Ethan Haus hadn't won a race until Thursday. He hopes to carry that momentum all the way to state

Collins-Maxwell head cross country coach Jerry Meinerts was home sitting at his computer one day in June when out of the blue he received an email from one of his runners.

It was from Ethan Haus, the senior leader on the Spartan boys team. As soon as Meinerts got done reading it, he started to get chills.

“I told my wife to come over here and check out this email,” Meinerts said. “He said 'Coach, this is the year I’m going to state.' I’d never got an email like that from an athlete before."

Haus had been an outstanding runner for three years entering his senior season. But he has yet to qualify for state, just missing out a year ago when he placed 16th at the Class 1A qualifying meet in Pekin.

He's not about to let that happen again.

“Last year I didn’t qualify for state and I was supposed to,” Haus said. “You have bad days, but this year I’m going to make sure I don’t have any of those bad days.”

Haus certainly didn't have a bad day Thursday. He ran a 5-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 12.1 seconds to win the boys race at the Spartan Earlybird meet held at the Center Grove Apple Orchard between Cambridge and Maxwell.

It was the first victory of his career.

“It feels great knowing that I finally did it,” Haus said. “Senior year is the best time to do it.”

More: Ames area loaded with talented girls cross country runners in 2022

More: Will Ames beat Marshalltown? Our Week 1 predictions for area high school football

More: Ames volleyball gives Harrison Barnes Court a proper intro. Little Cyclones win opener.

Haus spent most of the race running side by side with Ankeny Christian Academy's Daniel Schoening. Schoening was the final runner to make state individually from last year's qualifying meet in Pekin.

“We ran together last year and we’d always be by each other,” Schoening said. “It definitely motivates me. I feel like today was a really good race and Ethan was a really big part of that.”

Haus started to pull away from Schoening in the last mile. He ended up winning the race by just over one minute thanks to his tremendous finish.

“I told him I’m going to run with you because we have a little rivalry going on,” Haus said. “He took my spot at the state qualifying meet. I can’t let that happen again.”

A big reason Haus was able to finish the race so strong was the time he put in running over the offseason. He'd run twice a day over the summer to get in the best shape possible before the season started.

“Last year I struggled with finishing,” Haus said. “I was just going out fast for the first two miles and then die off. This helped me so I wouldn’t die off.”

Haus did most of his summer training on his own time. But he also made sure to include his teammates as much as possible.

“In practice I try to keep up with him,” Collins-Maxwell runner Austin Hennick said. “It usually doesn’t work out, but that just gives me a good reason to keep pushing myself.”

Haus enjoys spending time with his classmates and helping them become better runners.

“He’s a hard worker and he enjoys having fun too,” Meinerts said. “He’s making it more of a team atmosphere. Some kids need that. They can just build off what he’s built. They see the hard work he’s put in.”

The other Spartan runners are feeding off Haus' desire to excel.

“He’s really been talking about making it to state and that inspires us to keep pushing ourselves,” Hennick said. “We want to be like him.”

Haus is proving patience is a virtue in cross country during his quest to make state.

“You can tell he’s motivated,” Meinerts said. “I tell my guys you may not see results that first year, or even that second or third year. It takes time for some kids. He’s figuring it out right now. It’s just fun to see him compete.”

Two years ago Kyle Vanderwal became the first runner from Collins-Maxwell to qualify for state. Haus ran up with Vanderwal in several races and saw firsthand what it took to get to the next level.

But he also found out he needed to focus on his own strengths. After Thursday's victory Haus seems to have found his comfort zone.

“Kyle likes to take the lead in races,” Haus said. “I could’ve tried that, but I’m doing the opposite of what he did. I just run for the first guy and try to hold him off during that third mile. A lot of people die in the third mile.”

Now that he's won a meet Haus is determined to keep his positive momentum going all season. He knows he can't afford to rest on his laurels if he is to end up in Fort Dodge at the end of October.

“I’ve got keep being competitive,” Haus said. “If I stop being competitive I won’t go to state”

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Collins-Maxwell's Ethan Haus looks to build off his first meet victory