PANORA — The overall results may not have been what was expected, but having three individuals qualify for the state cross country meet is nothing to groan about, either.
Panorama hosted a Class 2A qualifier Thursday, with juniors Ella Waddle and Olivia Steffen returning to Fort Dodge for the final meet, where they will be joined for the second consecutive year by sophomore Payton Beckman.
Ninth-ranked AC/GC (61 points), No. 12 Emmetsburg (92) and Chariton (95) earned the top three team qualifying spots in the girls race, with Panorama just missing out by placing fourth at 108, ending a long string of team appearances by the 10th-ranked Panthers.
Second-rated Des Moines Christian dominated the boys race by winning with 30 points. Albia, ranked sixth, was second at 76 and Treynor third at 105 with Panorama 13th of 14 at 331.
Junior Gwen Steffen’s absence made an unmistakable alteration in the the team scoring for the Panorama girls, and her injury and respiratory problems for senior Lydia Lindstrom combined to keep the Panthers from a top-three spot.
AC/GC senior Kate Crawford, ranked third, won the race in 19 minutes, 47 seconds with No. 5 Waddle the runner-up at 20:11. The top 15 placers advanced as individual qualifiers, with Olivia Steffen securing a spot by crossing eighth in 21:33 and Beckman a slot by placing 11th in 21:38.
Junior Abby Cobb was 37th, in 24:07, and Lindstrom 50th, in 24:42, to complete the scoring for the hosts. Sophomore Leah Fett also ran, finishing 55th in 24:50.
Panorama head coach Greg Thompson noted five of the six Panther girls ran season-best times at the meet, with Cobb setting a new lifetime-best while Steffen and Beckman each ran faster than their times from the 2018 state qualifying meet.
“I felt the girls really stepped up their effort trying to qualify without one of the top five runners,” Thompson said. “We finally got to have two solid weeks of training and it showed.”
“Of course, they are disappointed about not qualifying as a team, but they knew it was a tough task,” he added. “Each of them gave their best effort and that is all I can ask of them. They are already talking about what to do next year to be better.”
West Central Valley senior Louden Foster, ranked fourth, was the boys overall winner in 17:09.
Three Panthers ran season-best times, as Emry Colby and Avery Norman topped third times from the same meet last season while Conor McCarthy ran a lifetime-best.
Senior Colby was 43rd in 19:32 to lead the hosts, with sophomores Landon Goodenberger and Norman placing 66-70, respectively, in 20:32 and 20:56. Junior McCarthy was 75th in 21:2 and senior Hoffman 77th in 21:42. Also competing were senior Declan McCarthy (81st, 22:30) and sophomore Alec Mills (91st, 23;59).
“The boys also had great races,” Thompson said. “We started the season hoping to get one of them under 22 minutes, and we finished the season with five under that time, with two of them under 21 minutes and another under 20 — it just took them all season to get into race shape. I still believe there is enough talent on the boys side to get at least one state qualifier next season, but they must step up and train outside of the season.”
The state meet will be held Nov. 2 in Fort Dodge at Kennedy Park.
