Clear Lake runners wrapped up a very successful cross country season by participating in the Class 3A State Meet held Saturday in Fort Dodge.
The Lion girls team once again rewrote the record books, earning a seventh place finish in Class 3A for the best State Meet performance in school history.
“We came into the meet ranked number 10 and I thought we had a good chance of being top eight if we showed up and performed to the best of our ability,” said head Coach Tyler Havens. “Our girls completely exceeded all of our thoughts and goals coming away with a seventh place finish. As I was looking at the live results I really just couldn’t believe it and kept waiting for us to fall down to eighth, but it never happened.”
Havens saw his team in ninth place at the one-mile mark, eighth at two-mile and seventh at the finish.
“These girls have put so much effort into their development this past year, so to see that turn into something they can all be proud of was really rewarding as a coach. Even through the pain filled faces immediately following the race you could see their smiles,”
The lone senior on the girls team, Jadyn Heesch, finished her career with a State Meet performance to be proud of. Heesch recorded a time of 21:55.56 and crossed the finish line in 119th place.
“To look back on where she started to where she is now is really encouraging for the other girls in this program,” said Coach Havens. “She has blazed the trail and many more girls are following.”
The top finisher for the Lions was sophomore Addison Doughan. She placed 20th in a time of 19:56.15. Next was junior Emily McLaughlin in 20:31.52, good for 46th place. Also contributing to the team score was junior Anna Feuerbach, 51st in 20:36.50; sophomore Rebekah Steinbron, 81st in 21:03.29; and freshman Lauren Englin, 109th in 21:42.79.
Paityn Noe, from Ballard, won the girls race and helped her team to a runner-up finish behind Class 3A champion Pella. Pella, with three runners in the top 20 and five in the top 32, was the runaway winner with 91 points. Ballard and Solon followed with 127 and 128 respectively. Clear Lake was seventh with 212 points.
Jack Crane ended his high school cross country career with his best performance at the State Championships. He placed 43rd in Class 3A, which ranks him 12th all-time from Clear Lake at the State Championships.
Crane was clocked in 17:13.93.
Ethan Eichhorn, a junior from Lewis Central, captured the boys title in a time of 15:32.43.
“I am really proud of the way Jack competed and left it all out on the course,” said Coach Havens. “He definitely left his mark on our program and we are grateful for his efforts.”
Class 3A
Girls Team Scores
Pella 91, Ballard 127, Solon 128, Mount Vernon-Lisbon 129, ADM Adel 138, Washington 190, Clear Lake 212, Glenwood 218, Clear Creek-Amana 223, Center Point-Urbana 229, Bishop Heelan Catholic Sioux City 257, Gilbert 261, Carlisle 264, Harlan 272, Moc-Floyd Valley 286
Class 3A
Boys Team Scores
Pella 79, Marion 115, North Polk Alleman 123, Carlisle 134, Winterset 141, Glenwood 154, Gilbert 186, Moc-Flod Valley 212, Mount Vernon-Lisbon 212, Epworth Western Dubuque 231, Solon 259, ADM Adel 264, Lewis Central 277, Clear Creek-Amana 300, Fort Madison 375
