The Oskaloosa Herald
PELLA —
Last year, Oskaloosa had a single qualifier for the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge.
This year, the Indians did that three times better as Skylar DeJong, Spencer DeJong and Bailey Blythe will make appearances as the state meet this Saturday.
Blythe and Skylar DeJong earned third-place finishes at a Class 3A qualifying meet Thursday while Spencer DeJong was seventh.
“We had a good effort today,” Oskaloosa coach Keith Comfort said. “All three have had outstanding seasons and it is awesome to see them get rewarded with a trip to the state meet. It is great to get three state qualifiers and we will focus on getting them ready to do their best next week at Fort Dodge.
“Bailey had her usual strong race gettting up in the top group early in the race and steadily moving up to third. Skylar pretty much ran the same way, getting in the top group early in the race and just running a solid race. Spencer had a really strong second half of the race and kept moving up. He has improved steadily all season long and I am really glad to see his effort pay off.”
Blythe ran 16:07.8 to get her spot in the state meet while Skylar DeJong had a time of 16:58.1 and Spencer DeJong stopped the watch in 17:21.9.
Pella took the team titles in both divisions.
“The weather conditions were tough with wind, rain and cool temps,” Comfort said. “The kids handled it well though. I am proud of all of them. Most of them ran faster than they did at the meet we ran here early in the season, despite the weather.
“The boys finished in a tie for fifth, but lost a tiebreaker. That is the best district finish we have had in my 13 years. It was a good team effort by the boys. We will return all of these boys next year and should be even better.
“The girls finished eighth and will return all but one of the seven who ran today. I was happy with the effort by all the girls, they are a great bunch. They should also be a better team next year. We have a lot of young talent in the program which should help get us over the hump.
Class 3A District/Regional Cross Country Meet
Girls
Team standings — 1. Pella 52, 2. Grinnell 62, 3. Williamsburg 80, 4. Benton 137, 5. Fairfield 152, 6. Nevada 161, 7. South Tama 192, 8. Oskaloosa 209, 9. Knoxville 255, 10. Carlisle 291 (won tiebreaker), 11. Centerville 291, 12. Chariton 328.
Top 10 finishers — 1. Gabi Meirick, Pella, 15:50; 2. Olivia Gallo, Grinnell, 15:57; 3. Bailey Blythe, Oskaloosa, 16:07; 4. Jess Lamb, Fairfield, 16:09; 5. Victoria Kleven, Pella, 16:12; 6. Kelsey Kupka, South Tama, 16:14; 7. Miranda Hammes, Benton Community, 16:29; 8. Cassidy Schacher, Centerville, 16:31; 9. Ashley Kirkland, Pella, 16:35; 10. Shannon Mullnix, Williamsburg, 16:35.
Oskaloosa — 3. Blythe 16:07.8, 39. Lesley Roquet 18:07.2, 53. Brey Hill 18:55.3, 55. Melanie Harvey 18:58.0, 59. Kelsey Roquet 19:04.0; 61. Riley Berg 19:13.2, 62. Meghan Toubekis 19:17.2.
Boys
Team standings — 1. Pella 40, 2. Grinnell 86, 3. Knoxville 94, 4. Williamsburg 136, 5. Benton Community 143, 6. Oskaloosa 143, 7. South Tama 173, 8. Nevada 200, 9. Carlisle 248, 10. Centerville 288, 11. Clarke 312, 12. Fairfield 313, 13. Chariton 381.
Top 10 finishers — 1. Wick Cunningham, Knoxville, 16:44; 2. Evan Jones, Pella, 16:55; 3. Skylar DeJong, Oskaloosa, 16:59; 4. Luc Moisan, Grinnell, 17:15; 5. Payton Busch, Centerville, 17:19; 6. Tyler Steele, Benton Community, 17:20; 7. Spencer DeJong, Oskaloosa, 17:22; 8. Michael Schemm, Pella, 17:26; 9. Wade Pingel, Pella, 17:32; 10. Ben Warner, Pella, 17:44.
Oskaloosa — 3. Sk. DeJong 16:58.1, 7. Sp. DeJong 17:21.9, 28. Kamron VanHulzen 18:26.4, 44. Jared Boggess 19:07.4, 61. Caleb Fisher 20:10.4, 66. Gerrit VanMaanen 20:24.9, 78. Logan Gross 21:20.3.
