Tigers’ Grass 18th at state cross country

Southwest Valley advanced to the Red Oak’s Emmanuel Grass placed 18th and teammate Hayden Heitbrink was 60th at the Class 2A Iowa State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge Friday.
Oelwein won the Class 2A team title with a score of 113. Mid-Prairie Wellman was second with 128 points. Emerson Vokes won the individual title in 15:37.5.
Grass ran a personal record time of 16:47 battling back from 32nd place until the last mile when he closed strong to finish 18th.
“I was super proud of the efforts at the 2A state meet,” said Red Oak coach Sueann French. “Emmanuel ran a great race.”
Heitbrink placed 60th with his time of 17:33.
“Hayden started out with a great first and second mile then fell off a bit,” French said. “Freshman jitters played a big part of that. I think he lost sight of Emmanuel then couldn’t hang on. He usually runs right behind Emmanuel in every race. He will come back even stronger next season I’m excited for his future.”
French added her team has already turned its attention to next season. This year’s roster included no seniors.
“The entire boys team has a big goal of qualifying as a team next year since we missed out this season,” French said. “What an amazing season they had. Coach (Weston) Rolenc and I are so proud.
“We will lift weights and work on speed and strength this winter in the off season. I’m excited to see what we can do next season.”
In the Class 1A boys race on Saturday, Griswold’s Holden Jensen placed 36th with a time of 17:15.