Freshman Muckler run to state berth at 3A cross country qualifier

PELLA — It’s been nearly a decade since a freshman female from Newton has qualified for the state cross country meet.

Audrey Muckler added her name to that list on Wednesday during the Class 3A state qualifying meet.

Muckler got out fast and held on to one of the final qualifying spots at Pella Sports Park and a 14th-place finish advanced her to next week’s state meet.

“It feels really good. This starts my career off on the right foot,” Muckler said. “I think the Fort Dodge meet was when I realized maybe this could happen. That’s when my time drops happened.

“I’ve been working hard in practice and we’ve been pushed hard by our coaches and I have great teammates who have pushed me, too. They have been supportive.”

It was the final meet of the season for the rest of the Cardinals as the Newton girls cross country team finished sixth in the 11-team field.

The top three teams and the top 17 individual finishers advanced to Fort Dodge. There were two extra qualifying spots from the top 15 as Class 3A No. 1 Pella put all seven runners in the top 12.

“I’m so proud of how everyone ran today,” Newton head girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton said. “They all competed well and left it all out there. Keokuk was a target team and they got it done.”

Muckler earned another medal and clinched her first state berth thanks to a personal-best time of 20 minutes, 6.4 seconds. That placed her 14th in the girls’ 5K race.

Muckler is the first freshman female at Newton to qualify for the state meet since Rachel Rhoads in 2015. And she’s happy she ended up in the first 15 and didn’t have to rely on any extra slots.

“It was a big relief. I didn’t want to chance it so top 15 was my goal,” Muckler said. “I didn’t have many goals. My main focus was staying strong in the mind and staying mentally tough.”

Bella Winther capped her prep career with a season-best time of 22:04.44 in 35th.

Sarah Malow ran a career-best time of 22:28.08 in 38th and the final scoring runners were Talia Friedman (22:36.61) and Alivia Kingery (23:18.95).

Meghan Trout (23:22.25) and Laek Sullivan (24:20.98) ran career-best times in 52nd and 66th, respectively.

“(Muckler) got out really strong and into a qualifying position and then dug in deep that last half mile to hold on to it,” Tipton said. “She executed her plan, and it’s fun to see her season continue.

“Bella had an excellent last race. Just past the first mile I could see she was dialed in and going to finish her career tough. She has been a wonderful leader for the team as have the other seniors — Hadley Kruse, Lex Dirksen, Tamika Rodenborn and manager Carol Sander — even through various illnesses and injuries. We will miss this group of seniors a lot next year.”

Muckler said her strategy is to typically get out fast and work into the race. She was able to kick it in toward the end of the race and held off a runner near her at the finish line.

“I didn’t have anyone I focused on during the race,” Muckler said. “But I tried to make sure the person in front of me didn’t get too far away.”

Class 3A No. 1 Pella won the girls’ team title with a near perfect score of 18 points. The Lady Dutch had the top four finishers and six in the top 10. They claimed seven individual qualifying spots.

Class 3A No. 10 Winterset was next with 82 points and the final qualifying team was Washington (96). The Huskies had three individual qualifiers and the Demons placed their five scoring runners in the top 25.

Class 3A No. 4 Fort Madison (97) missed state by one point and the rest of the field featured Oskaloosa (143), Newton (175), Keokuk (183), Bondurant-Farrar (195), Mount Pleasant (252), Des Moines Hoover (253) and Fairfield (261).

Class 3A No. 1 Marissa Ferebee won the girls’ race in a state-meet and course record time of 16:37.99. That would have placed her 10th in the boys’ race.

Notes: The 17th and final qualifying runner posted a time of 20:18.96. … Washington, Oskaloosa, Fort Madison, Keokuk and Mount Pleasant joined Newton with one state qualifier. … Fort Madison’s Avery Rump qualified for the state meet in 11th. She’s the niece of Newton Activities Director Ryan Rump.