Fort Madison boys, girls have banner day at Class 3A state qualifying cross country meet
WASHINGTON -- Fort Madison High School cross country coach Brian Mendez had three words of advice before his team toed the line for a Class 3A state qualifying meet Wednesday at the Washington Golf and Country Club.
"Why not us?"
Yeah, why not?
The Bloodhounds took their coach's advice to heart, surging in the last mile to finish third by two points over South Tama to grab the final state qualifying team spot.
As news came down from the results trailer, the roar went up in the Bloodhounds' camp.
For the first time since 2012, Fort Madison is headed to the state meet as a team.
The Class 3A state meet is set for Oct. 29 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Mendez is ready to release the Hounds.
"All season long it's been 'Why not us?' We kind of got waxed at Fairfield at the beginning of the year," Mendez said in between screams of joy and hugs with everyone and anyone around him. "I kind of got worried. When we ran that race I was like, 'Well, it's going to be one of those seasons.' Every meet after that they did nothing but improve. There was no real plateau. They kind of took turns being the No. 1 runner. No one was mad at each other. They all worked together. We did nothing but close the gap with Washington to the conference meet."
"This is crazy that we made it," said Fort Madison freshman Riley Tripp, who finished 15th in 17 minutes, 14.190 seconds.
"I was giving it everything I had. I was going so fast today," said Fort Madison freshman Mason McLey, who finished 14th in 17:08.297, 30 seconds faster than his previous best time.
"I don't really have any words," said Fort Madison freshman Nolan Guzman, who placed 27th in 17:26.10. "It's amazing. At the start of the season we were really struggling mentally. We just didn't think we had it. And then to come here and do this, it's just crazy. It's surreal."
For a time it looked like the only way Fort Madison was going to get to state was purchasing tickets. At the mile mark, the Bloodhounds were packed between 27th and 32nd place.
Not for long. Tripp and McLey, who were out in front of teammate Jacob Shottenkirk, decided it was time to go.
The Bloodhounds found another gear, surging forward as they picked off on runner after another.
"There was this group in front of them and we really wanted to catch them. That was our motivation throughout the whole race," Tripp said.
"We were at like 30th and Riley told me, 'Let's go catch this next group.' That's what we did. We slowly went and got them all, one by one," McLey said. "Jacob was right behind us, two seconds behind us. We tried to run as a pack and then pick them all off."
"They really moved the last mile," Mendez said.
As the race finished, McLey and Tripp had guaranteed themselves trips to state as individuals by finishing in the top 15.
The team totals took several minutes longer, but it was well worth the wait.
"The two of us would have been really good, but having the team go just makes it even better," Tripp said.
"We're pumped. We're glad. That's a hell of a team," Mendez said of his team. "Our conference doesn't get any respect, I don't think. We're kind of down here in the lower part of Iowa, but there's good runners and good talent down here."
Third time is a charm for Carthey
Ben Carthey had been down this road before. Twice, to be sure.
He made sure there wouldn't be a third time.
After narrowly missing qualifying for state the last two years, the Mount Pleasant junior punched his ticket this time, finishing seventh in 16:40.50.
Carthey stayed with the lead pack early, fell back into his pace and then found himself in a sprint to the finish.
Carthey made sure he didn't come up short this time.
"If you can't do it two times, maybe the third time's a charm," Carthey said. "It was scary. Everyone was yelling and I was worried I was going to get beat by someone who would outsprint me. It was scary, but great at the same time."
Fort Madison girls seeing double
As Fort Madison freshman Avery Rump surged toward the front of the pack in the girls race, she found her thoughts drifting to her twin sister, Addison.
The Rump sisters have done everything together, and Avery couldn't imagine going to the state meet without her twin by her side.
She won't have to.
Avery Rump finished third in 19:17.89, then waited as her sister made it double the pleasure by finishing 14th in 20:21.83.
The Rump sisters ran together in the junior high state meet the last two years. Now, they will get to run together on the big stage.
"I'm so excited. I really, really wanted to go with her because I've never been without her before. Ever. I feel like it would have been wrong without her. I'm so glad that we'll be able to experience that together and be able to talk each other up at the starting line and share that experience," Avery Rump said. "I was thinking of her a lot. I was hoping that I would see her run with me because then I would know that we would make it to state together. I was just really hoping we would be able to go together."
"It was kind of overwhelming," Addison Rump said. "I didn't know what to expect going into it because it's kind of a big meet in the season. I didn't know how to feel going into it. I feel like it's kind of like any other meet, only here if you get top 15 you get to go to an even bigger meet that's even more important."
Avery, who has been ranked in the top 30 most of the season, got a little helpful advice from her uncle, Ryan Rump, a former Fort Madison Aquinas multi-sport star who went on to coach the Notre Dame High School boys basketball team to the state tournament.
"I took a lot of deep breaths at the starting line," Avery Rump said. "I did what my Uncle Ryan always told me to do which was power pose to make me feel more confident. That really helped. I felt a lot more confident than I usually am at the starting line."
By the numbers
BOYS
TEAM SCORES
(Top 3 qualify for state)
1. Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 60; 2. Western Dubuque, 63; 3. Fort Madison, 109; 4. South Tama, 111; 5. Washington, 117; 6. Center Point-Urbana, 120; 7. Central DeWitt, 156; 8. Mount Pleasant, 188; 9. Fairfield, 253; 10. Davenport Assumption, 264; 11. Maquoketa, 337; 12. Notre Dame-West Burlington, 347; 13. Keokuk, 397.
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
(Top 15 qualify for state)
1.Isaiah Hammerand (WD), 15:43.36; 2. Micah Rees (Wash,.), 15:59.72; 3. Tommy Tyynsmaa (ST), 16:04.05; 4. Quentin Nauman (WD), 16:37.60; 5. Jimmy Brant (ST), 16:39.46; 6. Grady Olberding (MV-L), 16:39.48; 7. Ben Carthey (MP), 16:40.50; 8. Derek Fangman (WD), 16:40.54; 9. Klayten Perreault (MV-L), 16:44.10; 10. Caleb Olson (CD), 16:46.35; 11. Drew Meyer (WD), 17:03.29; 12. Dawson Schell (MV-L), 17:06.35; 13. Tyler Alderton (Wash.), 17:08.10; 14. Mason McLey (FM), 17:08.29; 15. Riley Tripp (FM), 17:14.19.
AREA TEAMS
FORT MADISON -- 14. McLey; 15. Tripp; 19. Jacob Shottenkirk, 17:18.01; 27. Nolan Guzman, 17:26.10; 34. Peyton Lambert, 17:49.36; 44. John Cottrell, 18:08.09; 70. Castille Johnstun, 19:48.03.
KEOKUK -- 72. William Potratz, 19:57.08; 73. Elijah Gibbs, 20:02.31; 83. Reece Manges, 22:25.85; 84. Jaykob Finch, 22:31.00; 85. Eli Sniff, 23:10.05; 87. Alex Arntzen, 24:28.36.
MOUNT PLEASANT -- 7. Carthey; 20. Jude Dykstra, 17:18.02; 50. Tyler Johnson, 18:26.33; 55. Jonathan Hough, 18:40.96; 56. Coleman Mowery, 18:42.59; 62. Gabe Feldman, 19:03.21; 64. Isaac Rynders, 19:06.25.
NOTRE DAME-WEST BURLINGTON -- 51. Sage Eggar, 18:27.96; 68. Anthony Moad, 19:30.52; 71. Michael Hadden, 19:53.51; 78. Conner Bush, 20:48.79; 79. Ryne Rogers, 20:50.01; 86. Caleb Bush, 23:42.92.
GIRLS
TEAM SCORES
(Top 3 qualify for state)
1.Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 41; 2. Washington, 60; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 79; 4. Davenport Assumption, 130; 5. Fort Madison, 132; 6. Fairfield, 144; 7. Western Dubuque, 148; 8. Mount Pleasant, 184; 9. Keokuk, 236; 10. Central DeWitt, 291; 11. South Tama, 320.
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
(Top 15 qualify for state)
1. Lourdes Mason (MV-L), 18:38.64; 2. Emma Wilkerson (CP-U), 19:11.51; 3. Avery Rump (FM), 19:17.89; 4. Laura Swart (MV-L), 19:22.39' 5. Emrie Johnson (MV-L), 19:39.44; 6. Iris Dahl (Wash.), 19:46.69; 7. Alyssa Klein (WD), 19:58.94; 8. Deni Katcher (CP-U), 20:00.56; 9. Kiersten Swart (MV-L), 20:10.45; 10. Quincy Griffis (Wash.), 20:11.82; 11. Lauren Horak (Wash.), 20:18.45; 12. Lily Miller (CP-U), 20:19.54; 13. Bella Meyers (WD), 20:21.39; 14. Addison Rump (FM), 20:21.83; 15. Emerson Quick (DA), 20:28.13.
AREA TEAMS
FORT MADISON -- 3. Avery Rump; 14. Addison Rump; 30. Hadley Wolfe, 21:37.97; 36. Allison Lamb, 22:02.87; 54. Alexa Walz, 23:13.32; 57. Jordyn Burch, 23:47.76; 71. Emma Berry, 25:57.97.
KEOKUK -- 41. Rylee Olsen, 22:24.56; 42. Allison Ames, 22:35.23; 45. Darby Tackes, 22:41.16; 53. Violet Shead, 23:06.61; 65. Keira Campbell, 24:52.96; 66. Jace Olsen, 24:56.61; 74. Gracie Wessel, 27:59.82.
MOUNT PLEASANT -- 32. Emma Welcher, 21:43.38; 33. Audrey Lord, 21:46.67; 47. Alexis Wagner, 22:53.13; 55. Ella McNamee, 23:13.61; 56. Jayden Housh, 23:36.16.
NOTRE DAME-WEST BURLINGTON -- 21. Hannah Fruehling, 21:05.16; 51. Kennedy Ritter; 23:01.05; 72. Grace Nichols, 26:25.69.
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: Fort Madison twins Avery and Addison rump qualify in girls race
