PANORA — A move up to Class 2A has done nothing to slow down the juggernaut that the Panorama girls cross country team has become, as evidenced by a dominating performance Thursday in their State Qualifying Meet. The Panthers hosted the event and posted an almost unchallenged win, their fourth consecutive qualifying meet title, to earn a spot at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge Oct. 27 for the 11th time in the past 13 seasons.
The Panther boys could not match their classmates, but earned praise from head coach Greg Thompson for their efforts.
“They boys gave it their best,” he said. “They were aggressive at the start, which showed me they were really trying to surprise some people. Unfortunately, they were just not as good as the needed to be compared to the other teams. It is a very young team, with two seniors, two juniors and three freshmen.”
The focus was on the Panorama girls, and for good reason. One year after placing second at the 1A State Meet, the fifth-ranked Panthers were easy winners Thursday. The hosts scored 55 points, well ahead of 14th-rated runner-up Shenandoah (102), who also earned a spot in Fort Dodge, as did third-place Albia (122). Twelve girls team participated, with 93 runners in action.
Fifth-ranked sophomore standout Ella Waddle won going away for the home team, finishing in 19 minutes, 38.68. The runner-up, Treynor’s Tori Castle, was well back, crossing in 20:57.24, a gap rarely seen in a qualifying meet.
In addition to the top two teams, the top 15 individual finishers also secured spots at the state meet, and Panthers dotted those honored. Freshman Payton Beckman was fifth in 21:40.56 and sophomore sisters Olivia and Gwen Steffen eighth and 11th, respectively, in 22:02.98 and 22:05.36. Senior Brooklyn Behrends also scored, crossing 30th in 24:01.71.
Senior Jaelyn Waddle (38th, 24:25.94) and junior Chloe Webster (44th, 24:41.82) also competed for the Panthers. The 15th qualifying spot finished in 22:16.42.
“The hope of any coach is for their runners to improve throughout the season and to peak at the end of the season,” Thompson said. “I felt our teams did that.”
“As an example, when we ran this same course five weeks ago, our five scorers for the girls averaged 22:50 and at the state qualifying meet it was 21:54,” he explained. “The boys improved even more, going from 21:44 to 20:45. Only Brooklyn (Behrends) had run on this course for state qualifying, so it is hard to compare their times to last year’s state qualifying meet since it was on a different course.”
Seventh-ranked Roland-Story won the boys race with 57 points, with No. 12 Des Moines Christian second at 75 and Albia a point back in third at 76. Panorama was 12th in the 15-team field with 281 points. A total of 103 harriers competed.
Treynor senior Jerry Jorgenson, rated second, was the boys winner in 16:35.51, with 25th-ranked sophomore Landon Noe of Albia second in 17:19.53. The 15th and final qualifying spot crossed in 18:30.
Freshman Kevin Cogil led the Panthers with a 46th place time of 19:54.73, with junior Emry Colby 49th in 20:01.58 while senior Levi Richey was 54th in 20:12.2 Senior Noah Kirtley (56th, 20:24.87) and freshman Avery Norman (76th, 21:31.87) also scored for the hosts, with junior Kade Kemble (79th, 21:43.33) and freshman Alec Mills (89th, 22:41.05) also running the course.
The Panther girls will compete at 1 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the state meet. Ella Waddle was the sixth finisher, but second-point scorer, at the 1A meet last year.
“I felt all the girls really answered the call and ran very well,” Thompson said. “I thought we would be in a battle with Shenandoah.”
“I was especially surprised by Gwen (Steffen),” he concluded. “Gwen has been dealing with an injury and fatigue for the past five weeks and hasn’t been able to run like she is capable, but she brought it tonight.”
