SILVER LINING TO GOLDEN EFFORT! All treats and no tricks for Waukon girls cross country team in running to Class 2A State Meet Runner-Up finish on Halloween
Hoisting the hardware as Class 2A State Runner-Up ... Members of the Waukon girls cross country team proudly display their Class 2A State Runner-Up trophy after being announced as the second-place team at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Friday, October 31. Pictured, left to right, are sophomore Miriam Downing, junior Nora Davis, senior Emma O’Neill, junior Reegan Benzing, junior Claire Johnson, junior Jaelyn Johanningmeier, junior Cora Miller and Coach Tyler Scholl. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photos link on this webpage.
Having broken a five-year drought in appearances as a team at the Iowa High School State Cross Country Championships last season with a 12th-place finish at the Class 2A State Meet, the Waukon girls cross country team took another giant leap forward at this fall’s season grand finale, perhaps surpassing even their own expectations when they brought home this year’s State Runner-Up trophy. Being ranked seventh among this season’s Class 2A distance elite heading into the Friday, October 31 Class 2A State Meet held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge, the Lady Indians continued their season trend of finishing no lower than third at any of their meets and took full advantage of an opportunity to showcase their entire team effort that has fueled that trend, even at the highest level of competition.
The State Runner-Up finish earned by this season’s Lady Indians is the best Waukon girls finish at the season grand finale since the same result earned in 2003 by such names as Ashley Waters, Sarah Hammel, Leanna Hammel, Alex Langland, Christa Hammel, Jenna Schoeberlein and Samantha Reiser, with their silver medal coming in Class 3A. The only better team finish for the distance Tribe was its Class 2A State Championship won in 1997 when both the Waukon girls and boys teams claimed State titles that season. Those girls team members included current Waukon boys cross country coach Tara (Lyons) Stein, along with such names as Denise Hammel, Dacia Berger, Deb Meyer, Kathy Hoisington and Jessie Regan.
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