Freshman Lamb roars into state meet

KNOXVILLE ? The going got tough in a crowded field Monday at Knoxville, but once again, Fairfield?s Jessica Lamb got going.

While the Fairfield girls? cross country team fell short of its goal of qualifying as a team to Saturday?s state meet, that?s exactly where Lamb will be headed. With her sixth-place finish (16:58), the freshman is the first individual qualifier to the state meet for FHS since Betsy Neff in 1995 as well as the first ninth-grader in school history.

?I couldn?t be more proud of Jess and the work she?s put in this year,? said head coach Jerrod Belzer. ?Running at a high level has been her main focus since the beginning of June and all those miles are starting to pay off for her. She went up against an outstanding group of individuals, including last years state champ, and proved that she belongs with the best.?

Lamb will run the Class 3A meet at noon Saturday.

The Trojans fell to sixth-place in the final team standings but now look to the future with a young core of runners including Hannah Sobaski (29th, 18:10) and Holly Kerr (38th, 18:35) set to return next year for their sophomore seasons.

?I know our team is disappointed with 6th place but I thought we ran well on a tough course in one of the toughest regionals in the state,? Belzer said. ?We?re all very excited about next season already and looking forward to stepping it up a notch.?

Meanwhile the Trojan boys ? running against an equally tough field ?fell just one spot short of a team berth to the state meet but turned in one of its best performance of the season.

?It was a tough district ? Pella and Grinnell were both ranked in the top-15, Knoxville was ranked most of the year, and Fort Madison was also there,? said head coach Cole Boatright. ?We didn?t catch the top three, but my guys stepped it up and ran the best they have all year. They ran with a lot of heart and focus and the season with a great performance.?

Senior Derek Byrnes paced the Trojans in fourteenth place followed by Travis Schombert (18th, 18:14), Dakota Simmons (24th, 18:29), Marcus Clark (29th, 18:36) and Jason Davis (39th, 18:56).

While the season has come to an end for Fairfield, the boys? team that featured several newcomers also looks to the future after a highly successful season under the first-year coach Boatright.

?The kids worked very hard all season, and there was a lot of team leadership from the veterans helping out the new guys to the team,? Boatright said. ?All the guys gave all they had each meet and, whether you?re a new or old coach, you can?t ask for anything more than that.?

Results from Monday?s meet at Knoxville can be found in the Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Fairfield Ledger.