Washington 1 point short, Mt. Pleasant’s Carthey 1 place from state meet

SOLON — It was heartbreak and happiness at Wednesday’s Class 3A state-qualifying cross-country meet at the Solon Nature Preserve. Results did not go the way Washington and Mt. Pleasant had hoped.

While Washington’s Lance Sobaski and Micah Rees qualified as individuals, Mt. Pleasant’s Abby Blint and Ben Carthey did not. Neither did either of the schools’ boys or girls teams. The top 15 individuals and top three teams advance to Fort Dodge to run at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Kennedy Park Friday, Oct. 29.

Carthey placed 16th. The Washington boys were fourth with 101 points and third place was 100.

“At the end there, I didn’t have the juice,” said Carthey, who was 18th last year as a freshman. “This is going to motivate me like crazy to get this close. I have to grind in the summer and grind in practice.”

A senior ranked 13th, it ended up being Blint’s last race. Although she sprained a troublesome ankle Monday, the injury was not going to stop her from running. Not only was the pain physically challenging but “I just didn’t quite make it through mentally. It’s frustrating because I knew I was capable of competing with the other girls there around my time,” Blint said. “I knew I had a shot. I really wanted to work hard and qualify, but it is what it is.”

“Of course we wish things had gone differently, but they all ran great,” Washington coach Stefanie Haworth said. “”It’s just being so close, we want a little bit more.“

The Washington girls were ranked this season but placed fifth. The depth the team displayed was incredible with Lauren Horak finishing 25th and the next four Demons were 28th-31st, all freshmen. It was the first time this season Horak had finished ahead of her teammates.

“We went places,” Horak said of the season. "It’s amazing considering the beginning that we came from. We are just going to get stronger. It is going to be fun to watch us improve.“

Horak said the young team was nervous, but so was Sobaski, a senior and now a three-time state qualifier.

Sobaski was the highest ranked male at the meet. Marion’s Shane Erb and Jedidiah Osgood were ranked No. 7 and No. 9. Erb won by 3/10 of a second over his teammate. Sobaski was 19 seconds behind.

“I expected to be closer,” said Sobaski, who placed third. “I was nervous for me and my team, being the last time I will run with them, it’s heartbreaking. I couldn’t do anything without my team.”

Part of that team is Rees, who was nipped at the very end by Solon’s Gabe Hinman and placed ninth. Rees is ranked 26th and Hinman 24th.

“I got caught in the last 100, and that hurts,” Rees said. “But my goal was top 10. I had a strategy but I don’t know that I followed it.”

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Solon 26, 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 74, 3. Marion 89, 4. Davenport Assumption 95, 5. Washington 126, 6. Benton 142, 7. Mt. Pleasant 191, 8. Fort Madison 210, 9. Central DeWitt 255, 10. Maquoketa 275- South Tama, Keokuk, Notre Dame-West Burlington did not have a team score.

Washington — 25. Lauren Horak 21:09, 28. Quincy Griffis 21:16, 29. Alyvia Anderson 21:18, 30. Kendall Hinrichsen 21:20, 31. Isabella Lujan 21:20

Mt. Pleasant — 18. Alexis Wagner 20:46, 26. Abby Blint 21:10, 48. Belle Meador 22:40, 59. Jenna Gilmore 23:51, 68. Jayden Housch 25:13

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Marion 26, 2. Solon 70, 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 100, Washington 101, 5. South Tama 142, 6. Mt. Pleasant 184, 7. Benton 196, Davenport assumption 199, 9. Fort Madison 236, 10. Central DeWitt 247, 11. Maquoketa 361, 12. Keokuk 369 Notre Dame-West Burlington did not have a team score.

Washington — 3. Lance Sobaski 16:15, 9. Micah Rees 16:56, 24. Elijah Morris 17:54, 27. Ty Alderton 17:59, 38. Drew Horak 18:25

Mt. Pleasant — 16. Ben Carthey 17:24, 31. Nathan McWilliams 18:02, 36. Christian Bracht-Wagner 18:24, 50. Gabe Feldman 19:02, 51. Tyler Johnson 19:05