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BURLINGTON, Iowa – In steady rain and muddy conditions, Muscatine’s boys cross country team toughed it out Thursday at the Class 4A district meet with a fifth-place finish.

Host Burlington edged Pleasant Valley for the top spot, 35-43. Bettendorf was third with 91 points, followed by Iowa West with 93.

The top three teams and top 10 individuals qualified for the state meet in Fort Dodge on Oct. 31.

Burlington’s Marshall Moyer won the race in 16 minutes, 7 seconds – 10 seconds ahead of PV’s Tyler Meseke.

The only individual to qualify from a team not in the top three was Iowa City West’s Matt Eckman, who finished ninth in 16:46.

Muscatine scored 131 points to finish behind Iowa City West in the team standings.

“To get fifth at the district meet under these conditions was exceptional,” Muscatine coach Chris Foxen said. “The teams ahead of us were all ranked in the top 10.”

The Muskies finished ahead of Clinton in the team standings, the first time they’ve done that this season.

“Beating Clinton today felt good,” Foxen said. “They finished ahead of us at conference and our guys did not like that.”

Jason Kenyon led the way for the Muskies, finishing 15th in 17:17. Sophomore Conor Dolan was right behind in 16th at 17:23.

Rounding out team scoring for Muscatine was Ryan Fick (23), Reid Chandler (35) and James Luth (42).

“Ryan Fick had a season PR and ran his best race of the season,” Foxen said. “This helped propel the team to a high finish at the district meet.

“During the meet all the kids were so focused.

“No one complained about the conditions. They came to compete.”

The meet was the final one for three Muskie seniors – Kenyon, Fick and Chandler.

Boys Team Scoring

1. Burlington 35; 2. Pleasant Valley 43; 3. Bettendorf 91; 4. Iowa City West 93; 5. Muscatine 131; 6. Clinton 148; 7. Davenport Central 182; 8. North Scott 224; 9. Davenport North 239; 10. Davenport West 246.

Top 10 qualifiers – 1. Marshall Moyer (Bur) 16:07; 2. Tyler Meseke (PV) 16:17; 3. Matt Butler (Bett) 16:22; 4. Ryan Flynn (Bett) 16:26; 5. JT McCarthy (Bur) 16:27; 6. Austin O’Brien (PV) 16:41; 7. Ben Witt (Bur) 16:41; 8. Kaleb Sterler (Bur) 16:41; 9. Matt Eckman (ICW) 16:46; 10. Cody Doughan (PV) 16:49.

Muscatine (131) – 15. Jason Kenyon 17:17; 16. Conor Dolan 17:23; 23. Ryan Fick 17:45; 35. Reid Chandler 18:17; 42. James Luth 18:34; 50. Kevin Hughes 18:50; 57. Dalend Pearson 19:19.