Hounds send three to state cross country meet Nov. 1

PELLA – Fort Madison qualified three runners Wednesday night for the state cross-country meet in Fort Dodge next week.
But it wasn’t without a little drama. The Fort Madison girls just missed qualifying as a team by one point behind Washington 97-96. Pella won the meet going away with 18 points taking the top four spots. The Dutch’s Marissa Ferebee raced to a 16.37.99 which would have placed in the top 10 in the boys’ Class 3A qualifier.
That left junior Avery Rump as the only qualifying Lady Hound to make the trip. Rump's 19:44.31 was good enough for 11th overall.
With Pella, Winterset, and Washington taking 21 of the top 25 runners, only four other runners qualified for the trip.
That left Jordyn Marshall (18th), Addison Rump (19th), and Mara Smith (21) out of the state meet. Marshall ran a 20:27.42, Rump ran a 20:32.90, and Smith finished at 20:35.29.
Fort Madison also got good efforts from Ellie Hellman, 21:32.91, McKayla Schinstock 23:23.04 (53rd), and Ellie Huebner 23:37.56 (58th).
Smith and Washington’s Kendall Hinrichsen battled all the way to the finish line with Hinrichsen edging the Fort Madison junior by .05 seconds.
Avery Rump said she was really disappointed that she won’t have her teammates next to her again next Friday.
“Mostly you think about being the best you can be and maybe getting a couple girls because I don’t know what’s going on behind me or in front of me either,” she said.
“But I’m really disappointed that the team didn’t get to qualify because they’ve been right next to me this season. If no one else makes it with me, it will be really weird not going to the line with anyone because I’ve always had someone.”
Rump said she ran her hardest and all she wanted to do was finish in the top 15 and that was all she was hoping for.
In the boys' run, Riley Tripp and Jacob Shottenkirk will be making the trip to Fort Dodge as they finished in the top 15. Pella, Washington, and Bondurant-Farrar took the team spots with 35, 71, and 96 points. Fort Madison finished 5th with 121.
Tripp had the top finish for Fort Madison with a 17:07.00 good enough for 13th. Shottenkirk was right behind in 14th with a 17:07.99, making up quite a bit of distance in the final 1000 meters.

Tripp said he’s thrilled to get to state for the first time.
“Feels great. We all tried really hard. Even if we didn’t qualify as a team, we all did amazing,” he said.
“After that first mile, I didn’t want to slow down too much and keep a good pace. When I heard I was 16th or 17th, it really helped.”
Tripp started to come on in the second half of the season and said the preseason workouts started to kick in. Despite the seasonably warm temperatures, Tripp said he ran about as good as he could have hoped for.
“All this hard work has paid off toward the end. The heat was a factor and I run a little better when it’s colder,” he said.
Shottenkirk closed hard toward the end to get to his second straight state tournament. He and Tripp collapsed on the ground after the run to celebrate the finish.
“That race hurt the most out of all my races. I started to get a cramp and it hurt bad. I don’t know if it’s my diet or what. It hurt, but you just had to keep going,” he said.
“I’m so excited, though. It’s worth it.”
Mason McLey just missed qualifying by 11 seconds. He finished 19th with a 17:19.78. The qualifying cut-off was 17.08.83.
Calvin Johnson finished 37th with a time of 17:57.59 just ahead of teammate Peyton Lambert who was 38th at 18:00.01.
Hunter Wiegand finished 18:15.60 (42nd) and Jacob Walker finished 54th at 19:05.51.
Head Coach Brian Mendez said the runners all left it on the course and the close finish is why he preaches to each runner to give their best every race.
"Anybody gets one place higher all the way to six and we're in. Nobody gave up out there. This is just the way it goes. You have to run every single race," he said.
The state meet will take place at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge on Friday, Nov. 1. The 3A girls kick off the meet at 10:30 a.m. with the 3A boys running at 11:15 p.m.