Ames girls place ninth in 4A at state cross country meet: Claire Helmers, Marley Turk both medal
The Ames girls cross country team turned in another top-10 performance in Class 4A Saturday at the state co-ed cross country meet held at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge.
The Little Cyclone girls followed up last year's third-place showing with a ninth-place performance Saturday. They scored 211 points to beat Dowling Catholic by five points for ninth and come in just one point behind Waukee's eighth-place score.
Even though the Ames girls didn't quite match last year's effort when they scored 141 points, they still had two girls medal to earn a second-consecutive top-10 finish.
“I’m still very proud of everyone,” Ames sophomore Marley Turk said. “We all came in a lot closer than we did last year.”
More:How the Ames girls qualified for state in cross country, 2 Little Cyclone boys also advance
Turk and Claire Helmers were the two Ames runners to place in the top 15.
Helmers led the way by running a 5-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 22.05 seconds to place seventh. The only runners to beat Helmers were champion Adrienne Buettner-Cable of Des Moines Roosevelt (17:41.24), Johnston's Olivia Verde (18:01.57), Dubuque Hempstead's Julia Gehl (18:03.20), West Des Moines Valley's Addison Dorenkamp (18:07.97), Ankeny Centennial's Rondi Quass (18:15.69) and Roosevelt's Abi Hahn (18:21.87).
Helmers easily beat her 2021 state time of 18:57.87 when she placed 10th
Turk came in two spots behind Helmers in ninth place. She completed the course in 18:32.41 to blow away her 2021 state time of 19:14.24 when she took 17th to fall two spots shy of a medal.
“State is always hard because it’s really easy to psych yourself out,” Turk said. “I’m very happy because I placed. That was one of my main goals. I’m pretty proud of myself.”
Sophomore Lauren Risdal took 68th for the Little Cyclone girls with a time of 20:18.62. Seniors Payton Stewart and Sydney Turk were the final two runners to score for the team after Stewart took 85th in 20:49.81 and Sydney finished 87th in 20:50.44.
Meredith Frandsen placed 95th in 20:57.44 and Cameron Moon 119th in 22:05.19 as the other two runners to compete for the Ames girls.
More:How Ames High's Turk sisters thrived while forming a special bond as cross country runners
Stewart, Sydney Turk and Moon are the only seniors on the roster. Sydney said she couldn't have asked for a better run at Ames after making state three times, including once as an individual, helping the Little Cyclones place in the top 10 twice and getting to run with her younger sister.
“It’s been great,” Sydney Turk said. “I’ve been so lucky to have great teammates to run with. I’m really proud of all of them and I can’t wait to watch them run in future years.”
Two Ames boys place in the top 70
The Ames boys had two runners competing at the state cross country meet for the first time Saturday.
Junior Ahmed Aldamak and sophomore Zach Lenkaitis ran for the Little Cyclones. Aldamak placed in the top 50 and Lenkaitis finished in the top 70.
“Coaches told us we already did the work,” Aldamak said. “They said to go out there and have fun.”
Aldamak took 47th with a 5K time of 16:39.86. Lenkaitis was 70th in 17:00.95.
“We ran with all we had out there,” Lenkaitis said. “I didn’t run the race I planned out in my head, but I tried to put everything I had out there.”
The Little Cyclone boys just missed making state as a team after placing third at the 4A qualifying meet in Indianola. With Aldamak and Lenkaitis, a former golfer, both back next year along with 2021 state qualifier Charlie Bennett Ames hopes to make it as a team in 2023.
“We’re coming for all of it next year,” Aldamak said. “Top three easily next year.”
More:Emergence of Ahmed Aldamak could lead the Ames boys to the state cross country meet
Dowling Catholic repeated as 4A team champions Saturday, scoring 51 points to blow away the rest of the field.
The Maroons' Jackson Heidesch also repeated as the 4A boys individual champion. Heidesch set a new state record and became the first runner to break 15 minutes at the state meet with a time of 14:56.66.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames girls place ninth, two runners medal at state cross country meet
