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Humboldt’s Orr earns silver in 3A

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Quinton Orr of Humboldt places 2nd behind Adel-ADM’s Nate Mullens on Saturday during the state meet at Lakeside. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Quinton Orr walked away from Saturday’s state cross country meet feeling accomplished and excited.

Orr, a Humboldt junior, secured his second consecutive Class 3A runner-up finish, recording a school-record time of 15:52.1.

Adel-ADM’s Nate Mueller, also a junior, was the race winner in 15:45.7. Of the Top-10 finishers, just one was a senior in eighth-place medalist Bradley Ramsey of Dallas Center-Grimes with three other 11th-graders and four sophomores.

The Wildcats placed 12th overall, as the Mustangs were crowned team champions followed by Clear Creek-Amana and Center Point-Urbana.

“I’m happy, but definitely not satisfied,” Orr said. “I still have a lot of state races left in my high school career. There is always more to achieve, more to work hard for. I just have to keep up consistency with my training.

“I’m really hoping for a great track season to lead into my senior year.”

As a sophomore, Orr earned silver behind Mount Pleasant’s Cody Mertens, with Mueller sliding in third. Orr also ran at state as a ninth-grader with his Humboldt teammates.

“This was our last time together as a team, so to make it to state was a huge accomplishment,” Orr said. “We didn’t need to feel any stress and we didn’t. We just went out and had a good, fun run.

“Afterward, everyone was happy. We weren’t as high as we wanted to, but everyone gave it their all. We had a great season, won a lot of meets and getting 12th was not a bad way to cap it.”

Eric Wittrock, a junior, was 41st in a time of 17:05 followed by senior Devon Coon, who finished 55th in 17:14.

Sophomore Trevor Jacobson was 99th in 17:56, junior Carter Theesfeld finished 112th in 18;16, junior Nolan Jergens was 114th in 18:23 and sophomore Jackson Chambers placed 126th in 19:21.

For Orr, having experience running at state was definitely a factor. Last year, he used a late surge to secure his high finish.

“I came in with a set plan and executed that plan perfectly,” Orr said. “Nate has been putting up crazy times and is a tough person to beat. I knew I wanted to make it a two-person race between us. It was an aggressive pace and about a mile-and-a-half in, I made some surges to go hard and try to lose him. It didn’t happen.

“In these big meets, everybody can run a good mile, mile-and-a-half, but you have to be strong in the second half and complete the entire race. I know Nate pushing me helped me record my time.”

Eagle Grove’s Jon Koester placed 58th in 2A, as the senior recorded a time of 17;45.

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