AMES — Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s boys have had a banner cross country season, and senior Mark Deutsch ensured that it’s going to have a fitting ending.
Deutsch finished in sixth place at the State Qualifying Meet for Class 2A in Ames on Thursday, meaning he has qualified for State and will represent the silver and black in Fort Dodge on Nov. 2.
“Mark ran a great race from start to finish,” CMB coach Jerry Meinerts said. “He contained himself at the start where a lot of guys sprint out and try to get in that top-10 spot and hold on. He was right in that top 15-20 spot and then after about 3/4 a mile had worked himself into that top-10 spot and kept moving up from there. Now, my next goal is to get Mark to run in the 16:00s down at the state meet. We’ll see if he is up for it.”
Deutsch’s time of 17 minutes, 28 seconds was tops for the fifth-place Raider boys, who narrowly missed a team qualification as well. Gilbert won the boys’ side with 48 points, followed by East Marshall’s 68, Fort Dodge St. Edmonds with 95, Dike New Hartford’s 146 and CMB’s 152.
Colin Thomson finished in 15th at 18:01. Calvin Jones was 31st at 19:04. Eric Hall Flooden was 44th at 19:39. Brock Johnston ran a 20:08 to place 56th. Lincoln Brown was 59th in 20:22, and Drake Caple placed 64th in 20:30.
“Our guys ran great tonight. A 5th place finish is a pretty good job when you look at the teams that beat us tonight. They are some of the best in the state,” Meinerts said. “It’s a little bittersweet though having one of your guys qualify and the other not. Mark and Colin have run great all year long, finishing back and forth all season long and I guess this was just Mark’s night tonight. Colin ran about 15 seconds faster than at conference. Calvin Jones, Eric Hall Flooden, Brock Johnston, Lincoln Brown, and Drake Caple all ran 40 seconds to a minute faster. I couldn’t be more happy for our guys.”
CMB’s girls finished in fifth, as well and were led by a 13th-place run from Heather Jessen, who finished in 16:36. Winter Brown was 23rd in 17:13. Anna Jones placed 31st in 17:44. Chasity Moody was right behing at 17:45. Mackenzie Klemme placed 50th at 18:17. Stephanie Twohey was 52nd at 18:21, and Chantel Maxwell was 57th at 18:38.
Gilbert took the team title with 21 points, followed by East Marshall’s 97, Roland-Story’s 118, South Tama at 131 and CMB at 148.
“I’m really pleased with how our girls ran tonight. They competed hard and ran some of their best times tonight,” Meinerts said. “Heather ran a great race, was determined the whole race and finished in 13th place, running her best this season by far, missing that No.10 spot by 13 seconds. Not bad for a freshman. Winter Brown and Anna Jones also ran great races with some of their best times of the season. Senior Mackenzie Klemme finished up her career with her best time of the season.”