The girls cross country team finished second at the state meet Oct. 27 in Fort Dodge. They lost in heartbreaking fashion losing by one point to champions Southeast Polk who had 79 points to their 80 points. Brooke McKee ’20 got her third all-state finish and her third top five placement finishing third with a time 18:43. Aleah Tenpas ’22 finished in the top ten getting ninth and earning a spot on the all-state team with a time of 19:06. Paige Horner ’20 last year’s state champion finished 11th getting her third career all-state finish with at time of 19:14. Clara Toot ’20 and Bella Heikes ’21 finished off the scorers finishing 23rd and 34th with times of 19:43 and 19:56. Sam Strauss ’21 and Bailey Vaughan ’22 finished 38th and 45th with times of 20:02 and 20:11. All seven runners return next year and they will look to compete for another state title.

The boys finished ninth in their state meet. Dowling Catholic captured the state title by one point against Dubuque Hempstead with Dowling Catholic scoring 72 points to Dubuque Hempstead’s 73 points. The boys finished with 225 points with Luke Perman ’19, Sam Schmitz ’20 and Carter Borwick ’21 leading the way placing 24th, 27th and 31st with times of 16:30, 16:36 and 16:42. Ben Kinman ’19 finished 61st with a time of 17:09. Joe Schaefer ’19 and Paxson Picken ’20 finished 82nd and 84th with times of 17:33 and 17:36. Nathan Tegeler rounds off the runners finishing 94th with at time of 18:08.