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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Raiders girls qualify for state
Williamsburg is back in the girls’ state cross-country meet and, while the guys didn’t qualify as a team, two Raider boys earned a trip to Fort Dodge.
The top three teams and 15 individuals from each state qualifying meet advance to state this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27 and 28, at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge.
Williamsburg is in Class 2A and will begin racing Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m.
Pack running was for key Raider the girls last week. They scored 89 points to finish third behind Mid-Prairie (29) and Van Meter (43).
While they didn’t have any runners in the top 15, the Raiders had all seven of their girls finished in the top 27, within 59 seconds of each other.
Freshman Edie Axmear placed 16th, and junior Ashlyn Hoffman 17th, both in 21:29.
Freshman Makenna Capper finished 21st in 21:50, sophomore Anya Rivera 23rd in 22:13, senior Zada Buchholtz 25th in 22:16, senior Reagan McMenomy 26th in 22:22 and freshman Lillyona Abernathy 27th in 22:28.
“I thought our girls really stepped up and ran tough,” said Williamsburg Coach Nick Nordheim. “They all did what they had to do, and I'm super proud of them making it to state after working so hard all summer and fall.”
Sophomore Nile Bucsh and senior Wes Hulseberg punched their tickets to state for the boys, finishing eighth and 13th, respectively, in 17:24 and 17:30.
As a team, Williamsburg finished fourth (82) behind Mediapolis (49), Oelwein (65) and Mid-Prairie (74).
Sophomore Tyler McMillin placed 18th in 18:01, Hayes Arwime 21st in 18:16, Colin Reed 22nd in 18:21 and Devin Busch 28th in 18:58. Calvin Seeman did not finish.
“I'm devastated for the boys,” said Nordheim. “They were one of the top teams in the state all season and just couldn't quite keep everyone healthy to end the year.
“Combine that with a very tough district assignment and you barely miss getting to state. They had an amazing year,” Nordheim said.
This is the seventh straight year going to state for the Williamsburg girls, the 23rd time in the last 25 seasons.
