Tigerhawk duo, Baxter’s Tuhn qualify for state cross country

JEWELL — State-ranked Ashlynn Hosbond appears to be peaking at the right time.

The Tigerhawk sophomore locked up her second state cross country berth with a top-five finish at the Class 1A state qualifying meet hosted by South Hamilton on Thursday.

The only other individuals from the area who qualified for the state meet were Colfax-Mingo senior Sullivan Wilkins and sophomore Maddux Tuhn, who both were in the top 10 of the boys’ 5K race.

“(Maddux Tuhn) ran a great race. I think he even went out a little conservative, and he really worked the last mile of the race,” Baxter head cross country coach Ian Thomson said. “There are not many runners who don’t run in middle school, then don’t run in ninth grade, then go out their sophomore year and qualify for state individually. He has grown a ton throughout the season and that is credited to his competitive nature. To go from running in the 19:00s to running many races down the stretch in the 17:00s is very impressive.”

The season is over for the rest of the Bolts and Tigerhawks though as the Baxter boys finished seventh and the C-M boys were 12th in the 13-team field, while the Tigerhawk girls squad placed sixth in their eight-team field.

Hosbond’s fourth-place finish headlined the area harriers. The 29th-ranked Tigerhawk finished in 20 minutes, 8.8 seconds.

That was 2.2 seconds back of third-place finisher Elizabeth Erickson of Colo-NESCO. Erickson, who is ranked 22nd, finished in 20:06.6.

The Tigerhawks were sixth in the final team standings with 135 points. They were three points better than East Marshall (138) and also finished in front of South Hamilton (162).

“I’m super proud of both of them,” Colfax-Mingo head cross country coach Michaela Graffunder said about Wilkins and Hosbond. “They definitely earned it.”

Class 1A No. 3 Madrid won the girls’ regional title with 40 points. The Tigers went 1-2-5 as No. 24 Katelyn Brandhorst won the race in 19:17.7 and No. 6 Madelyn Grothus was the runner-up in 19:53.4.

Class 1A No. 17 Alta-Aurelia grabbed the second state berth with 85 points. That was nine better than No. 19 Fort Dodge St. Edmond (94) and 16 in front of No. 16 Panorama (101). Manson-NW Webster (106) completed the top five.

Ivy Anderson (career-best 22:52.7) was the second finisher for the C-M girls in 21st. The other three scoring runners were Lilyan Hadsall (24:54.4), Jessica Gibson (25:32.1) and Sahara Buenrostro (25:45.2) in 44th, 49th and 51st, respectively.

The Tigerhawks did not have the services of Mallory Sipma due to an illness.

Wilkins headlined the area boys in seventh. He posted a time of 17:23.6 and Tuhn (17:36.7) also qualified for the state meet after a 10th-place finish.

The top 10 individuals and top two teams in 1A qualify for the state meet.

The 1A No. 15 Bolts were without top runner Max Handorf, who finished the season ranked No. 4, due to an injury.

It just wasn’t in the cards for Baxter as it finished seventh in the final team standings.

“It did not go as we hoped,” Thomson said. “I truly believe even without (Handorf) we had the talent to still qualify as a team. However, we also knew all athletes would need to run very well to accomplish that. It just didn’t work out that way. About halfway through the race everyone was right where they needed to be to give ourselves a chance. Then we just fell apart a little bit in that second half.”

Class 1A No. 3 Ankeny Christian Academy won the meet with 31 points. The Eagles put all five scoring runners in the top 13.

Class 1A No. 17 North Butler also advanced to state as a team and finished second with 122 points.

Alta-Aurelia (130), Manson-NW Webster (133) and Fort Dodge St. Edmond (139) completed the top five. East Marshall (153) was five points in front of Baxter (158) for sixth and the rest of the 13-team field included Madrid (158), South Hamilton (215), Panorama (228), Woodward Academy (240), Colfax-Mingo (330) and Southeast Warren (350).

After Tuhn for Baxter was 1A No. 27 Brecken Fisher, who placed 27th in 18:57.5. Dakota Parker (19:43.9), Maddox Peters (19:51.2) and Lincoln Russell (20:06.6) were the final scoring runners in 42nd, 43rd and 49th, respectively.

Parker Bonney (21:19.5) and Sam Wilhelm (24:03.8) were non-scoring runners in 68th and 92nd, respectively.

Benjamin Faidley (22:30.9) was behind Wilkins for the Tigerhawks. He placed 86th, Ryan Moore (23:07.1) was 88th and Milo Knutson (28:26.9) and Asher Knutson (28:58.5) were 104th and 105th, respectively.

The Tigerhawks were without Willie Fitzgerald because of an injury and did not have Mario Rodriguez because of an illness.

Class 1A No. 5 Alex Davis of ACA won the boys’ race in 16:42.6 and 1A No. 16 Zachary Gardner of ACA was the runner-up in 17:01.9.