Wise, Pekin girls, VBC’s Poling, Neely on to state cross-country meet

OTTUMWA — It was just barely but it counts. With the top 10 individuals and top two teams qualifying for the state cross-country meet at Fort Dodge next Saturday, Thursday’s Class 1A district had suspense.

Van Buren County senior Faith Neely placed 10th to make it to state for the fourth time. She finished seven seconds ahead of 11th place. Teammate Payten Poling was sixth.

Pekin had two runners finish fourth in Zach Wise and Lauren Steigleder. The Pekin girls team was second behind top-ranked Earlham. Pekin’s boys were fourth.

Earlham had the individual winners with Olivia Spurling winning in 20 minutes, 43 seconds and Jaden Dickson won the boys race in 16:55.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Earlham 57, 2. Pekin 61, 3. Pella Christian 79, 4. Collins-Maxwell 95, 5. Baxter 105, 6. Grandview Christian 146, 7. Wayne 174, 8. Colo-NESCO 233, 9. Pleasantville 245, 10. Colfax-Mingo 285

Pekin — 4. Lauren Steigleder 21:04, 9. Lauren Dersheid 21:32, 20. Mia Clark 22:51, 24. Audrey Fariss 23:03, 26. Sarah Eubanks 23:11

Van Buren County — 6. Payten Poling 21:06, 10. Faith Neely 21:39

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Earlham 53, 2. Pella Christian 59, 3. North Mahaska 91, 4. Pekin 169, 5. Collins-Maxwell 171, 6. Ankeny Christian 182, 7. Wayne 187, 8. Grandview Christian 191, 9. Pleasantville 237, 10. Southeast Warren 248, 11. Colfax-Mingo 268, 12. Martensdale St Mary 301, 13. Colo-NESCO 304, 14. Baxter 339, 15. Moravia 467

Pekin — 4. Zack Wise 17:43, 23. Ben Guise 18:58, 31. Jaedon Wolver 19:22, 55. Robert Brown 21:00, 57. Gavyn Brown 21:17

Van Buren County — 56. Chase Clark 21:10, 64. Isaiah Meek 21:37, 74. Grant Lilley 22:07, 85. Zane Smith 22:45