PCM’s Teeter gears up for first state XC meet

One last personal record. That’s the main goal for PCM freshman Abi Teeter at this weekend’s state cross country meet in Fort Dodge.

“The good thing is there really aren’t expectations for her,” PCM cross country coach Eric Karr said. “We aren’t looking at her and going ‘wow, what place is she going to get.’ It’s about going there and trying to get one last PR this season.”

Teeter will compete in her first state meet when she steps up to the start line for the Class 2A girls’ 5K race at 2 p.m. on Friday at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

“I was more nervous for state qualifying,” Teeter said. “I’m nervous, but I’m ready for the gun to go off so I can just go run.”

Teeter was 14th at the state qualifying meet in Pella last week. She will be joined in Box 16 at the state meet by a few familiar faces.

Teeter raced West Marshall freshman Addie Thompson at the Heart of Iowa Conference meet. They were separated by two places and Thompson came in 13 seconds before the Mustang freshman.

Also in the same box as Teeter is GCGR freshman Grace Storjohann, who was less than a second faster than Teeter at the state qualifier. They were part of the three-person group that hit the finish line together and grabbed a few of the final qualifying spots.

Third-ranked Katelyn Johnston of Osage is in Box 16 with Teeter, too. She was third at state last year.

“I will try to compete with her and run with her,” Teeter said about Johnston. “I was with the Mid-Prairie girl for a little bit at state qualifying. But I really just want to find Albia and stick with them. I know some of those girls, and I want to pinpoint them and go with them.”

Albia’s team qualified for state and the Blue Demons will be in the box next to Teeter’s group of individuals.

Box 16 is toward the outside of the start line. That’s where Teeter likes to be anyway, and it may be an ideal spot to not get boxed in.

“I want to get out faster and hit it hard in the beginning because I got boxed in at state qualifying,” Teeter said. “Then I want to finish it with a good 400 meters.”

Karr said getting boxed in at the state meet is a real thing.

“Getting boxed in happens,” Karr said. “And when you have to use extra energy to get back into the race, it can really affect the overall outcome.”

Teeter’s goal for the final race of her first prep season is to break 21 minutes. Her personal-best time of 21 minutes, 2.95 seconds was set at the state qualifying meet.

The key for Teeter, according to Karr, is finding a good pace during the middle stages of the race.

“Some of the things we are working on this week are here’s our get-out pace, obviously we kick at the finish, but we need to learn how to run the middle of the race, too,” Karr said. “Once we get settled in, how do we run the middle of the race?”

While Teeter prepares for the state meet, she also will deal with some extra attention and interviews from multiple media outlets.

The word got out about her having Cystic Fibrosis and there will be a few extra stories about it before she competes in Fort Dodge.

“She made a decision earlier in the year to decline interviews about it because she didn’t want any extra pressure,” Karr said. “She hadn’t even qualified for anything and wanted to see how it played out.

“I think she’s trying really hard to make this about teaching and letting folks know what CF is. She wants them to understand that and not ‘hey look at me, I qualified for state.’ I think it says a lot about who she is and about her character. It’s not all about her.”

Defending champion and top-ranked Danielle Hostetler of Mid-Prairie is the favorite to win the 2A girls’ race. Third-ranked Johnston of Osage should be in the mix, too, along with second-ranked Hillary Trainor of Sumner-Fredericksburg.

Top-ranked Van Meter, second-ranked Mid-Prairie and third-ranked Monticello are the favorites in the 2A girls’ team race. Albia enters the state meet ranked No. 8.