ON TO STATE!!!! Kee boys cross country senior Justin Wagner earns fourth straight State Meet qualification with championship finish at Class 1A Qualifier at Starmont

Hawk senior will compete among Class 1A’s distance elite for fourth time this Saturday

The bittersweetness of each year’s State Qualifying Meet that could mean the abrupt end or joyful extension of the high school cross country season resulted in the Kee boys cross country team experiencing both of those to some degree when the Hawks competed in the field of 14 scored teams at the Class 1A State Qualifier hosted by Starmont High School Thursday, October 23. A top-two finish in the meet’s team standings or a top-10 result among individual runners is required at the meet to continue a season on to every team’s or runner’s ultimate destination of advancement to the Class 1A State Meet being held this Saturday, November 1 in Fort Dodge.

Although, as a team, the Hawks tasted a bit of the bitter with their sixth-place team finish that brought their ultimate team season to a close, the sweet could not have gotten much sweeter in the individual race, as senior Justin Wagner not only led his team one final time in his career but led the entire pack of 91 runners at the meet to be crowned the individual champion and earn his fourth consecutive advancement among the Class 1A distance elite at this Saturday’s season grand finale. Wagner’s championship finish paced the Hawks to 195 team points to propel Kee’s distance dudes well into the top half of that team-scored field with a sixth-place finish.

ON TO STATE!
Justin Wagner will now compete for the fourth time in his career this Saturday afternoon, November 1 in the Class 1A State Meet boys race to be held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge, beginning at 2:45 p.m. He will be among seven individual competitors starting in grid box #14 out of the 23-box starting line at Saturday’s season grand finale featuring Class 1A’s distance-running elite.

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