Wiegand lone Hound to make trip to Fort Dodge

WASHINGTON – A couple slices of peanut butter toast and a turkey, cream cheese, and pickle wrap was all Hunter Wiegand needed to get to his second straight state cross-country meet.
The senior ran a career best at his second-best time of the season with a 16:33, good enough for 10^th place and a spot at Saturday’s Class 3A state run at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge. The boys' run starts at 11:15 a.m.
“30 seconds faster than I ran all season. The fastest I ran all season coming into this was a 16:59,” Wiegand said after the run.
“I was waiting for a break-out race and had been pretty consistent in the low 17s all year long, so I knew this had to be coming. I did everything I could to prepare for this, but to be totally honest, I was really stressed about it.”
Wiegand said he was looking on Bound, Iowa Run-Jump-Throw, AthleticNet and comparing times of other Iowa runners to see what the top times were for today's meet. He said he felt pressure to perform again and get back to the state run.
He said the runners didn’t have school on Wednesday and he did nothing all day except school work and playing video games. His pre-run event was to get up at 7 a.m., make two pieces of toast and put peanut butter on them and ate that as a sandwich. He said two tortillas with cream cheese, two slices of turkey, and a pickle rolled up was lunch, and the rest of the day was just mental preparation.

Historically, Fort Madison has run well at Washington and it seems to be the place where Bloodhounds PR.
“Personally, it’s gotta be one of my favorite courses. Everybody says it’s so hilly but with every hill you run up, you have a hill to run down. Coach Mendez trains us for hills like crazy and it’s for moments like this,” Wiegand said.
The Fort Madison boys finished 9^th with 202 points with the top 3 teams qualifiying for state. Those were Cedar Rapids Xavier, Clear Creek-Amana, and Davenport Assumption.
Oliver Wiese was second in for the Bloodhounds at 18:08, good for 39^th overall. Then it was Colton Tripp 18:26 (47^th), Jacob Walker 18:31 (51^st), Zackary Hermes 19:02 (60^th), Jaxson Pech 20:38 (79^th), and Colby Hardin 22:01 (83^rd).
In the girls' 3A run, Katelyn Marshall led the way with a 21:38, which was 27^th place overall. She was followed by Jordyn Marshall at 22:40 (39^th), Eloise Lamb 23:13 (49^th), Addy Pezley 24:39 (64^th), Ellie Hellman 25:12 (68^th), and Erica Richers 25:58 (72^nd). None of the Fort Madison girls placed high enough to make the tournament on Saturday. The top three teams and top 15 runners get to make the trip north.
Official rosters for next weekend's state meet will be posted Thursday morning.