Hounds survive blustery state meet

FORT DODGE - The wind swept across Kennedy Park’s Lakeside Golf Course as Fort Madison’s cross country seniors took their final strides at the IGHSAU 3A State Meet, marking the end of an era filled with dedication, growth, and camaraderie.
Avery Rump, a Fort Madison senior, wrapped up four consecutive years of state meet appearances with a strong 25th-place finish. The day was marked by both pride and bittersweet emotion.
“I definitely got a little emotional because it kind of all, like, hit me inside -  like I was never going to be able to have this feeling or do this again,” Rump said.. “Right now I'm just, like, a little numb.”
Looking ahead, Rump is focused on the next chapter: “I’m pretty committed to Iowa right now. If they would take me, I would definitely run, but either way, I'm gonna keep running.”
Rump was joined by fellow senior Riley Tripp who made his third trip to Fort Dodge, and Hunter Wiegand getting his first look at the meandering 5K course. Tripp finished 68th in the boys' 3A run with a time of 17:15.9. Wiegand cracked the top 100 with a 97th-place finish and a time of 17:41.3
Despite the challenging conditions, Tripp kept his perspective.
“It was a little breezier today, a little harder to run. Out of the west it was really windy.  But being my last year I was just trying to go out there and have fun with it and just run a good race. Honestly, I don't really remember crossing the finish line – soooo that was interesting,” Tripp added with a laugh.
“I'm gonna miss it. It's been really fun all five years.”
Wiegand said the wind was inundating almost at every turn.

“It almost seemed like it was breezy everywhere especially once you started going west. Man it just hit your face and it just felt like you were running with so much resistance.”
But he said he was happy with his effort overall and enjoyed getting one more race with Tripp. “I was happy to make it. Happy to have one more run with Riley, that was really fun. I was looking forward to that.
“I feel like this whole year, in general, has just been such a success. I just picked up stuff every meet. And almost PR’d every meet.” 
Head Coach Brian Mendez expressed pride in the team’s seniors and the journey they’ve shared. “You spend a lot of time with these kids, and they become a little part of you. We tried to keep things as normal as possible, but we added some clothing and changed routines because we did not have any poor weather per se all season. But here we come to the state meet and ‘Bam!’ we get this,” he said.
“I've been blessed. They're great kids and they're all gonna go on and do great things. Qualifying for state is a blessing because there's a lot of people home today.” 
The day was not just about competition, but about the bonds formed and the memories made. Rump summed up the bittersweet nature of the experience:
“The whole thing’s a little bittersweet. I’m 100% going to miss it, but I don’t think I’ll miss the stress and getting tensed up all the time at the starting line.”
Western Dubuque Quinton Naumann set a new state record with a 14:48.3 winning the boys’ 3A title. He also has the state record in the mile run with the sub 4-minute mile he ran at this spring’s state track meet. He will run at Oregon University next year.
Pella’s Marissa Ferabee won the girls' run with a 17:47.9, her third straight title. Washington’s Iris Dahl cracked the top 20 with a 19:16.8. Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler finished 24th, just ahead of Rump at 19:22.5.