Three West Delaware runners qualified for the state championships in Fort Dodge on Oct. 28.

On Wed., Oct. 18, the West Delaware cross country teams made the two-and-a-half hour trip to the Clear Lake district meet where Zach Wenger (12), Jase Turnis (11), and Brynn Kartman (9) placed in the top 15 in their respective races to qualify for state.

Wenger and Turnis are the first boys from West Delaware to run at state since the team qualified in 2020 and two of the program’s five individual qualifiers to run at state since the format changed from a two-mile race to a five-kilometer race.

Turnis was proud of his accomplishments.

 “It felt pretty good because it gave me the confidence to think that I can beat the school record next year because I qualified my junior year,” Turnis said.

Wenger finished the season with a personal best of 17:11, while Turnis finished with his personal best time of 17:02.

Meanwhile, Kartman is the first girl to qualify for state in the program’s history.

“I’m excited to see how we can improve, and I’m excited for future runners on the girls’ team,” Kartman said. “I hope that eventually we can all qualify as a team and get to state.”

Kartman finished the season with a personal best time of 19:44, smashing the previous school record. 

“She worked tremendously hard throughout the season to accomplish what she did,” girls coach Ben Moser said. “We couldn’t be more proud of her, and we know she has an extremely bright future ahead of her!”