FORT DODGE — Panorama was one of just six Class 1A schools to send both their boys and girls cross country teams to Saturday’s state meet at Kennedy Park. The Panther boys were competing at the state level for the first time since 2010, while the Panther girls were making their fifth consecutive appearance.
“I thought Devyn Kemble and Kaleb Randel ran well,” Panorama head coach Greg Thompson said. “Brianna Hoffman was not feeling well today, but ran a gutsy race. Only three of our 14 runners had run at State before. All of the girls and four of the boys return (for next year). I know I learned from this meet and I hope the kids did as well.”
“Most of them are disappointed with their performance and times, but, as I told them,” Thompson added, “only 15 teams in each class earn the right to run at the state meet and we are one of them.”
AC/GC, Denver, Hudson, Pekin and West Fork joined Panorama as the only 1A schools with teams in both races, while nine schools in the boys and nine in the girls sent only that particular team to the competition.
Central Elkader won the girls team title with 69 points, with Hudson second at 116 and Pekin third at 124 while Panorama –ninth last year — finished 10th with 242 points.
AC/GC freshman Kate Crawford won in 19 minutes, 38.7 seconds, with Rockford junior Sheridan LaCoste (19:41) and Edgewood-Colesburg senior Hannah Hass (20:02) placing 2-3. AC/GC junior Emma Swanson was fourth, in 20:16, giving the West Central Conference’s Chargers two medalists.
Kemble crossed 18th in 20:59.3 and Hoffman 25th in 21:21.1 while Lydia Lindstrom (56th, 22:56.7), Brooklyn Behrends (64th, 23:19) and Chloe Webster (79th, 24:02.3) also scored for the Panthers. Emily Smith (85th, 24:22.3) and Lydia Knapp (89th, 24:33.2) were also in action for Panorama.
The Panther girls had an average finish time of 22:31.7, with 3:03 separating the first and fifth Panorama scorer.
Nodaway Valley ran off with the boys title on 36 points, with Pekin second at 92 and AC/GC third at 105 while Panorama was 14th at 326. The Panthers had a 1-5 separation of 1:05.3 and an average finish of 18:48.7.
Junior Riley Bauer of North Union won the boys crown with a time of 16:09.7, with Treynor sophomore Jerry Jorgenson second in 16:32.2 while Nodaway Valley senior Shane Breheny placed third in 16:41.
Josh Carstens (18:11.2) and Danny Nordquist (18:42.4) crossed 42nd and 62nd, respectively, to lead the Panorama boys. George Appleseth (18:54) was 69th, Mitch Wagler (18:59.2) and Randel (19:16.5) 81st to account for the team scoring. Also making the circuit were San Webster (83rd, 19:24.1) and Austin Behrends (98th, 20:40.6).
Appleseth, Behrends and Wagler were competing for the final time for the Panther boys, with Carstens, Nordquist, Randel and Webster all juniors.
Hoffman and Kemble are juniors on the Panther girls squad, with Behrends, Knapp and Smith sophomores and Lindstrom and Webster freshmen.
