XC: Wolverines punch their ticket to boys state cross country

GUTHRIE CENTER — In a mild upset, the Nodaway Valley boys cross country team punched its ticket to the 2025 state cross country meet in Fort Dodge last Thursday afternoon.

The Wolverines ran at the Class 1A State Qualifying Meet at Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center High School, one of eight statewide sites used to determine state qualifying teams and individuals for this Saturday’s state meet.

Nodaway Valley had work to do to be able to make it with three ranked teams in the field and only the top two were secured state spots. Ranked teams in the meet were top-ranked Oakland Riverside, No. 16 IKM-Manning and No. 19 Woodbine, although the Wolverines themselves were ranked for much of the season.

“We’re super pumped. We’ve worked all year for this, so for it to pay off, that’s a big thing. We drilled it into our guys that this was a big race and if there’s a race of the year to do well in, it’s this one,” NV junior Paul Kading said. “Approaching the race, you’re not going for time. If you have a guy in front of you, you want to pass him. That’s what I was focusing on during the race, to not get out too fast to where I fall off, but also make sure no one’s passing me more than a mile into the race.”

The Wolverines scored 93 team points to secure the runner-up spot. They were 14 points ahead of third place IKM-Manning. St. Albert and Woodbine (119 each) tied for fourth. Riverside took home the team title with 26, helped by four top-10 finishers. Haven Weers of Tri-Center was meet champion on the boys’ side with a time of 16:11.

Wolverine sophomore Gabe Winkelmann was 13th in a time of 17:09. At points during the race, he was on the cusp of being able to return to state individually as a top-10 finisher.

Other varsity scorers included Luke (17:58.36) and Paul Kading (18:04.70) with 18th and 19th place finishes, respectively, Haden Colton (26th, 18:31.87), Josh Nelson (28th, 18:37.46), Cherubim Mercado (33rd, 19:00.13) and Everett Ehler (43rd, 19:39.97).

“The main thing about the course was just Charger Hill (behind the school). Other than that, it’s a relatively flat course and was good for me to be able to try to pass some guys on both curves and straightaways. I also was able to make up some time by passing people up the hill,” Colton said.

Head coach Brooke Wilson explained that meets containing big races with tough competition, such as Ballard, Creston or Atlantic, are all valuable parts of the team’s regular season schedule because they prepare the runners for a race like the state qualifying meet.

“State qualifying is a fast race, they had fast competition and they know they have to keep up, basically. The excitement of it, too, might have been enough. I think everybody had a PR,” Wilson said. “We’ve talked to them about how you want your last mile to be your fastest. [Coach Taylor West] was giving them workouts to push them toward that, and I think that helped.”

In the girls race, freshman Abby Nelson was 15th, finishing in 22:15.20. Other finishers were junior Kaylee Van Horn (60th, 25:39.50) and freshman Kenzie Lilly (80th, 29:22.20).

The state cross country meet is a two-day event held at Lakeside Golf Course on the north side of Fort Dodge. Classes 2A and 3A run Friday, Oct. 31 while 4A and 1A run Saturday, Nov. 1.

The Class 1A boys run at 2:45 p.m. There are 152 Class 1A boys on the starting list.

“I’m excited to see our whole team get to make it to state,” Colton said. “We went and watched Gabe run it last year. It didn’t look like too bad of a course. I’m just excited to run with my whole team one more time this season.”

ACFP editor Caleb Nelson contributed to this report.

Top 10 girls at AC/GC: 1. Lili Denton (St. Albert) 17:36.60, 2. Allysen Johnsen (Logan-Magnolia) 19:47.50, 3. Chloe Broer (West Monona) 20:06.20, 4. Mareni Brabec (Newell-Fonda) 20:32.60, 5. Keira Diehm (Heartland Christian) 20:35.70, 6. Reese Dittmer (Tri-Center) 21:01.60, 7. Cadence Petersen (AC/GC) 21:03.90, 8. Danika Meyer (Newell-Fonda) 21:08.30, 9. Quinn Sievers (Newell-Fonda) 21:08.40 and 10. Brielle Kramer (Tri-Center) 21:29.20.

Top 10 boys at AC/GC: 1. Haven Weers (Tri-Center) 16:11.74, 2. Dawson Henderson (Riverside) 16:27.13, 3. Owen Fenner (Riverside) 16:31.84, 4. Aiden Summerfield (Woodbine) 16:41.58), 5. Dane Gorham (Boyer Valley) 16:45), 6. Brody Henderson (Riverside) 16:45.65), 7. Preston Kent (AC/GC) 16:48.01, 8. Jacob Sporrer (Logan-Magnolia) 16:50.11, 9. Cruz Jacquez (Riverside) 16:52.89 and 10. Jackson Walter (St. Albert) 16:54.44).