Dahl, Rees place at state

FORT DODGE — Saturday’s Class 3A state cross-country action had nine Demons and one Panther on the course. Two of those runners found themselves on the balcony earning medals by the end of the day.

Washington’s Iris Dahl and Micah Rees both picked up their first-ever Top-15 finishes. Dahl, a freshman took seventh in the girls’ race, and Reece, a Junior was 13th on the boys’ side.

Dahl was eighth coming down the final stretch, but kicked it into gear to pass fellow Southeast Conference freshman Avery Rump of Fort Madison to take seventh. She crossed the tape in 19 minutes, 20.71 seconds.

“Our coach really had a good plan for that,” Dahl said. “We've been practicing that finish all week, so I was really ready for it.”

Dahl’s finish helped the Demon girls place sixth place, scoring 190 points in the school’s first ever girls’ cross-country team race.

“It's all thanks to the coaches,” Dahl said. “And the work we put in also, but they really help us push ourselves.”

Quincy Griffis was the second Demon girl across the line. She took 50th place, crossing the line in 20:36.16.

“I felt good,” Griffis said. “It was just tough the last 200 meters, but it was good.”

Alyvia Anderson finished 68th. Lauren Horak was 74th. Angeline Anderson was 88th. Isabella Lujan was 101st. Kendall Hinrichsen was 105th.

Rees says his goal was a Top-15 finish, and he sure got it as the Washington junior dashed to the finish line in 16:26.82, earning a placement in his second trip to the state meet.

Rees says he remembers watching teammate Lance Sobaski, who made the Top-10 last year, earn his medal on the clubhouse balcony, and on Saturday, it was Rees’ time to stand with the best in the class.

“It's a huge blessing, especially after last year, with Lance getting up there,” Rees said. “It was my goal this year to be able to stand up there, and having this medal is really cool. It's the biggest thing that I've done in cross-country.”

The next area runner to come through on the boys’ side was Mt. Pleasant’s Ben Carthey. Carthey finished just outside of the Top-60, getting 61st place in 17:26.72.

“The first mile I went out pretty quick,” Carthey said. ‘The second mile is when stuff started going bad for me. I was feeling some pain in my stomach, and that was affecting my breathing. The third mile was all about surviving.“

Washington’s Tyler Alderton finished 85th in his first trip to state. Alderton crossed the line in 17:45.15.

“At the beginning it felt really open, really wide,” Alderton recalled. “I could see those spots where I could have pushed through and really went hard, but in the end I just didn't have that speed, and ability to do it this year.”

GIRLS’ TEAM SCORES: 1. Pella 91; 2. Ballard 127; 3. Solon 128; 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 129; 5. ADM 139; 6. Washington 190; 7. Clear Lake 212; 8. Glenwood 218; 9. Clear Creek-Amana 223; 10. Center Point-Urbana 229; 11. Bishop Heelan 257; 12. Gilbert 261; 13. Carlisle 264; 14. Harlan 272; 15. MOC-Floyd Valley 286.

WASHINGTON GIRLS: 7. Iris Dahl 19:20.71; 50. Quincy Griffis 20:36.16; 68. Alyvia Anderson 20:54.38; 74. Lauren Horak; 88. Angeline Anderson 21:09.31; 101. Isabella Lujan 21:31.58; 105. Kendall Hinrichsen 21:38.01.

BOYS’ TEAM SCORES: 1. Pella 79; 2. Marion 115; 3. North Polk 123; 4. Carlisle 134; 5. Winterset 141; 6. Glenwood 154; 7. Gilbert 186; 8. MOC-Floyd Valley 212; 9. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 212; 10. Western Dubuque 231; 11. Solon 259; 12. ADM 264; 13. Lewis Central 277; 14. Clear Creek-Amana 300; 15. Fort Madison 375.

AREA BOYS: 13. Micah Rees (Washington) 16:26.82; 61. Ben Carthey (Mt. Pleasant) 17:26.72; 85. Tyler Alderton (Washington) 17:45.15.