Linn-Mar sophomore Micah Poellet wins blistering 4A girls’ cross country state title

FORT DODGE - Once she made her charge, the race was over.

Linn-Mar sophomore Micah Poellet blistered the field at the Class 4A girls' cross country state championships on Saturday, winning the individual title by 25 seconds over runner-up Mattison Plummer of Southeast Polk.

'This is the most amazing thing I could have ever asked for,” Poellet said. 'I've been training so hard and last year I just couldn't quite get to my goals. This year, I managed to come out with the win, which means a lot to me.”

Poellet finished 16th at the state meet as a freshman last season, but entered the 2018 championships ranked second behind previously-undefeated Iowa City Liberty freshman Ashlyn Keeney.

Keeney charged ahead at the beginning of the race with an advantage that eventually grew to 30 meters before Poellet made a charge.

'I just kept keeping my eyes on her,” Poellet said. 'I just wanted to get as close as possible as I could to her, and then eventually I just passed her and then I used the adrenaline from passing her to keep my lead all the way to the finish.”

Keeney - reportedly hampered by an illness before and after the meet - dropped all the way to 72nd in the overall standings. Linn-Mar sophomore Chloe Skidmore finished eighth overall, while Cedar Rapids Washington senior Reagan Gorman earned her second top-10 finish in two years.

Plummer helped Southeast Polk claim the team title with 79 points, just one ahead of two-time defending champion Johnston.

Ankeny senior Tim Sindt repeated as the boys' 4A champion with a victory in 15:36, which was five seconds better than Cedar Rapids Prairie junior Jack Pendergast (15:41.7). Pendergast - who has lost shoes, broke shoelaces and sustained a fall during various races this season - faced another type of adversity on Saturday.

'Right before the race, I had a huge bloody nose,” Pendergast said with a laugh. 'It was really bad. Blood was everywhere. … It was something I could toss aside. I've been dealing with adversity throughout my whole entire season.”

Iowa City West senior Kolby Greiner finished third in 15:44.1, while Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior Jacob Green placed sixth.

West Des Moines Dowling edged Dubuque Hempstead by a point for its third-consecutive team title. With four runners – junior Lewis Kleman, seniors Paul Schneidermann and Khory Nobles, plus junior Max Locher – in the top 19 overall, Cedar Rapids Washington was third.

'We went into this race saying we just need to run a good race,” Washington assistant coach Chris Dvorak said. 'We ran a good race and that will show where we're at. I think that is what we just saw today.”

CLASS 4A CROSS COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Fort Dodge

(Lakeside Golf Course)

Girls' results

Teams -

1. Southeast Polk 79, 2. Johnston 80, 3. WDM Valley 97, 4. Dubuque Senior 136, 5. Waukee 1161, 6. Pleasant Valley 214, 7. Dubuque Hempstead 219, 8. C.R. Prairie 220, 9. Urbandale 227, 10. WDM Dowling 232, 11. Linn-Mar 248, 12. C.R. Kennedy 257, 13. Des Moines Roosevelt 263, 14. Iowa City West 273, 15. Ankeny Centennial 361.

Individuals (Top 3 plus area) -

1. Micah Poellet (LM), 18:03.40; 2. Mattison Plummer (SEP), 18:28.70; 3. Brooke McKee (J), 18:43.30; 10. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 19:00.70; 36. Rowan Boulter (ICH), 19:50.70; 72. Ashlyn Keeney (ICL), 20:22.80; 108. Libby Wickham (CRW), 21;15.00;

C.R. PRAIRIE (220):

13. White 19:23.30; 40. Laurdyn Meyer 20:05.30; 43. Alyza Koppes 20:09.20; 54. Carli Reittinger 20:20.20; 70. Gabby Cortez 20:30.90.

LINN-MAR (248):

1. Poellet 18:03.40; 8. Chloe Skidmore 18:57.70; 69. Sarah Murphy 20:30.60; 80. Lilly Geelan 20:57.70; 90. Dimia Burrell 21:17.60.

C.R. KENNEDY (257):

29. Briana McLaughlin 19:49.30; 35. Lauren Gray 19:57.50; 52. Grace Walker 20:19.10; 65. Olivia Hamblin 20:27.70; 76. Bethany Smeed 20:55.60

IOWA CITY WEST (273):

26. Deniz Ince 19:46; 33. Kiara Malloy-Salgado 19:54.10; 51. Maddy Negley 20:18.50; 67. Camden Zirker, 20:30.40; 96. Natalie Katz, 21:44.70.

Boys' results

Teams -

1. WDM Dowling 72; 2. Dubuque Hempstead 73; 3. Cedar Rapids Washington 95; 4. Pleasant Valley 112; 5. Ankeny 163; 6. C.R. Prairie 177; 7. Iowa City West 178; 8. Waukee 211; 9. Johnston 225; 10. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 249; 11. Cedar Falls 256; 12. Southeast Polk 256; 13. Ames 258; 14. VWDM Valley 308; 15. Sioux City North 415.

Individuals (Top 3 plus area) -

1. Tim Sindt (Ankeny), 15:36; 2. Jack Pendergast (CRP), 15:41.70; 3. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 15:44.10; 7. Dylan Dolezal (LM), 15:59.70;

C.R. WASHINGTON (95):

10. Lewis Kleman 16:08.70; 11. Paul Schneidermann 16.09; 16. Khory Nobles 16:12.50; 18. Max Locher 16:17.40; 40. Ethan Stout 16:51.80;

C.R. PRAIRIE (172):

2. Pendergast 15:41.70; 35. McKade Adams 16:45; 36. Colton LaGrange 16:45.70; 49. Andrew Bickford 16:57.70; 55. Huter Kalous 17:02.90;

IOWA CITY WEST (178):

3. Greiner 15:44.10; 28. Ken Wilbur 16:37.30; 41. Yousif Salama 16:52.80; 50. Will Conrad 16:59.10; 56. Nicholo Schianchi 17:03.50

C.R. KENNEDY (249):

6. Jacob Green 15:54.5; 47. Lucas Middlekauff 16:56.90; 48. Jaxson Hornett 16:57.50; 70. Wesley Jackson 17:21.60; 78. Kayde Bowers 17:29.10;

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com