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Washington Evening Journal
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Bainbridge leads area 1A runners at state
VBC sophomore takes 5th, Pekin girls 6th as a team
FORT DODGE — The area’s best Class 1A cross-country runners were in Fort Dodge on Friday night as the 2023 state cross-country meet kicked off at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Going into the day, the Union area had two teams competing for glory, both from Pekin. The Panther girls took sixth place as a team, scoring 199 points. The boys were 10th, scoring 233.
The top area runner crossed fifth in the boys’ race. Van Buren County sophomore Lincoln Bainbridge showed out to earn his best career finish at state, scooping up a Top-5 result for Warriors cross-country.
Bainbridge crossed the tape in 16 minutes, 13 seconds to break his personal record. He finished two seconds ahead of Lake Mills senior Justin Rygh for the final Top-5 spot.
Pekin’s Brady McWhirter wasn’t far behind. McWhirter grabbed a Top-10 spot, finishing in 16:26.5, and leading the Pekin boys into the Top-10 as a team.
Winfield-Mount Union’s Kohlby Newsom finished Top-20. Newsom crossed the tape in 16:54.8, for 19th.
Pekin’s Jaedon Wolver ended his career at the state meet, crossing the tape in 55th place. His final time was 17:44.4, the second Panther to cross the finish line.
Mason Dahlstrom finished 85th for the Panthers, crossing in 18:08.7. Cole Millikin was 97th, in 18:25.5. Lane Fariss finished 118th, in 18:52.9. Ben Guise took 134th, in 19:24.7, and Dylan Sobaski was 144th, in 20:22.7.
The leading girl in the Union coverage area was Hillcrest Academy freshman Marie Yoder. Yoder ended her stellar first high school year by crossing the tape in a new personal record of 19:41.3, making it into the Top-15 by almost eight seconds.
Yoder was a few seconds ahead of the first Pekin runner across. Sophomore Chloe Glosser le dthe Panthers with a 17th-place time of 19:54.4.
Glosser finished six spots ahead of Columbus’ Iris Garza. The Wildcats’ freshman made it three Union area runners in the Top-25, crossing in 20:11.2, for 23rd.
Pekin’s second runner across was senior Lauren Steigleder. Steigleder finished her storied career at Pekin by taking 51st place, in 20:50.3.
Another Pekin senior, Audrey Fariss, took 55th place, in 20:55.4. Abby Guise was 114th, in 22:42.3. Lexi Swearingen took 120th, in 22:51.6. Breanna Drish (23:27.3) and Cambree Earnest (23:35.2) finished 132nd and 134th respectively.
