Coen cracks top 10 at state cross country

FORT DODGE — Running in her third consecutive Iowa High School State Cross Country Championships, Newton junior Grace Coen traveled to Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge with her sights set on a personal-best finish on the state’s biggest stage.

But recording a top 10 finish for the first time in Cardinal cross country history would have made Coen's season a complete success.
Coen accomplished both of those goals on a cold, windy Saturday, placing ninth in the Class 4A girls' race with a time of 14 minutes, 42 seconds.

She came in ranked 17th overall and bettered her sophomore finish by 18 places and her freshman mark by 16.

"Top 10 is all-state and that has been my goal since I have been watching cross country in middle school," said Coen, who was 3.8 seconds faster than 11th place finisher Kate Smith of Ankeny Centennial. "It feels good to accomplish that because I wasn't quite sure I could do it.
"I came in here ranked 17th so I really just wanted to prove that I could run up there with the top girls."

Coen definitely proved that.
She topped Waukee's Rachel Brush, who came in ranked seventh, and Smith was ranked fifth. Sixth-ranked Emily Skopec of Iowa City West, 12th-ranked Vivian Broderick of Dowling Catholic, 13th-ranked Katelyn Moore of Ames, 14th-ranked Megan of Centennial and 16th-ranked Rachel Blagg of Marshalltown also finished behind Coen.

“She played it smart today. She stayed with who she needed to stay with and hung with the runners she ran with here at the Fort Dodge meet earlier this year,” said second-year Newton coach Rachelle Tipton. “Even if she improved from last year, that would have been marvelous. We wanted the top 10 finish and we knew she could do it.”

Pleasant Valley’s entire team missed the race due to food poisoning. It was ranked fifth as a team and the roster included defending champion and top-ranked McKenzie Yanek.

That allowed someone else to take home the individual championship.

And that went to Des Moines Roosevelt's third-ranked Megan Schott, who was fourth last year. Schott passed second-ranked Jordyn Kleve of Johnston in the final 25 meters and won with a time of 14:11.6.
Kleve, who came in undefeated and ranked second, was runner-up in 14:14.

Ninth-ranked Bailey Nock of Iowa City West wound up third, while Muscatine’s Brina Kraft, ranked eighth, was fourth and Urbandale’s Elyse Prescott, ranked fourth, finished in fifth.

Kleve helped top-ranked Johnston win its first-ever girls state title with 64 points. The Dragons put their first five runners in the top 23 positions and held off second-ranked Urbandale, which totaled 82 points.

Three J-Hawks were in the top 12.
Fourth-ranked Ames (102) was third thanks to three top 25 finishes.  
One of the keys for Coen was her ability to remain near the top 10 the entire race. She found a runner to run with — Ames' Caroline Marnin — and stayed as close to her as possible.

“It wasn’t my plan in the beginning but she was there for me to follow,” said Coen. “Whenever you get going in the race, you always want to find someone that you can run with to keep you motivated. It was nice that she was there because it allowed me run with her the whole way.”

Coen was 25th as a freshman and 27th as a sophomore. Saturday’s ninth-place finish was her best-ever, but she still has one more year to improve on that position.

“I will try to do it again next year,” she said.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or at thyde@newtondailynews.com.