Bombers Head Back To State Meet For 10th Consecutive Year

Ballard Scores 52 Team Points

October 19, 2023

The women's cross country team punched their ticket to their tenth consecutive State Cross Country Meet finishing runner-up in the State Qualifying Meet on Wednesday afternoon. The Bombers finished with 52 team points just behind Glenwood who won the meet with 47 team points.

Ava Vance was the individual runner-up running in a time of 19:44.00. Brynn Wilson finished 5th overall running in a time of 20:10.40. Annika Larson, 9th place, finished with a time of 20:32.30 and Kya Hermann finished 18th in a time of 21:08.60. Ava Richardson finished in a time of 21:30.00 good enough for a 22nd place finish. Raya Miller (26th - 21:39.70) and Grace Grundmeyer (33rd - 22:12.70) rounded out the line-up for the Bombers.

Comments From Head Coach Scott Barth:

"The girls qualified as a team for the State Meet for the 10th year in a row and the 20th time overall. Although it was not our best race, we still managed to hold onto a solid 2nd place finish in a quality meet. Ava Vance was the regional runner up with a time of 19:44. Brynn Wilson closed out strong and placed 5th in a time of 20:10. Annika Larson placed 9th in a time of 20:32 to close out our individual state qualifiers. Kya Hermann really stepped up and supplied a much needed score finishing just out of all regional recognition in 18the place with a time of 21:08. Ava Richardson came through the line in 22nd place with a time of 21:30. Raya Miller and Grace Grundmeyer both ran well finishing in 26th and 33rd places with respective times of 21:39 and 22:12.

Although we did not get our best team performance tonight at Winterset, we did have 3 athletes perform really well with career PR's in Brynn Wilson, Kya Hermann and Grace Grundmeyer. They all ran great races and took additional steps forward to help our team tonight. They handled the pressure and shined which is a very big positive for us heading forward to the state meet a week from Saturday. I do still see us in contention for the podium (top 3 finish). I think we have a legitimate shot of having 3 athletes in the 19's and 3 more in the 20's. If we can make that happen, we should be in pretty good shape. The key is to be smart in our training over the next 10 days and get everyone running well on the state course. What I know is that these girls will be focused and do what it takes to put ourselves in a position to place well."

The Bombers are back in action on Saturday - October 28 when they compete in the State Meet in Fort Dodge. The race will start at 2:00 PM.

STATE QUALIFYING MEET WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES

1. Glenwood, 47

2. Ballard, 52

3. Lewis Central, 72

4. Winterset, 115

5. Atlantic, 121

6. North Polk, 138

7. Kuemper Catholic, 189

8. Creston, 216

9. Des Moines Hoover, 257

STATE QUALIFYING MEET WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL TIMES