Muckler leads Cardinal contingent at state cross country

FORT DODGE — Newton sophomore Cooper Lenz and freshman Audrey Muckler did not meet their own expectations at the state cross country meet on Friday.

But the Cardinal duo will each have a few more chances to return to Lakeside Golf Course and show what they can do on the state’s biggest stage.

“The biggest thing she learned is how fast it can be here,” Newton head girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton said. “You had the person running the fastest times ever leading this race. It’s tough finding her pace and then knowing her pace would have put her further back than she wanted to be.”

The Class 3A girls’ 5K state race did feature Iowa’s all-time leader as top-ranked Marissa Ferebee of Pella defended her title with a new course and state record of 16 minutes, 30.9 seconds.

Muckler led the Cardinal contingent with a 61st-place finish. She was clocked in 20:15.1. Her goal coming into the meet was the break into the 19s.

“It’s a good first experience. I know I need to do more in the offseason to get better though,” Muckler said. “It’s more mental here than anything. You have to be able to handle the environment mentally. But I will put in more miles this offseason and continue to train and hopefully I can get back here.”

Lenz was making his second trip to the state meet. He was 51st last season in the boys’ 2A state race but placed 72nd in 17:27.4 in the 3A race on Friday. His only goal was to post a career-best time.

“It was certainly not what I wanted,” Lenz said. “I couldn’t find anything in the first two miles to go off of. I couldn’t find any drive. I felt empty and couldn’t go any faster.”

It was the coldest competition day of the year for basically all of the athletes who competed on Friday and Saturday.

Lenz and Muckler both thought the weather played at least a minor role in their performances.

Muckler felt cold before the race, which in turn made her more nervous for her first state experience. Lenz’s issue was more physical.

“My legs kept locking up. I about fell at one point,” Lenz said. “I really don’t know what happened, but it was the coldest day of the year for us. That may have affected my legs.”

Newton head boys cross country coach Steve Weeks said the 3A state race is different than the 2A version Lenz competed in last year. He thought his sophomore harrier got stuck behind too much traffic.

“I thought Cooper did fantastic,” Weeks said. “I think he got stuck behind people who run similar times to him. Normally, there’s more separation.”

According to Weeks, there’s not much either Lenz or Muckler can do to prepare for colder weather. They only had one cold day of practice the week leading up to state and it was 85 degrees a few days prior.

“It’s hard to prepare for this when the weather changes so much,” Weeks said. “You can’t really do anything different. You just have to stay warm by moving or putting on more layers.”

Tipton said getting comfortable in your pace is the biggest key to running in the state meet. Muckler went a little too fast in the first mile then realized she was sitting 50th after the first mile.

“She ran the first mile in 6:07, which is faster than normal,” Tipton said. “We need to up that mileage just a little bit and get her endurance up and work on those paces. That third mile is the toughest to work through.”

Lenz plans to do more this offseason than he did last year. The biggest thing he wants to improve is finding a faster pace he can maintain throughout the race.

“He has to remind himself that nothing is guaranteed or promised,” Weeks said. “Just because he qualified the last two years doesn’t mean he will qualify next year. He has to make sure to take a few weeks off for a mental and physical break and then once he starts training again, what is the focus and direction?

“Right now, he needs to have a smile on his face and realize he’s already a two-time state qualifier, and that’s pretty awesome. He’s earned his flowers and gets a much needed break.”

Top-ranked Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque won the boys’ 3A title with a time of 14:59.6.

Defending champion and second-ranked Canaan Dunham of Pella was the runner-up in 15:16.9.

Eight 3A boys finished in under 16 minutes and 44 went below 17 minutes. The 15th and final spot on the podium finished in 16:25.9.

Top-ranked Gilbert won the boys’ team title with 33 points. Three Tigers finished in the top five.

Second-ranked Des Moines Christian scored 78 points in second and third-ranked Pella finished third with 92 points. Sixth-ranked Grinnell (206) was sixth, No. 13 Bondurant-Farrar (266) came in 12th and No. 15 Carlisle (286) placed 15th.

The top-ranked Pella girls scored an all-time record low 23 points to win the team championship.

Second-ranked Elise Brenneman (17:58) of Pella was the individual runner-up and fifth-ranked Ruth Dunham (18:23.4) of Pella finished third.

The Lady Dutch put six runners in the top 20. No. 3 Sioux Center (142) edged No. 2 Mount Vernon-Lisbon (145) for second in the team race.

Ten girls ran faster than 19 minutes and 48 went under 20. The 15th and final medalist posted a time of 19:09.4.