PCM’s historic season ends with fifth-place finish at state meet

FORT DODGE — When Abi Teeter joined the PCM girls cross country team four years ago, her biggest goal was to leave the program in a better place than she found it.

And considering the Mustangs finished seventh in an 11-team field at the state qualifying meet in 2022, there’s no doubt the program is currently in a better place.

Teeter led the Class 2A No. 8 Mustangs to their best team finish ever at the Iowa High School State Cross County Championships on Friday, and she brought home the best individual placing at PCM in 28 seasons.

“I think we wanted this season to be historic and we wanted to leave a legacy,” Teeter said. “We have a gutsy team. If I was going to battle, I’d want every single one of these girls behind me.”

Teeter’s 19th-place finish in the 2A girls’ race at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course inside Kennedy Park was the best finish at PCM since Kendra Versendaal placed second in 1997.

It also helped the Mustangs finish fifth as a team with 162 points. They were 11 points back of top-ranked West Marshall.

Among the teams PCM was better than were No. 4 Van Meter, No. 5 Pella Christian and No. 2 Mid-Prairie, who ended up sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively.

“I’m really happy with how they performed,” PCM head girls cross country coach Eric Osterhaus said. “The girls all ran like they should have ran. The goal was to podium. When you come up short of the goal, it stinks. But they performed well.”

The top 15 individual finishers earn a place on the all-state deck, and the top three teams are recognized with trophies after the race.

Teeter’s time in 19th place was clocked in 20 minutes, 13.4 seconds. The three-time individual state qualifier was 13.4 seconds back of the 15th and final medal position.

That went to Grand View Christian’s Lydia Parlee (20:00). Teeter placed 70th in last year’s 2A state race.

There were 136 runners in the 2A girls field and seven seniors finished in the top 15.

“I feel like the third mile was the most mentally challenging mile I’ve ran,” Teeter said. “I think my mind was able to come back and tell myself I can do this and that’s what made it the best race of the year.”

Class 2A No. 3 Treynor won the state championship with 121 points. Seventh-ranked Waukon (136) edged sixth-ranked Unity Christian (138) for second, and No. 1 West Marshall (151) was fourth.

“They showed and did what they needed to do,” Osterhaus said. “And the team who came in ranked first finished fourth. You just never know. That’s the beauty of it.”

After PCM was No. 4 Van Meter (168), No. 5 Pella Christian (175), No. 9 Forest City (201), No. 2 Mid-Prairie (203), No. 11 Dike-New Hartford (210), No. 12 Jesup (247), No. 10 Albia (248), No. 14 Crestwood (278), No. 13 Grundy Center (285) and No. 15 MFL-Mar Mac (309).

“Fifth is a good accomplishment, and it should push us for next year,” junior Lila Milani said. “We’re losing two seniors from the varsity, but if we have the right mindset we can still push and do well.”

Milani, who also is a three-time state qualifier, finished 29th individually with a season-best time of 20:30.1. Junior Ali Hilsabeck also was in the top 50 as she placed 41st in 20:52.2.

Milani said she ran her best race of the season despite battling through an illness a few days before the state meet. She was 43rd in last year’s race.

“I pushed my hardest. This was my best race of the season,” Milani said. “I was there both mentally and physically.

“At the beginning of the week I didn’t know if I was going to be able to run. My head hurt so bad. My mom put me on medicine and I’m better now. I did the best I could.”

Hilsabeck, who qualified individually for the first time last week, was seventh on the team at last year’s state qualifying meet. She was 60 places better this year at state than the 101st she finished in last fall.

She didn’t appreciate having to run in the coldest weather of the season but was proud of her team for finding a way into the top five. Temperatures on the first day of the state meet reportedly dipped below 30 at one point.

“The best finish we’ve ever had sounds awesome,” Hilsabeck said. “We all worked really hard to be where we’re at. We can’t be upset or mad. We’re starting a legacy, and I’m happy with how it went today.

“I don’t like the cold. I think the weather affected me. I didn’t run to my full potential, but I’m so proud about where I started and where I ended up.”

The Mustangs’ second graduating senior is Paiten Rumbaugh. She was making her first state meet appearance and finished 66th in 21:31.2. The final scoring runner was sophomore Annie Ford (22:04.3) in 92nd.

Junior Bailey Wheeler (22:05.3) and freshman Jodi Jungling (22:41.9) were non-scoring runners in 96th and 117th, respectively.

Wheeler was 112th in last year’s race. Jungling was making her state meet debut as the varsity team’s only freshman.

“It was amazing. I love the atmosphere and all the people along the course were great,” Rumbaugh said. “Running through every mile is a different experience. The first mile was incredible. There’s people left and right screaming so loud. It was amazing.

“I thought it would be stressful but during the race it felt perfect. It was my last one, and I needed to have fun and the nerves went away right when I started running.”

The Mustangs were making their second straight trip to the state meet as a team. They placed seventh at last year’s meet and first qualified for state in 2017.

Second-ranked McKenna Montgomery of Albia won her first state championship with a time of 18:20.7. No. 4 Mary Grace Lyons of Monticello was the runner-up in 18:55.2.

Jungling admitted to being stressed out during her first state experience. The atmosphere was even bigger than she expected.

“I was hard on myself at the beginning,” Jungling said. “It got to me mentally because I’m not usually that far back. But it’s state and there are a lot of runners here. It’s pretty amazing to be a part of this team.”

While Teeter and Rumbaugh were running as Mustangs for the final time, Milani, Hilsabeck, Ford, Wheeler and Jungling are all eligible to return to next year.

PCM also gets sophomore Darbey DeRaad back from an injury, but Osterhaus’ No. 1 concern is depth.

“We need numbers,” Osterhaus said. “That concerns me. If we get girls out, they will work hard. I know that about this group.”