Danville girls make solid showing at Class 1A state cross country meet on Friday
FORT DODGE -- The Danville High School girls cross country team put an exclamation point in its season with a solid showing at the Class 1A state cross country meet Friday at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.
Freshman Alaina Gourley, who has led the Bears in every meet this season, had a sensational 24th-place finish in 20 minutes, 14.87 seconds.
Junior Kamryn Sherwood also ran a solid race, finishing 85th in 21:47.12.
Noelle Steines of Calamus-Wheatland was the individual champion in 18:39.45.
Earlham won the team title with 101 points, 15 better than runner-up South Winneshiek.
Danville head coach Lucas Gourley was pleased with the Bears' performances.
"The girls did really well. Alaina ran a great race. It was the smartest race she has ran all year and she was able to beat a few girls that have beaten her this year. It was a great start to her high school career," Lucas Gourley said. "Kam also ran well. She placed 100th two years ago and moved up to 85th this year. I am very proud of the hard work she has put in. She will be an important leader for our team next year as a senior."
On the boys side, Winfield-Mount Union's Kohlby Newsom finished 43rd in 17:36.6, while Columbus' Damian Vergara was 49th in 17:39.20. Both set new personal bests.
Landon Bendgen of Woodbine was the individual champion in 15:58.11.
Iowa City Regina won the team title with 102 points, 24 points better than runner-up ACGC.
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: Gourley, Sherwood have impressive finishes at state cross country meet
