Cross Country Meets the End of Their Season

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The boys’ cross country team takes off at the beginning of the race.

Holden Smith

Months of blood, sweat, and tears have finally paid off.

The cross country teams officially raced across the finish line for the last time this season at the district meet on Thursday, Oct. 20. Coaches Ben Moser and Dale Meyer agree that both teams performed admirably throughout the year.

Girls’ cross country coach Ben Moser said that overall the girls had a successful season, each girl improving and continuing to train diligently. They had a particularly difficult meet at Vinton, but after that, the girls bounced back and trained harder than they had before and 16 runners set a personal record at Western Dubuque the following week.

Moser points out that Katie Steffen (12) totally transformed from last year to this year. Steffen ran the third fastest time in West Delaware girls’ history at 21:36.

Senior Katie Steffen keeps a strong pace throughout the race.

“She really stepped up this year,” Moser said. “She ran all the time during the off season, and some days when we wouldn’t have practice, I’d see her gathering up a bunch of the girls and going off on their own.”

Both the boys’ and girls’ teams continually set new records for themselves throughout the season, ending with 21 athletes setting personal best times. The top scores, from seniors to freshmen, for the girls were Katie Steffen (21:36), Abby Loecke (22:53), Maddy Gray (24:09), and Gracie Weeks (23:16). The boys’ fastest runners by grade were Austin Pettlon (18:58), Noah Crumpton (18:18), Tomas Dake (20:43), and Nathan Goranson (18:51).

“As we look back at our season, whatwe really want to see is improvement,” said Moser. “August through October we want them to get better, and that’s definitely what we’ve seen.”

The boys ran their best times overall at their home meet. Noah Crumpton lead the pack with his time of 18:18, followed by Brady Carol with a time of 18:51, Austin Pettlon at 19:01, Ben Litterer (19:17), and Keegan Kolbet (19:52).

“It’s always really cool seeing how everyone progresses throughout the season,” said Ben Litterer (11). “Everyone always pushes each other to be their best, and I love the atmosphere that creates.”

Meyer appreciates the team’s consistent improvement. He looks forward to next year in helping the boys reach the next level, and he hopes the boys and girls continue running year-round in order to improve.

“Coach Meyer likes to push us and make us better,” said Brady Carol (11). “He wants to help Noah (Crumpton) and me get under 17 minutes, so we can go to State.”