Home / Sports

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa – Shortly after Wilton’s Paige Wheeler finished 11th at the girls Class 2A regional cross country meet Monday, the junior was far from satisfied.

Not knowing yet if her team had qualified for state, Wheeler wasn’t happy with the way things stacked up.

“I’m not going to make any excuses,” said Wheeler, who crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 10 seconds. “It was one of those nights, I guess.”

Wheeler’s teammates had her back. The Beavers pulled out the third and final state-qualifying spot for Saturday’s state meet in Fort Dodge.

However, before Wheeler knew that, she looked concerned.  Only the top 10 individuals qualify and Wheeler was 10 seconds behind the 10th-place finisher.

“I’m not going to say I wasn’t feeling OK,” Wheeler said. “It just wasn’t in me.

“Hopefully, the team ran well enough to get us to Fort Dodge.”

Wilton qualified with 84 team points, finishing behind regional champion Pekin (35) and Iowa City Regina (55).

Beavers coach Cory Garvin said Wheeler was being too hard on herself.

“She wasn’t happy with her effort,” Garvin said. “She’s run (on this course) better. She’s harder on herself than she needs to be. I thought she put in a good effort.”

Wilton’s Becca Bartell was right behind Wheeler in 12th place (eighth in team scoring) to aid them.

“It helped for Becca to move it on up,” Garvin said. “We run this course at least one time a season and we know this course well. But the pace went out hard – all credit to Pekin – they pushed the pace and made everyone step up if they were going (to state).”

 Bartell was 15 seconds behind Wheeler.

“I was relieved,” Bartell said. “I knew if everyone ran to their full potential, we could do it.”

No area runners finished in the top 10 as Regina’s Nicole Kleinmeyer won the meet in 16:13.

It was the first time in 14 years Durant-Bennett didn’t qualify for state as a team. The Wildcats finished fifth in team scoring and the top runner finished 15th overall.

This marked Wilton’s third straight berth.

“That was exciting,” Garvin said. “We were thinking we’re not a shoo-in, but we were in contention. Mid-Prairie ran well.”

Usually, Garvin would want to promote team unity, but because of illness running rampant, that is not the case.

“The biggest thing is keeping everyone healthy,” Garvin said. “Of course with injuries but there are so many teams that have come down with the flu; so many have been struck by it. We’re going to have practice and get them out, keep them away from each other.

“We’ve been emphasizing washing hands, keeping them away from each other.”

Class 2A Regional Girls Meet

Team Scoring

1. Pekin 35; 2. Iowa City Regina 55; 3. Wilton 84; 4. Mid-Prairie 108; 5. Durant-Bennett 110; 6. Louisa-Muscatine 180; 7. Mediapolis 192.

Top 10 individuals (qualifiers) — 1. Nicole Kleinmeyer (Regina) 16:13; 2. Sofia Chmaruk (Mid-Prairie) 16:29; 3. Celsey Conger (Pekin) 16:36; 4. Kaitlin Spilman (Pekin) 16:43; 5. Julia Hunter (Regina) 16:47; 6. Magan McCusker (Regina) 16:51; 7. Maleaha Earnest (Pekin) 16:53; 8. Cassandra Stuflick (Danville-New London) 16:54; 9. Lorena Temple (Camanche) 16:55; 10. Katie Hocker (Central Lee) 17:00.

Wilton (84) – 8. Paige Wheeler 17:10; 9. Becca Bartell 17:25; 15. MacKenzie Holladay 17:52; 23. Amy Hurd 18:24; 29. Melanie Walde 18:56; 33. Linsie Mairet 19:09; 38. Emily Hayes 19:25.

Durant (110) – 12. Bryanne Duckett 17:36; 16. Leah Clark 18:01; 18. Caitlin Kuehn 18:04; 24. Katey Meyer 18:31; 40. Hannah Lilienthal 19:44; 41. Whitney Wolf 20:02; 43. Jade Thompson 20:13.

Louisa-Muscatine (180) – 30. Melanie Luttrull 19:05; 31. Courtney Van DeMaat 19:08.19; 32. 32. Rhea Veal 19:08.58; 42. Kalynn Stecher 20:04; 45. Megan Guldenpfennig 20:40; 46. Abby Paul 20:41; 54. Savannah McCleary 23:25.

West Liberty (no team score) – 46. Lauren Roth 19:53.