'They ran their tails off'

Individual and team accomplishments added up for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn cross country runners at the Class 1A state qualifying meet on Oct. 19. In addition to having one runner earn a trip to state, both teams recorded some of the best finishes in recent memory during the meet at Spencer Municipal Golf Course.

George Vargas is H-M-S's first male state qualifier since 2017. The senior ran a personal-best time of 17:56 to finish ninth overall. The Top 10 finishers qualify for state.

"I told George to trust his instincts from the get-go. He embraced this race and ran with a fire in his belly," Hawk coach Kirsten Taylor said. "He accomplished something not many athletes do. He is a determined young man who has worked hard his whole cross country career to advance to the state meet."

H-M-S also had great success as a team. The boys' 133 team points put them in fourth place, which is the best finish since the initial year of H-M-S cross country in 1988.

"Fourth place in the district is a wonderful accomplishment for our boys' program, considering we finished ninth as a team a year ago," Taylor noted. "We finished right behind three teams that have been ranked in the Top 20 all year long. It's motivation for next year."

Four juniors finished in the upper half of the 91-runner field: Damian Dodge, 26th, 19:26; Ryan Grotluschen, 30th, 19:35; Blaine Finster, 44th, 20:31; and Aiden Bush, 45th, 20:34. Running in the qualifying meet for the first time were freshman Easton Teal, 67th, 21:59; and sophomore Carter Dolphin, 79th, 23:58.

"Our boys had a day. They ran their tails off and I honestly couldn't have asked more from them," Taylor said. "George, Damian, Ryan, Blaine and Carter all ran awesome PR's."

Woodbine and Sibley-Ocheyedan were the Top 2 teams with 36 and 69 points. IKM-Manning was third with 87. Following H-M-S were Lawton-Bronson 157, Alta-Aurelia 179, MMCRU 181, Akron-Westfield 213, Hinton 225, South O'Brien 228 and Bishop Garrigan 257.

• Girls' best finish since 2018

The Hawk girls also had an impressive day at the state qualifying meet.

Lexi Croatt placed 20th in a field of 73 runners, running a near personal best time of 23:23. The senior missed out qualifying for state by two places, after exempting the Top 2 teams' place finishers.

"She actually ran over two miles of the race with only one shoe," Taylor noted. "I'm positive she will never forget the final race of her cross country career."

Other finishers for H-M-S were junior Gracie Knobloch, 46th, 26:21; senior Jocelyn Abonce, 47th, 26:25; junior Kamryn Ebel, 53rd, 26:55; sophomore Clara Funk, 59th, 28:00; and freshman Kamrynn Visser, 71st, 33:17. It was Visser's first varsity race.

"Our girls worked hard through that course," Taylor said. "We saw improvement from last year's qualifying meet, as we scored 176 points compared to 239 last year. It was quite a substantial improvement on the girls' side also."

Woodbine won the team title with 50 points and Hinton was second with 52. Other team scores were Alta-Aurelia 89, IKM-Manning 91, Emmetsburg 99, Lawton-Bronson 121, H-M-S 176 and Siouxland Christian 214.

The seventh-place team finish is the best for the H-M-S girls since 2018.