Potter one of three Mustangs to qualify for state
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GREENFIELD — PCM junior Jake Potter was underplaying his win Monday at the Class 2A District/Regional Meet at the Greenfield Golf and Country Club.
“My goal was to make it,” Potter said. “I knew the few kids that were here that were my competition, and I focused on them. I made sure I knew where they were at — be up there with them.”
Potter passed North Polk’s Matthew Harmeyer during the race and cruised to the title with a time of 17 minutes, 54 seconds — winning by six seconds over Pella Christian’s Skyler Giddings.
“That was exciting for him,” PCM cross country coach Ashley Wrich said. “He’s been working hard. He deserves it, so I’m very happy for him, very excited for him. We’ll see what he can do at state. He should do very well.”
Potter will be joined at Saturday’s state meet by teammates Koelten Reed and Kaleb Catron. Reed finished eighth in a time of 18:43, while Catron was ninth in 18:47.
“We have three guys going to state as individuals — that displays the team very well,” Wrich said. “I’m proud of them.”
Reed started out strong with Potter but slipped back to eighth later in the race. He cramped up midrace but was able to pull out the victory.
Catron came in just seven seconds behind Reed.
“Kaleb had an amazing race,” Wrich said. “That’s just awesome. I’m so proud of him. He earned it.”
East Marshall won the team title with 65 points, Pella Christian was second with 69 and Albia took third with 95. PCM was fourth, just 12 points behind qualifying for the state meet.
Non-counting runners for the Mustangs were Ben Naber (20:13), Ethan Zerley (20:13), Casey Musgrove (20:16) and Will Van Zee (21:51).
For the Mustang girls, Lainy Wilson was the best finisher with a time of 19:24, while Jacque Kuecker ended up crossing the line in 19:35. Taylor Van Roekel finished in 21:39, while Stacie Townsend toed the line at 21:43.
Colfax-Mingo’s best chance at a state qualifier entering the day was senior Ashley Stuva. Stuva started off strong but faded late in the race.
She crossed the line in 18:50, more than a minute off from qualifying for the state meet.
“She had a really good start, really even toward the mile she was in the top-10,” Colfax-Mingo coach Kathleen Goodman said. “She has asthma, and she had forgotten to take her inhaler, so by the time we ran to get it, the race had started. She had trouble breathing.”
The Tigerhawks didn’t have enough to compete for a team on the girls side due to the flu, but Meghan Parman came in next for the team with a time of 21:05. Mari Gonzales crossed the line in 21:35, while Allyson Parman clocked in at 21:55.
North Polk won the girls title by one point over Missouri Valley. Albia was third, 10 points clear of IKM-Manning.
For the Colfax-Mingo boys, Shadoe Rusk led the team with a time of 21:29, Travis Jensen crossed the line in 22:44 and Jim Agey was the final runner for the team with a time of 23:37.
The Collins-Maxwell-Baxter boys team finished 10th out of 13 teams with 245 points.
