The Raider and Raiderette cross country teams ran at Lake Icaria last week to finish out their season with an opportunity to qualify for the State Meet this week.
It was a tough course, one that Mount Ayr has not ran in a few years and one that none of the current runners had been to until coach Dustin Larsen took them over the Monday prior to the meet for an opportunity to jog the course and get a feel for all the hills that Lake Icaria has to offer.
It was a heartbreaker for Karly Elwood, a first year member of the team, as she finished 11th overall, just outside of the top 10 qualifiers.
MaKenna Jones wasn’t far behind and finished 16th.
Both girls stated being so close fueled the fire for next year.
As a team, the Raiderettes finished fourth overall with a total time of 2:04.07 and an average time of 24:49.
Elwood finished her race in a time of 23:03, while Jones finished in 23:44.
Karlie Larsen finished 18th overall with a time of 24:00 and Natalie Schaefer was next with a time of 25:00 for 24th place.
Lauren Triggs finished 34th with a time of 28:19 and Andrea Sickels finished with a time of 30:07 for 39th.
In the boys race, the Mount Ayr team fielded three runners.
Adan Trujillo finished first for Mount Ayr with a time of 20:59 and in 43rd, while Will Newton came in at 45th with a time of 21:21.
Ashtyn Benesh finished hard with a time of 22:08 and 52nd overall.
