English Valleys sends 3, Belle Plaine 1, to state

Four area runners posted times last week that were good enough to put them in the State cross-country meet in Fort Dodge Friday, Oct. 27.

Iowa City and Eldora hosted the state cross country qualifying meets Thursday, Oct. 19 for area 1A runners.

Belle Plaine, HLV and Iowa Valley ran at Pine Lake Country Club in Eldora. English Valleys navigated Kickers Park in Iowa City.

English Valleys’ Gage Heyne ran a 17:11 to claim second place in the Iowa City qualifier and punch his ticket to State in Ft. Dodge.

Heyne was only 19 seconds behind winner Lincoln Bainbridge of Van Buren County.

The Bears are also sending freshmen Audrey and Addison Achenbach to Ft. Dodge. They finished fifth and sixth respectively to advance.

Aubrey ran a 21:28, and Addison, a 21:40. The pair were rarely separated by more than a few seconds all season.

Marie Yoder of Hillcrest won in a time of 20:30.

Belle Plaine’s Luke Eichorn will represent the Plainsmen at State. Eichorn finished 10th at the Eldora qualifier in a time of 19:18.

Class 1A qualifies the top two teams and top 10 individuals. No area teams qualified, but the English Valleys girls were close, finishing third in Iowa City with 75 points.

Iowa City Regina was first, with a 52; Colins-Maxwell second with 58.

In Eldora, the HLV boys finished fourth, with a 112. Pekin was the clear winner, with 47, followed by Ft. Dodge St. Edmond’s 87.

Belle Plaine finished in 11th.

Class 1A girls run at 2:00 pm on Friday, followed by the 1A boys at 2:45. The awards ceremony will be at 3:30. All races are at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Ft. Dodge.

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