team, the Creston girls placed seventh with 144 points. Riley DeGonia was 39th (22:02) and Autumn Stafford was 43rd at 22:32.

Emotions ran high after both races, making for a memorable day in Winterset for everyone involved.

“The emotions after the girls and boys race, ... not every team has that. To me, we had a special group,” said Schlapia. “The kids, ... they’ve done a great job about stepping up, and with any kind of adversity, they’ve gone past it. It was a very special day when you find out we had three qualifiers.

“Getting one in there is special. Two in there is very special. Three in there, holy cow it’s awesome,” Schlapia said. “You get emotional because each year is special. This group, when you talk about a cross country family, ... this was a special day.”

Creston will run Friday Sept. 30, in Fort Dodge, at the State Cross Country meet. The girls will run at 3:30 p.m. while the boys will race at 4 p.m. in the Class 3A meet.

Girls Teams – 1. DCG 43; 2. Glenwood 66; 3. Winterset 108; 4. ADM 117; 5. Atlantic 120; 6. Gilbert 143; 7. Creston 143; 8. Perry 268; 9. Kuemper Catholic 270; 10. Boone 316; 11. Greene County 322; 12. Saydel 323.

Boys Teams – 1. DCG 26; 2. ADM 68; 3. Glenwood 103; 4. Winterset 103; 5. Winterset 114; 6. Atlantic 117; 6. Gilbert 145; 7. Kuemper Catholic 161; 8. Greene 239; 9. Boone 242; 10. Perry 278; 11. Saydel 323; 12. Osceola 343.

Girls qualifiers (top-15) – 1. Geneva Timmerman, ADM, 18:15; 2. Kami Smith, DC-G, 19:24; 3. Megan Sterbenz, DC-G, 19:34; 4. Taylor McCreedy, Atlantic, 19:40; 5. Miranda Muhlstein, DC-G, 19:53; 6. Braelyn Baker, Creston, 19:59; 7. Paige Davis, Creston, 20:02; 8. Emma Hughes, Glenwood, 20:03; 9. Lauren Hughes, Glenwood, 20:03; 10. Sophie Vanderpool, Gilbert, 20:08; 11. Erin Schultz, Glenwood, 20:08; 12. Jaylene Karolus, Perry, 20:09; 13. Darci Wiseman, Winterset, 20:09; 14. Dyllan Kaufman, Winterset, 20:09; 15. Riley Wiese, Glenwood, 20:10.

Boys qualifiers (top-15) – 1. Nate Mueller, ADM, 15:15; 2. Aidan Ramsey, DC-G, 15:41; 3. Jacob Ewers, DC-G, 16:13; 4. Craig Alan Becker, Atlantic, 16:16; 5. Tate McDermott, DC-G, 16:36; 6. Andrew Smith, Glenwood, 16:39; 7. Jack Every, DC-G, 16:52; 8. Cooper Greenslade, ADM, 16:57; 9. Jacob Storey, DC-G, 16:58; 10. Zane Berg, Atlantic, 16:58; 11. Michael Pottebaum, Kuemper Catholic, 16:59; 12. Ethan Jurgens, ADM, 17:00; 13. Liam Hays, Glenwood, 17:00; 14. Clayton Stafford, Creston, 17:00; 15. Mason Back, Winterset, 17:01.