Horak finishes strong at state

The season came to a close for Washington sophomore Claire Horak on Saturday, when she finished among the top runners in the state.

Horak, who was running in Fort Dodge, representing the Demons at the state cross-country meet, finished her first varsity season in 21st place among the state participants, running a 19:49 on the afternoon.

?Claire had an outstanding race,? Washington cross-country head coach Stefanie Tschantz said. ?She was in the top 25 the whole race. She got out strong and continued to push herself the whole race. She had Ashley Bloomquist from Fairfield and Brett Schneider from Fort Madison close to her during the race, so I?m sure it helped having some familiar faces close by.?

Racing against those conference opponents, Horak finished as the top runner from the Southeast Conference in the state meet after taking second in the conference meet earlier this month.

The two runners who beat her at the state-qualifying meet on Oct. 20 finished in third and fourth place overall at the state meet.

The state meet can be a daunting event in your first experience, but Horak was able to overcome the nerves to match her Class 3A ranking.

?She came in to the meet ranked 21st and that is what she ended up getting,? Tshcantz said. ?I know she was pretty nervous before the race, as it is a completely different atmosphere up there. I thought she handled herself very well and ran a great race. I am so proud of her and everything she has accomplished this season.

?She put in a lot of work this summer and it definitely paid off,? Tschantz said. ?It is hard to remember that she is just a sophomore and this is just her first year out for cross-country, she runs so strong and confident. I know she will come back next year even more determined.?

She won?t be the only one who is determined on the Washington cross-country team next season, as the Demons are looking to build off a strong season overall.

?We took a few other girls up with us to help cheer Claire on, and it was a lot of fun listening to them talk about their goals for next season and wanting to qualify as a team,? Tschantz said. ?I think them seeing what it was all about made them very excited for next year.?

Geyer, Klein post strong times in Class 1A meet

A pair of local seniors were in action during the class 1A boys? meet during Saturday?s state competition.

Iowa Mennonite?s Levi Geyer posted a career-best time of 17:27 at his final meet as a high-schooler, taking 25th-place overall at the meet.

After finishing 13th at the state qualifier on Oct. 20, he finished fourth among the same field of runners at Fort Dodge.

?Levi has had an excellent season,? Iowa Mennonite cross-country head coach Marty Gingerich said. ?Last year he was fighting plantar fasciitis and was only able to compete several times during the cross-country season.  He has worked hard to manage the injury again this season to keep it from hindering his training.?

Joining Geyer was Keota?s Turner Klein, who also ended his high school cross-country career at the state meet.

Klein finished just behind Geyer with a 17:38, coming in 33rd overall in the Class 1A field.