Bulldogs cross country competes at state qualifier

WAVERLY—-- The Hampton-Dumont-CAL Bulldogs cross country teams competed at the State Qualifier 3A meet at Max Championship Cross Country Course on Oct. 23.

The girls team took ninth place out of 11 teams with a score of 284 points. MacKenzy Valley took 45th place with a time of 21:29.0, Lily Hambly took 53rd place with a time of 22:36.4, Brooklyn Valley took 59th place with a time of 23:19.5, Jordan Valley finished in 64th place with a time of 23:57.7, Marlee Maas took 67th place with a time of 24:28.7, and Emma Dietz finished in 76th place with a time of 27:39.7.

The boys team took 13th place out of 13 teams with a score of 361 points. Conner Miller took 64th place with a time of 19:08.3, William Vosburg took 71st place with a time of 19:43.0, Arnold Guevara took 73rd place with a time of 19:55.2, Isaac Vosburg took 74th place with a time of 19:58.3, Wael Habarie finished in 79th place with a time of 20:43.1, Max Kofoot finished in 80th place with a time of 20:53.2, and Isaac Sauke finished in 81st place with a time of 21:10.7.

Head coach Traci Moorehead said that overall that she thought both teams ran well in the race.

“We had six of our 13 runners run a season record or a personal record,” Moorehead said. “So it is super exciting that they are running some of their best times at the end of the year. So it shows they kept pushing and working to get better. We were really pleased with how the night went.”

Moorehead said that the course for the meet was relatively flat and that she thought the runners handled the course well.

“It was a really nice course and I think they enjoyed the course,” Moorehead said. 

Moorehead said that the runners who ran in this race and the North Central Conference meet the previous week had seen some good results.

“Almost every single one of our kids has gotten a season record or personal record,” Moorehead said. “I am just proud of all of them really.”

When it comes to the season as a whole, Moorehead said the team was fortunate to have the runners on the team that they have.

“We are fortunate to have such good kids,” Moorehead said. “They put in the work, they do what is asked of them. We challenged them for the last race to just give it their all. With running so much obviously you have to be in good physical condition and there is a lot of mental aspect and to know that you worked hard all year and you are ready to do this and many of them did that and we are proud of them.”

As the season went along, Moorehead said one thing that allowed the runners to get seasonal bests was how they worked during the year.

“They worked every day and I always say that cross country is hard,” Moorehead said. “We ask the kids to do it 10 times in nine or eight weeks. So just continue to grind and push themselves to get better is really phenomenal to watch them. We were lucky this year as we had only a couple of injuries so that helps during the season.”

The team will graduate nine seniors and for the runners who will return next year, one thing that Moorehead said one thing she encourages them to do is to stay active and play other sports before the next cross country season.

“Do whatever you are interested in and then when it gets to around summer time we will get some summer workouts in and see them again next fall,” Moorehead said.