Anything you can do, I can do better is Rump twins' cross country philosophy
FORT MADISON -- Matt Rump takes his physical fitness seriously.
When you are a physical education teacher in the Fort Madison School District, you had better be in shape.
When they were just three years old, Rump would take his twin daughters, Addison and Avery, up to Richmond Stadium once a week and let them run a lap on the track.
By the time the twins turned five, they already were competing with one another to see who was faster.
Addison and Avery Rump haven't stopped running -- or competing -- since.
On Thursday, the Fort Madison High School freshmen put on quite a show on their home cross country course in front of their home fans. With the Bloodhound cheerleaders on hand at Rodeo Park for the Timm Lamb Invitational, the twins did not disappoint.
Avery Rump won the Class A individual title in 19 minutes, 35.6 seconds. Her older sister by two minutes finished fourth in 21:14.5. With teammate Paetyn Wiegand finishing eighth, the Bloodhounds finished second in the team race with 51 points, 20 behind Washington.
With the rest of this season and three more years still ahead, the future looks bright for the Rump twins and Fort Madison cross country.
"I like to compete against her. That's one of my favorite things about being with her is she can push me and I can push her. We push each other to be our best," said Avery Rump, who is fifth in Class 3A in the latest rankings. "We argue a little bit and we get on each other's nerves sometimes like sisters do, but we are each other's best friends."
"She's always been faster. She works really hard. It's no surprise that she is great," Addison said of her younger sister. "She is usually way out there. She gets out there as soon as the gun goes off. I try, too."
On this day, Avery Rump used her pent-up nervous energy to build a big early lead and coast to victory. In her first home meet, Avery had plenty of nerves from the time she woke up until the time she toed the starting line.
"I was really nervous today. I've been nervous all day. When I came to the starting line I actually felt a lot calmer than I thought I would. I decided to go out fast, which is something that I usually do. I started like a lot of my races and I think I kept a pretty good pace," Avery said. "Every meet I get super nervous because I want to meet the expectations that are place on me as the No. 5 runner in the state, which is crazy to me. I can't even fathom it."
With a month to go until state qualifying meets, the Rump twins have their sights set on finishing strong, both as individuals and as a team.
"I want to get to the level that she is at. She helps push me. She runs with me sometimes and paces me," Addison Rump said. "It's great most of the time. As we get older we grow closer and closer together, so I feel like that's really fun."
"That would be a big moment for both of our lives," Avery said of the possibility of qualifying for state with her sister. "I would be so excited to do it with her and share that experience with her."
Gourley off to sizzling start, too
Not to be outdone, Danville-New London freshman Alaina Gourley is making quite a name for herself on a statewide basis.
Gourley, who is ranked 20th in Class 1A, won the Class AA race in 20:20.4 and was second overall behind Avery Rump.
Gourley comes from a running family. Her father, Lucas Gourley, is the head coach of the Bears' girls and boys cross country team. Her older brother, Gabriel, helped Danville-New London win the Class 2A team title in 2020 and is a sophomore on the Central College men's cross country team this fall.
Alaina Gourley has a big name to live up to, but she is showing early signs that she might just be the best of the bunch before all is said and done.
"He's been my coach since I was five, so it's really fun," Alaina said of her father. "It's really cool that I get to carry on that legacy of runners in our family."
Gourley's teammate, junior Kamryn Sherwood, finished second in 21:51.4, while freshman Ava Ourth was 10th in 23:56.2.
The Bears won the Class AA team title with 43 points, 23 better than runner-up Clark County.
While Gourley is a freshman and has been the Bears' top runner all season, she credits her older teammates with helping to accelerate her learning curve at the varsity level.
"There's mostly upperclassmen, so they're kind of leading me. They give me a lot of tips and strategies during the race," Gourley said. "How to start. How to get out there and how to finish."
ND-WB's Augustine is back
Notre Dame-West Burlington junior Hadley Augustine has had an inauspicious start to the season.
Coming off an up and down sophomore year in which she kept passing out at or near the finish of races, ND-WB head coach Ryan Ritter has taken a cautious approach with Augustine this season.
Augustine made her return at Fort Madison, finishing seventh in Class AA in 23:10.2. Teammate Hannah Fruehling finished third, while Kennedy Ritter was 10th.
Instead of trying to run with the leaders, Augustine held back in a trail pack, running a comfortable pace.
That helped ease some of the pressure off Augustine and put the fun back in running for the first time in almost two years.
"I wasn't trying to push too hard today," Augustine said. "To be honest it doesn't feel that different. It's fun no matter where we're at. I like to be a little farther back. Just putting the fun back into it and not so much pressure."
CLASS A
Team scores
1. Washington, 31; 2. Fort Madison, 51; 3. Mount Pleasant, 88; 4. Fairfield, 105; 5. Muscatine, 106; 6. Keokuk, 142.
Top 10 individuals
1. Avery Rump (FM), 19:35.6; 2. Iris Dahl (W), 20:24.6; 3. Quincy Griffis (W), 21:05.2; 4. Addison Rump (FM), 21:14.5; 5. Emma Welcher (MP), 21:41.0; 6. Belle Meador (MP), 21:47.9; 7. Lauren Horak (W), 21:49.2; 8. Paetyn Wiegand (FM), 21:49.4; 9. Alyvia Anderson (W), 21:49.6; 10. Angeline Anderson (W), 21:49.8
CLASS B
Team scores
1. Danville-New London, 43; 2. Clark County (Mo.), 66; 3. Columbus, 82; 4. Mediapolis, 86; 5. Notre Dame-West Burlington, 90; 6. Louisa-Muscatine, 131.
Top 10 individuals
1. Alaina Gourley (D-NL), 20:20.4; 2. Kamryn Sherwood (D-NL), 21:51.4; 3. Hannah Fruehling (ND-WB), 22:02.6; 4. Cady St. Clair (CC), 22:38.3; 5. Rylee Phillips (Van Buren County), 22:49.5; 6. Trinity Little (CC), 23:00.2; 7. Hadley Augustine (ND-WB), 23:10.2; 8. Ariana Vergara (Col.), 23:31.8; 9. Ava Ourth (D-NL), 23:56.2; 10. Kennedy Ritter (ND-WB), 24:06.7.
Matt Levins is a sports reporter for the USA Today Network in Burlington, Iowa, who has covered local sports for 32 years at The Hawk Eye. Reach him at mlevins@thehawkeye.com.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Avery Rump races to victory at Timm Lamb Invitational at Rodeo Park
