Newton’s Kruse seeks career-best time at state XC meet

Newton sophomore Hadley Kruse wasn’t expecting to qualify for the state cross country meet.

And even after finishing in the top 15 and coming in before a ranked runner at the state qualifier, Kruse is still unsure she belongs on the biggest stage.

She will head to Fort Dodge anyway and give her best shot against the top runners in the state of Iowa.

“I still don’t feel like I belong, but I’m excited to see who I can stay with at state,” Kruse said. “I really want to get in the 19s.”

Newton head girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton hadn’t spoken to Kruse about expectations and goals as of Monday but feels like her top runner can finish in the middle of the pack of the Class 3A girls’ 5K race at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.

“I don’t want her to get out too fast, but she should be somewhere in the middle of the pack,” Tipton said. “We want to treat it like just another meet for the most part. I don’t want her to feel any added pressure.”

Kruse will be in Box 1 at the start line in her first state-meet appearance. In that box with her will be a familiar face in Oskaloosa freshman Tierney Carter.

Eighth-ranked Nakia Ollivierre of Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR also will start in the first box.

Kruse was eight spots and 21 seconds in front of Carter at the conference meet. Kruse hopes to stay around a few runners from Pella during the race. The Lady Dutch though will start in Box 19.

Kruse and the Cardinals ran on the state course earlier this season during the Fort Dodge Invitational. She completed that race in 20:53. Last year, Newton graduate Alyssa Shannon ran a 20:49.88 at state and finished in 58th place.

“I need to save some energy because there aren’t hills until the second loop,” Kruse said. “I don’t want to run out of energy halfway through the race.”

The atmosphere for the state meet will be different than anything Kruse has experienced from a fan’s perspective. But the meet at Fort Dodge earlier this season didn’t lack competition and the Cardinals also faced a very tough field at the Griak meet in Minnesota.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” Kruse said about the anticipation of her first state meet. “When I get nervous, I just say to myself it’s only 21 minutes out of my day. That helps me push through it.”

For the most part, Tipton didn’t expect a crazy week of practice leading up to the 3A girls’ 5K race, which starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Fort Dodge.

Kruse is battling some shin soreness and hopes to not stress them out too much before the race. But she also knows she can’t take it too easy.

“We are already where we need to be, and I don’t want to waste all of our energy at practice, but I do want to work on some pace stuff,” Tipton said. “Nothing crazy, but we’ll do some pace work on (Oct. 25). I want her to push and feel what it’s like to run at a pace to get her under 20 minutes.”

Three seniors headline the 3A girls’ race. Top-ranked Paityn Noe of Ballard is the overwhelming favorite to win the race, while Geneva Timmerman of ADM is No. 2 and Lourdes Mason of Mount Vernon-Lisbon is ranked third.

The top three teams expected to compete for a state championship include No. 1 Pella, No. 2 Ballard and No. 3 ADM.

Notes: Fort Madison freshmen twins Avery and Addison Rump are in the field, too. They are the nieces of Newton Activities Director Ryan Rump and Avery Rump enters the state meet ranked No. 9 in 3A.