Seven Cyclones to represent at Fort Dodge
HCHS Cyclone cross country runners Brylee Schechinger, Allie Anderson, Ava Freund, Sadie Alberti, Ashlyn Rau, Aspen Bieker, and Lindsey Sonderman will represent Harlan in the state meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
“I’m really excited,” Alberti said. “Last year, I got to go along as an alternate, and it was really fun to cheer on all the girls, so I’m excited to get to run with them this year.”
During the state qualifying meet, Alberti finished 34th overall with a time of 22:07.08 earning a spot at Fort Dodge with the team coming in second place at 71 points, 12 behind Glenwood, who won with 59.
“It was probably one of my better races throughout the season,” Alberti added. “It was a little hard in the second mile, but it got better.”
Two Cyclones, Lindsey Sonderman and Ashlyn Rau also finished in the top 15, which qualified them as individuals. Sonderman won the event with 18:10.50, seven seconds ahead of Glenwood’s Grace Berglund who came in with 18:17.48. Rau finished fourth overall with 19:11.19.
Schechinger, Bieker, Anderson, and Freund all qualified with the team as Schechinger finishing 18th at 20:59.65, Bieker at 23rd overall with 21:20.54, Anderson in 25th at 21:32.28, and Freund in 32nd with 21:59.34. Cyclone Head Coach Zach Klaassen said the team is ready for the state meet.
“You set your goals, one of them being that you make it to the state meet, and we accomplished that which is awesome,” he said. “It talks a lot about how hard the girls have worked, and what they’ve done even in the offseason to put themselves in a position to be at this point is pretty awesome. They’re dedicated to the team, but dedicated to themselves in their own individual goals.”
Klaassen has been having the girls get together and practice, so they are as prepared as possible for Friday’s showing.
“We’ve been trying to push it (but not too hard) since it’s the end of the season, so our legs don’t burn out and we have fresh ones for Friday,” Alberti said.
The Cyclones will be competing against 38 other schools at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course, including some familiar faces with Hawkeye Ten rivals from Glenwood and Denison, along with other schools they saw throughout the season in Storm Lake, MOC-Floyd Valley, Spencer, and others. Klaassen said the course is similar to the course at Storm Lake.
“It’s a lot like the Storm Lake course,” he said. “It’s pretty flat, for the most part. There is a little bit of hills. Our girls seem to enjoy the flat courses, so they’re excited about the opportunity. To get out there and compete in the field amongst the best runners in the state is awesome. It tells you that you belong there and you earned your way and you’re one of the best runners in the state too.”
The Cyclones are hoping for a high finish Friday, after multiple first place finishes throughout the season including Glenwood Lake Park, the Gary Meyer Invitational, Sunrise Pointe Golf Course, Quail Run Golf Course, and others.
“We always have a goal of finishing higher than we’re ranked,” Klaassen added. “I’d say first place is going to be tough to beat Pella. They are so deep and loaded. I think 2-6 is wide open, and our goal at the start of the season was to get up on the deck, and to get on the deck you need to be in that top three, and that hasn’t changed. Everybody is going to have to have a good day.”
Sonderman and Schechinger will be running their final race for HCHS.
“It’s definitely going to be really sad to lose our seniors next year,” Alberti said. “It’ll be our last race with them, which will be sad, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do because, they definitely have some special talent.”