Lea Friedl and Drake Weland represented Eagle Grove on the big stage at the State Cross Country Meet for Class 2A last Saturday morning at Lakeside Golf Course/Kennedy Park just north of Fort Dodge. Friedl was making her third individual appearance, and fourth overall, while Weland was running in his first state meet.
Lea, a senior, finished in 41st with a 21:28.6. “She trained like she normally does and had goals for this meet,” stated her coach Mike Herrington. “The state meet course is laid out a bit differently, with a double white line instead of a single line the runners are more used to. It’s a six-foot wide running lane. If you get behind a large percentage of runners you need to be patient until at least three-quarters of a mile is in. After that she started passing people. In the end, about 65 runners were at 21:50 or under, which is a very good time.”
Herrington knew that Lea wanted to be in the top thirty. “Her conditioning allowed her to come on strong in the last portion of the race,” said the coach. “She did beat some good Top of Iowa runners like Abby Christians of G-H/V, who is 18th ranked, and also Lilly Nelson of Forest City. She also passed a strong Emmetsburg runner. Lea is actually good friends with Christians. This is a sport where all participants support each other.”
Herrington feels the Top of Iowa is one of the strongest conferences in the state for this sport. “Those schools take cross country seriously, so when you’re at state you not only represent your school but a strong conference as well,” he said. “Lea being a four-time qualifier is a great achievement. It shows her level of dedication, and how to get the most you can out of your abilities. She’s been a good role model over the years. Both Alejandra and Madi, along with Lea, improved. They all reflect the goals we set: strive to improve, accept challenge and take yourself out of your comfort zone. There are positive benefits from this sport, and you can work with your coach and teammate to help achieve those. As I like to say, champions go beyond their capabilities with every stride”.
Sophomore Drake Weland finished 85th in 18:41.9. “Drake had a great week of practice to prepare for state, and had several guys who came and ran with him to help him be ready,” stated head coach Ben Demuth. “I know he was a bit nervous as we got closer to Saturday, but he showed up to practice happy and excited for the opportunity and I was glad to see the guys supporting him. We arrived at the meet, and I was a bit concerned with how windy it was but otherwise it was a beautiful day to run. We had hoped to be able to break into the 17’s for this meet, based on the fact that it is a great course to run on and he has progressed so far this season.”
Demuth went on to say that, even though that wasn’t the case, he still ran his third-fastest career time. “I was pleased with the time and effort he made,” said the coach. “He ran a great opening mile with the wind mostly in his face, but was in a large pack and slowly was able to move up in the order as the meet went on. To run by yourself as a sophomore at state can be a bit daunting, but he did his best and ran as well as he is capable of and I think he really enjoyed the experience. I hope that we can watch him run there a few more times and with a few more teammates as well.”
