Gael girls are state bound
St. Edmond scores a clutch runner-up finish at qualifying meet
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JEWELL – The St. Edmond girls cross country team put everything into hitting their stride on Thursday.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Naomi Valles was a runner-up, Grace Schlegel finished fifth and Mae Pokorny was 16th, helping the Gaels secure an automatic bid to state by claiming second place at a Class 1A qualifying meet.
Sumner-Fredericksburg was the winner with 46 points, as St. Edmond tallied 68. Bishop Garrigan's Julia Swift was the individual champion.
Along with Valles, Schlegel and Pokorny, Greenlee Crimmins finished 28th, Lily Eslick was 30th, Betsy Gruver 39th and Alex Leiting 52nd.
"The times caught me a little off guard, but I knew these girls could have a night like this," SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. "Honestly, I would have been disappointed if they didn't qualify. I never go in expecting it, but I knew it was certainly possible.
"We had three PRs, three ran a season-best, and one had her second-best race of the year. That shows they have been working extremely hard. I’m so proud of them."
Valles, a junior, clocked a time of 21:00.08, as Swift was the only runner ahead of her in 20:24.52. Schlegel, a sophomore, went 21:02. Pokorny, also a 10th-grader, finished in 22:37.
"Both Naomi and Grace overcame some very tough personal matters to have incredible days," Szalat said. "Mae ran her best time by 55 seconds. She had the perfect race, much in the fashion of (former St. Edmond standout) Hannah Landwehr.
"Greenlee closed the gap and Lily did the same. It was just a total team effort."
Crimmins, a junior, went 23:38; Eslick, a senior, went 23:58; Gruver, a junior, went 25:09; and Leiting, also a senior, went 25:54.
Bishop Garrigan placed fifth overall, as Rachel Kahle was 13th. Eva Kohlhaas placed 21st, Charlie Steir was 66th and Sheila Reding 73rd.
Alexis Cummins crossed home in 17th for North Union, with Alyssa Welbig placing 33rd.
The St. Edmond boys were fifth overall, scoring 130 points. Aidan Reel clocked a time of 18:56 to finish 23rd, with Erik Larson in 27th at 19:29. Gordon Seeden placed 31st in 19:38; Andrew Barwin took 36th (19:59); and Ethan Cibert was 49th (20:44).
Ashton Kuker was 73rd (23:02) and William Gubbels 86th (25:25).
"I know the boys are disappointed, but I'm not at all," Szalat said. "They left it all out there and had the best team effort I've seen all year.
"I have to give them a lot of props because they went for it and just came up a little short."
The Bishop Garrigan boys placed 10th overall, led by Caiden Buckner, who was 16th. Samuel Foix finished 19th, Ethan Murphy 57th, Corbin Darling 91st and Kayden Richter 94th.
Easton Zinnel was 11th for West Bend-Mallard, and Wolverine teammate Bryson Kampen finished 50th. Finnley Rockdaschel of North Union placed 82nd, while Warrior Logan Walders was 88th.
Ankeny Christian and Ogden advanced as team qualifiers, with Ethan Benton of Ankeny Christian winning the race in 16:45.