Tigers cross country teams end season at state

 FORT DODGE — After qualifying together for the first time in school history, the Red Oak boys and girls cross country teams finished eighth and 15th, respectively, at the state meet Saturday in Fort Dodge.

The boys, competing at state for the first time as a team since 1989, finished with a score of 230 points, putting them just ahead of Albia and Davis County. East Marshall won the meet with a score of 84. Monticello took second and Unity Christian finished third.

“One thing we can take away from this year is, hard work pays off,” Red Oak Coach Curt Adams said. “What you do in the offseason matters. I think they can see that now.”

The Red Oak girls, who last qualfiied as a team in 1983, finished 15th in the 2A race with a score of 333. Monticello won with 63 points. 

“There was a little bit of disappointment, but Abigail [Sherman] had the best [comment as she said ‘well that’s a good place to  start,’” Adams said. “I thought yeah, that’s a pretty good way to look at it.”

Josh Sunberg was the top finisher for the Tigers as he took 18th in the race with a time of 17:15.

The race was Sunberg’s best finish in three appearances at the state meet.

“I’m extremely happy with how the day went,” Sunberg said. “My overall goal was to place at state, but I’m happy finishing my senior year the way I did.”

The next top finisher for Red Oak was Logan LeRette, who was making his second appearance at the state meet. 

LeRette improved his place from last year as he took 50th with a time of 17:52.

Weston Rolenc took 72nd with a time of 18:19, while Gavin French (18:52.3) and Alec Selberg (18:52.7) were 95th and 98th, respectively.

Jared Sherman was 127th with a time of 19:57, while Ryan Dyson finished 128th with a time of 20:05.

Adams wanted both teams to just go out there and run.

“You look at the way they ran, they pretty much ran up to the times that they normally do and better,” he said. “I think they ran pretty well.”

The boys will be losing many senior starters from this season for next season, including LeRette, Sunberg, French and Sherman.

“All of those guys are going to be missed,” Adams said.

All four brought something to the team, especially LeRette, who has served as a leader for some of the younger runners like Rolenc.

“Logan’s like the heart of the team, almost,” he said. “He’s kind of wise beyond his years and he put so much hard work in.”

For Sunberg, he’ll miss the program and running with his teammates.

“I’m glad I had [LeRette] at state last year,” he said. “I’m glad I had everybody at state this year.”

Red Oak girls

Kate Walker was the top runner for Red Oak as she took 31st with a time of 16:24. 

“Kate being a senior, making it first year in cross country and running as well as she did, I thought it was a tremendous effort,” Adams said. She’s very competitive. She’s not going to back off.”

Nikki Graber was 79th with a time of 17:40. Paige Shirley took 91st with a time of 18:12.8.

Ashley Brower was 93rd with a time of 18:13.6. Juhi Boeye took 101st with a time of 18:36. 

Sydney Straw (21:43.6) and Abigail Sherman (22:51.7) were 116th and 117th, respectively.

Walker and Graber will be the key senior losses for Red Oak for next season.

“At the beginning of the year, this wasn’t even in our dreams,” Adams said. “The fact that they were there was just incredible.”