Rump hot in the cold

WAY COLD

I was shivering and was running around trying to stay warm. It definitely messed up the pre-race.  It made everything numb. I was drooling, it wasn’t fun… and I’m sure it wasn’t pretty,”

Avery Rump, Fort Madison - 4th place.

FORT DODGE – It may not be the case, but is sure seemed like Fort Madison sophomore Avery Rump really wanted to get out of the cold.
The Bloodhound raced to a personal best 18:54.0 good enough for a 4th-place finish at Saturday’s Class 3A girls IGHSAU State Cross Country meet at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge.
Rump said she was surprised at how cold it was.
“I checked the weather a week before and I was like, ‘it’s not going to be that cold’, but then it got colder. And I was, like, wholly crap, how am I gonna do this?” Rump said.
Fort Madison Coach Brian Mendez said the cold is an equalizer.
“I think it kind of evens everything out, Mendez said. “We’ve run in races this cold, but I’m not sure we’ve run at state when it’s been colder.”
Temperatures hovered in the upper 20s, but with the north wind blowing, windchills were in the teens as both girls and boys ran the 5,000-meter run, some in shorts and sleeveless garb.
Fort Madison’s Jacob Shottenkirk wanted to finish in the top 30 in the boys' Class 3A run and just missed that goal by finishing 34th with a time of 16:49.5. Paetyn Wiegand finished 86th with a time of 20:49.6.
Avery said she layered up as much as she could without being restricted.
“I was shivering and was running around trying to stay warm. It definitely messed up the pre-race.  It made everything numb. I was drooling, it wasn’t fun… and I’m sure it wasn’t pretty,” she said.
“Everyone had a good day, I had a PR by a lot.”
The sophomore said her plans include moving up next year, but she just wants to let this win settle in and then see how next year plays out.
Shottenkirk said he was numb running so he just put it behind him.
“I kind of just tried to ignore it the best I could. I couldn’t really feel anything the whole race, so the only thing I could do is just run it off.”
The junior who ran last year with the Bloodhound boys' team said he was very happy with the result, but was hoping for a little better finish.
“I wanted to be top 30 and I didn’t get that, but I’m happy,” he said.
“I think the only difference in this year’s was the weather. And the only difference I had was the undershirt and gloves. Next year I want to make All-State, that’s my goal.”
Wiegand, who qualified two years ago but suffered some medical issues and was injured last year, said she was satisfied with just getting to run and finish.
“This was definitely the coldest race we’ve run in all year. Maybe the coldest ever. It was really cold. The wind blowing in your face made it colder and made your eyes water,” Wiegand said. “I don’t know what place I got or the times, but I finished and I’m happy about that."
Pella runners won both the boys' and the girls' events. Marissa Ferebee took the top spot in the girls' run with an 18:38.6. Rump’s regular season annual rival Iris Dahl finished 5th, three seconds behind Rump at 18:57.5.
The Dutch’s Canaan Dunham took the boys’ run at 15:18.5, a full seven seconds in front of the pack. Washington’s Micah Rees took 4th with a 15:47.9. Behind Rees, Shottenkirk had the second-best Southeast Conference time.