Cross country teams and individuals will put their seasons on the line at Thursday’s Class 2A State Qualifying Meets. The top three teams and top 15 individuals at each site will advance to the state meet.
Aplington-Parkersburg, Dike-New Hartford and South Hardin will be among the teams in attendance at the qualifier at Oelwein at Hickory Grove Golf Course. In the girls race, Falcon senior Quinlynn Schultz enters with the ninth-fastest time in the field at 20:27. In the boys race, AP’s Ty Luhring has a season-best time of 17:27, which ranks 14th among the field.
“We’re gonna go in with positive attitudes, and I know we’ve got a couple that are sitting right on the fence of possibly qualifying,” Aplington-Parkersburg coach Jonna Junker says. “We’ve got a couple teams in our conference that are also at our district, so we kind of know who we need to stick with to try to squeak in.”
Dike-New Hartford’s Bryan Munguia-Chavez currently has the 11th-fastest time in the boys field at 17:20. DNH’s Hanna Steffen would need to shave off approximately 30 seconds to be among the 15 fastest in the girls race.
Grundy Center will compete at the qualifier at Pella Christian at Pella Sports Park. In the boys race, Emerson Vokes leads the field with a season-best time of 15:12, which is the fastest mark in Class 2A. Teammate Jayce Fryslie is currently in ninth place at 17:43. In the girls race, Grace Storjohann’s best time of 19:38 is fifth in the field, and Evelyn Geerdes has the 11th-fastest time at 21:09. With times of 22:00, Maddy Hendershot and Karlee Lynch each have the 16th-fastest time.
“We’re gonna have to show up and run our best on Thursday, because we’re in a tough district,” Grundy Center coach Kerri Lynch says. “Grace and Emerson for sure, Evelyn has a great chanc0,e she’s right there on the cuff, she can really push herself a little bit. Hopefully Karlee and Maddy can get up there closer to Evelyn and pull Makenna Steinmeyer along with them, and hopefully we can get the girls team there.”
The meets will begin at 4:00 p.m.
