Panthers send two girls, two boys to state meet

   For the Monticello Panthers, the girls’ and boys’ races at the Class 2A State Qualifying Meet Oct. 24 at Monticello High School were remarkably similar.

   In each case, two Panthers qualified to run at the state meet Nov. 2 in Fort Dodge. And in each case, the Monticello team finished a very close fourth, just one spot out of advancing to State as a team.

   Which prompted head coach Dan Sauser to say, upon seeing the boys’ race play out: “I just watched this movie.”

   The good news for MHS was that senior Leah Koehler and sophomore Peyton Ries for the girls, junior Aedan Althoff and senior Reeve Graver for the boys, earned their spots in the storied state meet with top-15 finishes.

   In the girls’ case, both were in the top five; Koehler finished fourth in 19:44.9 and Ries was fifth in 19:52.8 – both personal record (PR) times.

   “I think Leah came out with a chip on her shoulder. She looked strong start to finish,” Sauser said. “Peyton is figuring out how hard she can push herself, and is gaining confidence every time she runs. She’s had a much more consistent season (than last year).”

   The team result was a heartbreaker for the Panthers, missing the final state qualifying spot by just two points. But Sauser said he couldn’t fault Monticello’s performance.

   “We ran really well,” the coach said. “As a coach I cannot be displeased with how they ran. They ran the best race they’ve run this year.”

   Katie Stadtmueller also had a PR while finishing 32^nd. Three other Panthers – Ava Capron (25^th), Kaitlin Kunde (33^rd) and Leah Schemmel (47^th) had season-best times.

   It wasn’t quite enough for a state berth, however. The top four teams were separated by just 25 points.

   “You could run this race again today (Friday) and have a completely different outcome.”

   The Panther boys also excelled individually, with five PRs and six season-best times. Althoff ran a strong third place with a PR time of 16:20.8, 21 seconds faster than his previous best. Graver, overcoming both walking pneumonia and the death of a pet in the days leading up to the meet, nonetheless recorded a PR of his own – finishing 10^th in 17:15.1.

   “Aedan ran so well,” coach Sauser said. “And with Reeve, we didn’t know if he was going to be able to run. And then he comes out there and takes 30 seconds off his personal record.”

   Also getting PRs were Mace Schnoor, 16^th; Alan Arriaga-Rangel, 20^th; and Nic Schrader, 29^th. Senior Brennan Bohlken took 27 seconds off his previous season-best time.

   A rule in qualifying states that there have to be at least five runners advancing from non-qualifying teams. In this case there were, but had there not been that many in the top 15, Schnoor would have advanced.

   As a team, the Panther boys missed qualifying for State by seven points.

   “We ran so well,” Sauser said. “There were only 22 points separating these (top four) teams.”

   The coach said he didn’t fault the state’s effort to balance out the top teams among the state qualifying meets, but added, “We knew coming in it was a stacked district.

   “They do the best they can to try to even things out and get the talent spread around a little bit. I would say we had four really good teams here.”

On to State

for four

   Koehler and Ries will run in the Class 2A race at 2 p.m. on Nov. 2 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Althoff and Graver will follow in the boys’ race at 2:45 p.m.

   “The nice thing about the individual qualifiers is, there’s no pressure on them,” Sauser said. “Go down there and see what you can do. Enjoy it.

   “We’re going to have a good week of training, and we’re going to go down there, have fun, and see if we can get some kids up on that (top 15 medals) podium.”

Oct. 24

Class 2A State

Qualifying Meet

(at Monticello)

VARSITY BOYS TEAM SCORES

(State qualifiers in bold)

     1, Denver 54; 2, Waukon 63; 3, Tipton 69; 4, Monticello 76; 5, Alburnett 189; 6, Starmont 220; 7, Osage 224; 8, Union, La Porte City 226; 9, West Liberty 236; 10, Central Lee, Donnellson 251; 11, Notre Dame/West Burlington 279; 12, Northeast, Goose Lake 290; 13, Cardinal, Eldon 351.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

(State qualifiers in bold)

     3, Aedan Althoff, 16:20.8; 10, Reeve Graver, 17:15.1; 16, Mace Schnoor, 17:36.8; 20, Alan Arriaga-Rangel, 17:47.4; 29, Nicholas Schrader, 18:24.0; 31, Brennan Bohlken, 18:27.2; 34, Rylan Bertling, 18:34.7.

VARSITY GIRLS TEAM SCORES

(State qualifiers in bold)

     1, Tipton 62; 2, Denver 65; 3, Waukon 85; 4, Monticello 87; 5, Osage 129; 6, Camanche 157; 7, Union, La Porte City 170; 8, Alburnett 208; 9, Central Lee, Donnellson 217; 10, West Liberty 281; 11, Cardinal, Eldon 328.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

(State qualifiers in bold)

     4, Leah Koehler, 19:44.9; 5, Peyton Ries, 19:52.8; 25, Ava Capron, 21:37.4; 32, Katie Stadtmueller, 22:17.1; 33, Kaitlin Kunde, 22:18.2; 47, Leah Schemmel, 23:11.1; 65, Emmy Verhagen, 25:01.6.