A year later, Regals gain redemption

CEDAR RAPIDS - It still eats at Chad Swope. Always will, he's convinced.

'It's something that will stick with me every day,” said the cross country coach at Iowa City Regina. 'And as we approached this day, it's been weighing on me a lot.”

The Regals unburdened him somewhat Thursday.

Regina's boys placed three runners in the top 15 and captured the Class 1A district title at Seminole Valley Park. The Regals scored 83 points to outrun defending state champion Bellevue (106). Wapello was third with 144.

Last year, Swope mistakenly sent his teams to the course at Solon a few days before their state qualifier. That's against state rules. Regina self-reported the infraction, and the IHSAA and IGHSAU disqualified the Regals from competition before they got to the starting line.

'Chad blames himself for it all the time,” said Regina's Emilio Tovar, who led the charge with a ninth-place finish. 'I got over it a week after state. He needs to stop beating himself up about it.

'But yes, it was prime motivation for this day.”

Regina's girls also will be making the trip to Kennedy Park near Fort Dodge for the Oct. 31 state meet, earning a third-place finish.

Elkader Central won it with 47 points. Then it was Starmont (83) and Regina (92).

'We lost our top five girls from last year,” Swope said. 'And we have a kid (Molly Vittetoe) who had been our seventh runner most of the year, and she drops 2 1/2 minutes and runs third for us today.”

Both of the individual favorites won handily.

Top-ranked Alyssa Williams of Durant got away from the pack immediately and motored through the course in 18:26, building a 46-second margin over runner-up Camryn Reeg of Bellevue. Haley Schroeder of Central was third.

Bellevue's Andrew Meyer, also ranked No. 1 in 1A, led a 1-2 finish by the Comets, completing the 5,000 meters in 16:09. Teammate Andrew Segalla was second in 16:26, then Keiffer Sexton of Highland was third.

The top 15 individuals from each state qualifier join the top three teams in Fort Dodge.

CLASS 1A STATE-QUALIFYING CROSS COUNTRY MEET

At Seminole Valley Park

Girls Results

Teams (top 3 qualify for state) - 1. Elkader Central 47, 2. Starmont 83, 3. Iowa City Regina 92, 4. Bellevue Marquette 123, 5. Bellevue 140, 6. Durant 153, 7. Clayton Ridge 206, 8. Maquoketa Valley 240, 9. Edgewood-Colesburg 256, 10. Sigourney 286, 11. Lone Tree 291, 12. Midland 299, 13. Wapello 318, 14. Winfield-Mount Union 349, 15. WACO 419.

Individual state qualifiers - 1. Alyssa Williams (Dur), 18:26; 2. Camryn Reeg (Belle), 19:12; 3. Haley Schroeder (ElkC), 19:47; 4. Kailey Miller (Belle), 19:58; 5. Ciera Deitchler (ElkC), 20:06; 6. Hanna Hess (Ed-Co), 20:17; 7. Molly Blondin (ICR), 20:18; 8. Sarah McMurtry (Star), 20:20; 9. Bianca Malone (Star), 20:37; 10. Ashley Funk (ElkC), 20:38; 11. Kassandra Rosenbum (ClayR), 20:58; 12. Grace Smith (Star), 21:03; 13. Annika Frank (Marq), 21:04; 14. Emily Asche (ElkC), 21:04; 15. Desi Weber (ElkC), 21:07.

Regina - 7. Blondin, 16. Mary Graff, 21:12; 21. Molly Vittetoe, 21:18; 23. Natalie Shank, 21:28; 25. Elizabeth Klesner, 21:42.

Boys Results

Teams (top 3 qualify for state) - 1. Iowa City Regina 83, 2. Bellevue 106, 3. Wapello 144, 4. Starmont 146, 5. Elkader Central 151, 6. Calamus-Wheatland 173, 7. Winfield-Mount Union 194, 8. Bellevue Marquette 208, 9. Highland 244, 10. Edgewood-Colesburg 246, 11. Durant 284, 12. Sigourney 285, 13. English Valleys 330, 14. Fort Madison Holy Trinity 381, 15. Maquoketa Valley 389, 16. Clayton Ridge 403, 17. Alburnett 435, 18. Clinton Prince of Peace 435, 19. Easton Valley 498.

Individual state qualifiers - 1. Andrew Meyer (Belle), 16:09; 2. Andrew Segalla (Belle), 16:26; 3. Keiffer Sexton (High), 16:33; 4. Gavin Bencze (WMU), 16:45; 5. Hunter Rickels (Cal-Wheat), 16:54; 6. Nick Putz (Ed-Co), 16:55; 7. Cole Moeller (Cal-Wheat), 16:58; 8. Johnathon Quinn (WMU), 17:07; 9. Emilio Tovar (ICR), 17:08; 10. Jacob Jansen (ElkC), 17:09; 11. Nate Green (ICR), 17:08; 12. Jacob Wessel (Ed-Co), 17:11; 13. Nathan Meyer (ICR), 17:20; 14. Brady Royal (Wap), 17:23; 15. Joey Tobin (Durant), 17:25.

Regina - 9. Tovar, 11. Green, 13. Meyer, 19. Nick Schnoeblen, 17:53; 34. Emery Oliver, 18:13.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com