Tight-knit team has goals set high

We’ve reached the point in the cross country season where runners want to see their times continue to drop, but the Nodaway Valley/OM Wolverines instead have been dropping their times and climbing among the area’s excelling teams throughout the season.

The Wolverine boys are ranked 17th in Class 1A, according to the Iowa Track Coach’s Association rankings released Sept. 22.

Other ranked boys teams in 1A from the western part of the state are top-ranked Oakland Riverside, third-ranked Earlham, sixth-ranked East Sac County, 16th-ranked IKM-Manning, 18th-ranked IKM-Manning and No. 19 Woodbine.

The team’s individual leader, sophomore Gabe Winkelmann, the returning conference individual champion in the Pride of Iowa, is ranked 22nd.

Though every course is different in terrain and conditions, Winkelmann’s personal record last year was at the conference meet at Mount Ayr (17:22.53), and the returning state qualifier has already reached the 17-minute benchmark this year with a meet at Mount Ayr yet to go.

“I didn’t expect to win conference last year as a freshman. I just wanted to run my race and see what I could do. But, I was excited,” Winkelmann said.

The Wolverines were conference champions last year and Winkelmann can see the growth in the entire group.

Junior runner Luke Kading and his twin Paul Kading have also been key components to what the Wolverines have been able to do in repeatedly finishing as high as third in meets and continuing to drop individual times from the year prior on the same courses.

“I feel like I’ve grown from last year. Maybe not as much as I’d like to, but I’ve definitely had a lot of growth. By state, I’m hoping I can get down to a 17:20 or so,” Luke Kading said. “I’ve already gone down about 30 seconds in race since the start of the season, so I’m pretty happy with it so far.”

Luke Kading said a good benchmark is to get an entire group of five scoring runners to run consistently under 20 minutes.

“Our top-5 has a new sophomore, and that has helped us a lot. We have six or seven guys under 20 minutes almost every meet. That definitely helps to having a good score,” Luke Kading said.

The boys were third, behind meet champion Red Oak and second place Earlham. Individually, Winkelmann was sixth (17:35.5), Luke Kading was 11th (18:02.5), Paul Kading 24th (18:45.9), Josh Nelson 26th (19:04.5), Haden Colton 30th (19:30), Cherubim Mercado 33rd (19:37.7), Everett Ehler 34th (19:48.5), Trevyn Colton 39th (20:10.7), Cael Strode 48th (20:47.7), Fynn Thompson 87th (24:49.7) and Lincoln Van Horn 88th (24:54.4).

While she admits she doesn’t get hung up on rankings very much, there are a variety of metrics that, together, leave Wolverine head coach Brooke Wilson feeling very good about how her boys have been running as a group.

“For me, our goal is always to stay injury free — that’s what’s most important to me. To get to state, I think everybody has to drop their time by another 30 seconds or so,” Wilson said. “That’s still their goal. The challenge is high, but Gabe made it to state last year and Luke was super close last year, so I would think he would make it this year too.”

The Wolverines are doing as well as they have in a few years running as a pack, which can help their team score tremendously, Wilson said.

“The kids get along great, they’re fun to be around and are great kids,” Wilson said.

The girls have only three runners out, with freshman Abby Nelson usually leading the results. Junior runner Kaylee Van Horn is the team captain, and rounding out the team is another freshman in Kenzie Lilly.

Van Horn’s times have dropped from over 28 minutes in the first meet of the season to under 26 minutes in Creston where she finished 44th (25:26). In that meet, Nelson was 16th (22:35.5) and Lilly 58th (29:58.4).

“Having three girls on the team is hard. We try to work individually because we know that’s how anybody’s going to get into state if they want to,” Van Horn said. “I try to keep the girls motivated to the point that even if we don’t have a team, it’s still worth trying. The girls are working hard. Abby has worked really hard for this and I’m hoping she can get into state this year.”

None of Wilson’s three girls have quit. For that, she’s thankful.

“We want them to enjoy the running and be happy you can do it. I want it to be something they can take with them after high school,” Wilson said.

Nelson practices with the boys team, which Wilson thinks helps her out on the course.

“I think that helps her be able to keep up her speed. She doesn’t give up, there’s no complaining. She does what she’s supposed to do,” Wilson said. “I think Abby has a chance to make it to state. Creston was a good race, but Ballard was so hot. I don’t think we can base that off of anything. We will just have to see. I would expect she’ll just get better and better as the season goes on.”