The Southeast Valley cross country teams headed to Eagle Grove on Thursday, October 22nd for their class 2A state qualifying meet in hopes of extending their season one more week to the state cross country meet at Fort Dodge.  Unfortunately, at the end of the night, the Jaguars found their season ended sooner than they were hoping it to be.

In the girls’ race, the Jaguars finished 10th overall with 275 points.  Class 2A #2 West Marshall with 36 points, #7 Van Meter with 58 points and #11 Crestwood, Cresco with 73 points were the top 3 teams and state qualifiers on Thursday.

Junior Emily Wilson was the first finisher for the Jaguars placing 49th in a time of 24:50 while freshman Aleeya Hoefter was next, finishing 51st in a time of 25:00.  Charlie Dorsey and Ruby Stimpson were the next two Southeast Valley girls to finish the 5k race clocking 26:33 and 26:39 respectively for 60th and 62nd place.  Finishing 75th overall in a time of 30:27 was senior Meia Hefley.

The Southeast Valley boys’ team knew the competition would be tough, but was hoping to upset a couple teams to finish in the top 3, but their final team ranking was 5th in an extremely tough field. Class 2A #3 ranked Spirit Lake won the meet with 43 points.  2nd was #11 ranked Okoboji with 73 points, and #16 Van Meter was third with 81 points to punch their tickets to state as a team.  #10 Sheldon was 4th with 93 points.

Kasen Loeffler was the top finisher for the Jaguars finishing 26th in a time of 18:33 while teammate Griffin Vote was 27th in 18:34 and senior Owen Nuss was 28th in 18:35.  Finishing in 18:57 was August Akins for 33rd while Landon Vote took 43rd in a time of 19:19. Freshman Grant Peterson was the only one to set a season best time with his 19:20 for 44th place.  Wyatt Blair came across the finish line in a time of 19:47 for 48th place.

“It was a tough night last night and a hard way to end the season. Unfortunately, we had some of the best competition in the state last night and that’s the way it goes in high school athletics,” stated Coach Nuss. “I know there was a lot of disappointment last night, but these kids will look back someday and realize all the things they did accomplish this year and can be very proud of those.  We had a lot of athletes competing for their first time this year, some first time in cross country and a lot more just competing at the 5k distance, so there was some inexperience there, but I look forward to the learning that was done and what they come back to do next year.”

Coach Nuss on the seniors Owen Nuss, Ruby Stimpson and Meia Hefley, “The toughest part though was watching our three seniors compete for the last time last night.  We will miss their leadership, hard work and effort next year, but they have helped to lay the foundation for future success the next couple years.  They’ve accomplished so much in their short high school careers and we look forward to what they will accomplish in all aspects of their future lives.”