Tigers will take both cross-country teams to state

Tigers will take both cross-country teams to state 

 WEST UNION — The Tipton boy’s cross-country team dominated the eld of 14 teams at the state qualifying meet at North Fayette Valley schools last Thursday to qualify for the 2019 state meet. The Tigers will get a chance to defend their 2018 Class 2A state title. The Tigers scored a team low 26 points. The Tigers scored the lowest team total among the five state qualifying meet sites. Des Moines Christian was next with 30 points at the Panorama state qualifying meet and Monticello with 36 points at the Dike-New Hartford meet. Both teams won their respective meets to claim team titles.

 North Fayette Valley, ranked No. 18 in Class 2A, took advantage of the meet being at their home course, placing second with 116 points. No. 9 Camanche was third in the team race with 123 points, seven points out of tying for second place. Un- ranked Waukon placed fourth with 135 points and 2A No. 13 Crestwood placed fth with 142 points.

 The race for the individual title came down to three River Valley Conference runners. Tipton’s Caleb Shumaker, Bellevue’s Brady Griebel, and Camanche’s Dylan Darsidan. All three runners are juniors. All three would place in the top-3 at the 2019 River Valley Conference meet. Shumaker won the RVC race while Darsidan was the runner-up and Griebel was third. At last Thursday’s state qualifying meet, the trio placed in the top-3 again. Shumaker won the meet in a time of 16:27. He won the RVC title running to a time of 16:47. The next two spots ipped from the RVC meet a week earlier.  Griebel placed third at conference in 16:59, but was the runner-up at the state qualifying meet in 16:36. Darsidan was the runner-up at the RVC meet in 16:52, and was third at the state qualifying meet in 16:44. Shumaker is currently ranked No. 1 while Darsidan is No. 2 and Griebel is No. 3. Tipton also has three other ranked runners. Trent Pelzer is No. 8, Jackson Edens is No. 13 and Andrew Olseen is No. 28.

 The Tigers had six of the top 15 runners at the meet and also quali ed for the state meet as individuals. Shumaker was first, Jackson Edens placed fourth in 17:17. A trio of Tigers placed nearly together at the meet. Senior Trent Pelzer placed sixth in 17:17, Cody Bohlmann was seventh in 17:29, and Landan Hill was eighth in 17:32. Senior Andrew Olseen also placed in the top-10 with a ninth place finish in 17:32. A.J. Thumma was the only other THS runner at the meet and he placed 21st in 18:03.

Tigers Punch Ticket to State For The First Time Since 2007
 WEST UNION — It’s been a long time coming. The 2019 Tipton girl’s cross-country team snapped a 12 year state drought last Thursday, qualifying for the 2019 state meet in Fort Dodge with a third place nish at their state qualifying meet. There, the Tigers scored 92 points to claim the last of three automatic team qualifying spots. Class 2A No. 7 Starmont won the meet with a team score of 43 points. The Stars had two runners nish in the top-10 and another place 11th. No. 13 Waukon was the runner-up with 60 points. The Tigers beat Crestwood who was ranked No. 14 in Class 2A and who placed fourth with 116 points, 24 points behind the Tigers.

 The Tigers were led by two top-15 runners who also qualified for the state meet individually. THS junior Kallie Wallick placed fourth and sophomore Alyssa Mente placed seventh to lead Tipton. Wallick has quali ed for state two of the last three years and this will be Mente’s first trip. Wallick ran to a finishing time of 21:00 while Mente nished in a time of 21:13.

 Starmont’s Kenna Meisgeier won the race in a time of 19:47. Meisgeier is ranked No. 6 in Class 2A. She was the only ranked runner in the eld of 80 runners. Teammate Makenzie Plagman was third in 20:57. Garner- Hayfield-Ventura’s Abby Christians was the runner-up in the individual race in 20:40.

 The Tigers will be joined by River Valley Conference schools Mid-Prai- rie and Monticello in Class 2A and Iowa City Regina in Class 1A. Mid- Prairie was the runner-up at the Williamsburg State Qualifying meet and Monticello won the Dike-New Hartford state qualifying meet. Iowa City Regina won the state qualifying meet in Iowa City.

 Tipton junior Rachel Bierman also returns to state, this time with the Tigers team. Bierman, like Wallick, has reached state in two of the past three years. Tipton freshman Coryn Wallick placed 28th to give the Tigers four top-30 nishers. Wallick finished the race in 22:45.

 Other Tipton finishers were Alli Nash 38th in 23:26, Britney Ford 50th in 25:14, and Ashlyn Curry 59th in 25:37.

Class 2A State qualifying Meet - North Fayette Valley
Thursday, October 24
At West Union
Girl’s Team Scores: 1. Starmont 43, 2. Waukon 60, 3. Tipton 92, 4. Crestwood 116, 5. Osage 134, 6. Forest City 169, 7. New Hamp- ton 176, 8. North Fayette Valley 187, 9. Garner Hayfield-Ventura 241, 10. Dyersville-Beckman 273, 11. Oelwein 311.

Top-15 Individual Finishers (State qualifiers):
1. Kenna Meisgeier (STAR) 19:47, 2. Abby Christians (GHV) 20:40, 3. Makenzie Plagman (STAR) 20:57, 4. Kallie Wallick (TIP) 21:00, 5. Katelyn Benzing (W) 21:05, 6. Katelyn John- ston (O) 21:06, 7. Alyssa Mente (TIP) 21:13, 8. Gabby Williamson (B) 21:25, 9. Olivia Oliendick (CRS) 21:29, 10. Regan Grif th (W) 21:31, 11. Kari German (STAR) 21:32, 12. Delaney Dunne(B) 21:36, 13. Adrianna Gallena (WC) 21:47, 14. Bailey Shafer (W) 21:51, 15. Talia Stangel (O) 21:52.

Individual Team Results:
TIPTON (92): 4. Kallie Wallick 21:00, 7. Alyssa Mente 21:13, 24. Rachel Bierman 22:45, 28. Coryn Wallick 22:45, 38. Alli Nash 23:26, 50. Britney Ford 25:14, 59. Ashlyn Curry 25:37.

Class 2A State qualifying Meet - North Fayette Valley
Thursday, October 24
At West Union
Boy’s Team Scores: 1. Tipton 26, 2. North Fayette Valley 116, 3. Camanche 123, 4. Waukon 135, 5. Crestwood (Cresco) 142, 6. Starmont 146, 7. Bellevue 155, 8. Forest City 183, 9. Garner Hayfield-Ventura 195, 10. New Hampton 298, 11. Waterloo Columbus 309, 12. Osage 313, 13. Oelwein 318, 14. Dyersville-Beckman 417.

Top-15 Individual Finishers (State qualifiers):
1. Caleb Shumaker (TIP) 16:27, 2. Brady Grieb- el (B) 16:36, 3. Dylan Darsidan (CAM) 16:44, 4. Jackson Edens (TIP) 17:17, 5. Bryden Juels- gaard (CRE) 17:27, 6. Trent Pelzer (TIP) 17:27, 7. Cody Bohlmann (TIP) 17:29, 8. Landan Hill (TIP) 17:32, 9. Andrew Olseen (TIP) 17:32, 10. Caleb Sledd (O) 17:34, 11. Dadson Melchiori (CAM) 17:35, 12. Jake Hejlik (GHV) 17:40, 13. Dylan Conner (STAR) 17:47, 14. Joey Hovinga (FC) 17:48, 15. Ben Miller (NFV) 17:52.

Individual Team Results:
TIPTON (26): 1. Caleb Shumaker 16:27, 4. Jackson Edens 17:17, 6. Trent Pelzer 17:27, 7. Cody Bohlmann 17:29, 8. Landan Hill 17:32, 9. Andrew Olseen 17:32, 21. A.J. Thumma 18:03.