Area runners compete at State Cross Country Meet

The Class 3A State Cross Country Meet was held on Saturday, Oct. 27, in Fort Dodge.  Clear Lake had one individual runner competing in the meet, while Garner-Hayfield/Ventura/West Hancock had two individual runners and the boys team competing.

Clear Lake’s  Antonio DiMarco finished in the middle of the pack, placing 66th in a time of 17:17.

“Obviously, as a coach and a father, I was very proud that he was able to earn a spot in this years state meet,” said Nick DiMarco.  “He felt honored to run with the best runners in the state and said that running in the state meet this year will be a big motivator going into next season.”

  The G-H/V/WH boys team placed 15th in the team race with 306 points. There were 121 runners competing in the race.  Decorah won the competition with 62 points, followed by Pella with 74 and Charles City was third with 160 points.  Joel Toppin, who was seventh at the qualifying meet, led the team with a 16th place finish with a time of 16:26.

Freshman Chase Smith was the second over the finish line for the Cardinals.  Smith placed 49th with a time of 17:08.  Rounding out the scoring was A.J. Arnold, 88th, 17:46; Brad Nedved, 94th, 17:55; and Jeff O’Brien was 115th with a time of 18:41.  Also running were Derek Lonneman, 116th, 19:04 and Aaron Boehnke, 117th, 19:05.

“I would have loved to have both teams qualify, but if it was easy to qualify it would not be as special,” said Coach Jeff Short.

G-H/V/WH’s Kamille Kronemann qualified as an individual and finished with a time of 16:09, good for 62rd place.

“I was really proud and excited to see Kamille and Brad have a chance to run at the State Meet for the fourth year,” said Short.

Kronemann and Nedved are only the second boy and girl in the school’s history to have run at the State Meet all four years of their prep careers.