Last Monday the Eagle Grove girls cross country team traveled to Humboldt for a meet at the challenging Sheldon Park course. Gilbert took the team title, followed in the top three of 18 full complete teams by Woodbury Central/Kingsley-Pierson and Saint Edmond. Ellie Meyer of Iowa Falls-Alden broke the tape in 19:39.30 for first individually.
“This is always a challenging course,” stated head coach Mike Herrington. “We ran pretty well. Our mile splits were good. I knew the big hill would take some starch out of the legs. There were quality teams and good schools there.”
Lea Friedl had a strong showing in crossing in 23:10.10 for 16th place. Following her were Alejandra Lopez in 16:11.60 for 66th and Madi Axtell in 27:01.70 for 76th.
“Lea got it back together going into, and on, her third mile,” said Herrington. “She wants to position herself for the qualifier, and did a good job with that. We seem to get PR’s and run faster as we go along. All three are working hard and trying hard. We’re just trying to find a way to fit into a big puzzle right now. I’m proud of them for what they’re trying to accomplish.”
On Thursday they went to Manly for a meet hosted by Central Springs. Newman Catholic took the team title, followed by Nashua-Plainfield and West Fork. Friedl took fifth there in 21:48.6, Lopez 31st in 24:41.3 and Axtell 38th in 26:01.2.
“This was an interesting meet, and our fourth within the last two weeks,” said the coach. “We’re continuing to run our endurance routine in practice and right up through these meets. It’s a very flat course with no hills. It was another quality field, with maybe 90 percent of the teams from our conference. It was a good measuring stick for our team. The top four teams in the final standings are either quality runners or have a tradition of good teams. We had target times for each mile, and both Lea and Ale hit those targets with Ale getting a PR at the first mile mark. I continue to be impressed with Ale everyday in practice. She is coming along, and has the potential to be all-conference. Madi had a good first mile, but just needs to build up her confidence. They push themselves everyday in practice, and this was a good meet for all of them.”
