Tiebreak no heartache for Decorah

FORT DODGE -- Every point mattered. Literally, every point.

And not just from the scoring five.

Decorah captured its second consecutive Class 3A girls' state cross country championship Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course in the closest, most dramatic fashion imaginable.

The Vikings and MOC-Floyd Valley both scored 108 points, with Decorah winning the tie-breaker, based on the finish of the sixth runners.

"We knew we needed to run our best race, all of us," said junior Stef Bjerke. "We all believed in each other."

Decorah's depth offset the superiority of MOC-Floyd Valley's frontrunners. Consider this: Kelly Minear, the Vikings' No. 6, beat the No. 4 runner for the Dutch.

Every runner that a Decorah girl beat down the stretch, that was critical in a race that more than went to the wire.

"We didn't know (we won) until we were at camp," Bjerke said. "Coach (Christy Nimrod) told us, and we really went crazy."

Bjerke (who finished eighth), Linnea Kephart, Amanda Taylor and Gara Lonning have been on a pair of state-title teams. They'll all be back as seniors in 2014.

Pella freshman Tess Roorda was the individual champ in 14:36. Lily Horst, a sophomore from Vinton-Shellsburg, improved on last year's ninth-place finish. She was fourth Saturday.

"I really wanted to move up, and top-five was in the back of my mind," Horst said. "Everybody takes off so fast out here. They've really got the adrenalin pumping."

Led by the 1-2 effort of Chandler Austin and Albert Meier, Boone won the 3A boys' crown with 69 points. Charles City was second with 82 points, Decorah third with 114.

Austin ran alone throughout and finished in 15:05, the best effort Saturday in any class. Meier followed in 15:53.

Center Point-Urbana's Josh Yeager was fourth in 16:09.

"My second mile was a little faster than I wanted, and I lost a little pace on my third," Yeager said.

Yeager suffered an injury to his left calf at the end of the track season, and lost a half-summer's worth of training.

"I came back harder than ever before," he said. "To come back from that, it gives me so much more confidence in my ability."

Mount Vernon-Lisbon's girls were fifth; its boys were seventh. 

CLASS 3A RESULTS

GIRLS

Teams – 1. Decorah 108, 2. MOC-Floyd Valley 108, 3. Davenport Assumption 126, 4. Pella 140, 5. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 169, 6. Charles City 169, 7. Humboldt 211, 8. Vinton-Shellsburg 211, 9. Spencer 221, 10. Winterset 227, 11. Williamsburg 228, 12. Cedar Rapids Xavier 254, 13. Grinnell 261, 14. Dallas Center-Grimes 262, 15. Sioux City Heelan 308.

Individuals – 1. Tess Roorda (Pella), 14:36; 2. Joy Ripslinger (DavA), 14:38; 3. Dianna Slight (Boone), 14:58; 4. Lily Horst (VSh), 14:59; 5. Abby Kohut-Jackson (Ballard), 15:02; 6. Madison Waymire (DCG), 15:02; 7. Sienna DeJong (Oskaloosa), 15:04; 8. Emily Campbell (ChC), 15:08; 9. Bethany Dykstra (MOC-FV), 15:12; 10. Emily Moes (Dbq Wahlert), 15:16; 11. Sam Larson (Humb), 15:18; 12. Stef Bjerke (Dec), 15:19; 13. Kelsey Lang (MOC-FV), 15:23; 14. Kylie Boehmer (ChC), 15:26; 15. Jenny Dickes (CRX), 15:27.

BOYS

Teams – 1. Boone 69, 2. Charles City 82, 3. Decorah 114, 4. Pella 127, 5. Algona 148, 6. Grinnell 166, 7. Dubuque Wahlert 184, 8. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 195, 9. Harlan 210, 10. Center Point-Urbana 212, 11. Williamsburg 232, 12. Clear Creek Amana 244, 13. Creston 312, 14. MOC-Floyd Valley 322, 15. Dallas Center-Grimes 374.

Individuals – 1. Chandler Austin (Boone), 15:05; 2. Albert Meier (Boone), 15:53; 3. Atem Akok (Perry), 15:57; 4. Josh Yeager (CPU), 16:09; 5. Jacob Day (ChC), 16:13; 6. Bo Hjelle (Algona), 16:13; 7. Chase Smith (Garner GHV), 16:15; 8. Skylar DeJong (Oskaloosa), 16:21; 9. Spencer DeJong (Oskaloosa), 16:22; 10. Mason Doty (Grinnell), 16:27; 11. Kyle Marti (DeWitt Central), 16:31; 12. Ben Warner (Pella), 16:36; 13. Andrew Donovan (DbqW), 16:38; 14. Luke Kohut-Jackson (Ballard), 16:39; 15. Jacob Schmitt (C.R. Xavier), 16:39.