The women's cross country team finished as the runner-ups at the State Meet on Saturday in Fort Dodge.  The Bombers finished with 127 and only trailed the state champions, Pella, who scored 91 team points for the title.  The Bombers eclipsed Solon by one point and Mount Vernon/Lisbon by two points.

Paityn Noe was the individual champion running in a time of 16:45.58.  Her time was a meet record, Iowa record, and is the only female to break the 17 minute mark.  She was named to the all-state and elite all-state teams.  Annika Larson finished 8th for the Bombers.  She ran in a time of 19:31.87 and was named to the all-state team.

Ava Vance (20:05.21) finished 16th and Ava Richardson (20:28.17) finished 28th in the field.  Brynn Wilson rounded on the scoring for the Bombers finishing 74th in a time of 21:36.48.  McKenzie Dee (85th - 21:49.04) and Raegan Loewe (95th - 22:25.93) finished out the runners for the Bombers.

Comments From Head Coach Scott Barth:

"Whew! It was a nailbiter at the state meet in Fort Dodge on Saturday as we came through in the last mile to claim the state runner-up trophy for the 2022 season. This is the 4th straight podium finish as we were state champions in 2019 & 2020 and now state runner-up in 2021 & 2022. Pella ran a great race and is a very deserving champion in what was one of the most competitive fields that I have seen in a long, long time.

Paityn Noe ran a race for the history books running a new Ballard, course, state meet and overall state record in a mind-blowing time of 16:48. She thus becomes all-state and elite all state for the 4th time.This marks the first time that an Iowa girl has ever gone below the 17 minute mark and now moves her into the 4th best time in the country this season. She ran a 5:15 first mile and then continued her torrid pace through the finish line winning the race by over a minute and a half. She also beat the next best winner's time by a total of 53 seconds over 4A champion Buettner-Cable of DSM Roosevelt. It was a phenomenal race and I am guessing the record will stand for many, many years to come.

Joining Paityn on the All-State podium is Annika Larson who ran a solid race in finishing 11th overall to claim the medal. This translated into 8 points in the team race and gave Ballard a good start to the team score. She ran a time of 19:31.87, which is not her season best, but a solid race nonetheless. She will be the 6th fastest returning runner in class 3A next season and help the momentum going for Ballard in 2023!

Ava Vance ran most of the race without a shoe that flew off not far into the race. This might have slowed her down somewhat, but she persevered through and ran a solid time of 20:05 to place 16th in the team score. She was not feeling up to par in the race having been slowed down by a slight injury coming out of SQM, but through some rest was able to pop back in the lineup and help the Bombers with her score. She will return as the 18th fastest 3A returning runner next season. Get her hitting on all cylinders and she could be a top 10 runner at state 2023!

Ava Richardson ran a good race in her second appearance at the state meet. The sophomore ran a time of 20:28 to finish 28th in the team scoring. This was good enough to keep us in 1st place after getting 4 runners through the race. She is a great runner and continues to gain experience coupled with confidence. I look for her to be a sub-20 runner next year which would give us 3 under that 20 minute threshold. That would be a great start!

Sophomore Brynn Wilson capped off our scoring with a 74th place runner in the class 3A team scoring with a time of 21:36. Freshman McKenzie Dee ran a 21:49 to place 85th and sophomore Raegan Loewe placed 95th in a time of 22:25. I am excited for each of the potential that these 3 runners have heading into next season. Brynn was sidelined in the middle part of the season for 3 weeks which limited her practicing. That really held her back with not enough training time to really meet her potential. She ran most of the preseason and early season with Ava Richardson and has the potential to be with her. Slide her in that spot and that gives us a solid 4 heading into 2023. McKenzie, being a freshman, surprised a few people with her rapid improvement from middle school to high school competition. She got better and better over the course of the season and was pushing for the final scoring spot by season's end. With a year under her belt, I am guessing she will make great strides next season and give us a solid #5. Raegan has a lot of untapped potential and could also make great moves in 2023. I have no doubt that she could be a top 5 for us as well. So, even though our 5-7 did not run their best races of the season at state 2022 - they all have great potential and can help keep Ballard in contention on the course next fall.

Again, we are very pleased with our 2nd place finish to a very talented and deep Pella team. We were in 4th heading into the last mile of the race and finished strong. That surge gave us the runner-up finish. I am proud of these girls and what we have accomplished. They never quit, never complain and always make sure they are there for each other. Now we will change our focus to next season and another potential run at a podium finish. Losing Paityn will definitely have some wondering if we can do it, but I am confident with our returning runners and continued development, that we will be a great team in 2023 as well! But now, time to rest and recharge for track and field in the spring!"

STATE MEET WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES 

1. Pella, 91

2. Ballard, 127

3. Solon, 128

4. Mount Vernon/Lisbon, 129

5. ADM, 138

6. Washington, 190

7. Clear Lake, 212

8. Glenwood, 218

9. Clear Creek-Amana, 223

10. Center Point-Urbana, 229

11. Sioux City Heelan, 257

12. Gilbert, 261

13. Carlisle, 264

14. Harlan, 272

15. MOC-Floyd Valley, 286

STATE MEET WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL TIMES

1 Paityn Noe, 16:48.58, Individual State Champion, All-State, Elite All-State

8 Annika Larson, 19:31.87, All-State

16 Ava Vance, 20:05.21

28 Ava Richardson, 20:28.17

74 Brynn Wilson, 21:36.48

85 McKenzie Dee, 21:49.04

95 Raegan Loewe, 22:25.93