Kennedy's Jacob Green stamps himself as a 4A state cross country contender

CEDAR FALLS — Jacob Green rambled through the chute as he approached the finish line, pumping his first with every stride.

Little did he know, his joy was about to multiply.

A senior at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Green proved his status as a state-championship contender Thursday afternoon, earning the boys' individual crown at a Class 4A cross country state qualifier at Birdsall Park.

'It's not state championship or bust,' Green said. 'Top five would be great. But I'm a guy with high expectations, and when I get to the starting line at 11:30 next Saturday morning, I'm going there to win.'

Green led virtually from the start, extended the lead to more than 10 seconds, then won by nine. He crossed the finish line in 16:15, with Ames' Noah Kohut-Jackson next at 16:24.

'I wanted to take it out fast,' Green said. 'I wanted to go out hard and be comfortable the last half of the race.'

Green's fastest move, though, was when he learned the team results — Kennedy edged Iowa City High by a single point for the third state-qualifying slot — and sprinted to the Cougars' camp to whoop it up with his pals.

Cedar Falls won it with 47 points, followed by Ames (61) and Kennedy (92).

Along with the top three teams, the top 15 individuals advance to state, Nov. 2 at Lakeside Golf Course, Fort Dodge. Cedar Rapids Washington's Max Locher and Lewis Kleman were fourth and sixth.

City High's girls needed no drama to qualify. The Little Hawks ran second to Dubuque Senior, scoring 53 points to the Rams' 29. Western Dubuque (92) snagged the third spot.

The Little Hawks had qualified 30 straight years (1988-2017) before the streak ended last year.

'We've been working our butts off to get back,' said City's Rowan Boulter, a sophomore and the third-place individual finisher.

Boulter wasn't fazed when she lost her left shoe with about a half-mile to go.

'I had so much adrenaline, I didn't notice,' she said. 'But I could feel the mud on my foot.'

Ames senior Camille Jackson ran away from the pack from the crack of the gun, winning in 17:59. Lillian Schmidt of Senior was second in 18:53, then Boulter finished in 19:07.

'I was 36th at state last year,' Boulter said. 'I really think I can finish in the top 15 (next week).'

City's Lilly Reynolds was sixth. Mary Cline of Cedar Rapids Washington was the lone Metro qualifier, finishing 11th. Lauren Klein was seventh for Western Dubuque.

CLASS 4A STATE QUALIFIER

At Cedar Falls

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams — 1. Dubuque Senior 29, 2. Iowa City High 53, 3. Western Dubuque 92, 4. Cedar Falls 101, 5. Ames 125, 6. C.R. Washington 162, 7. C.R. Kennedy 214, 8. Muscatine 227, 9. C.R. Jefferson 260, 10. Waterloo 287.

Individuals — 1. Camille Jackson (Ames), 17:59; 2. Lillian Schmidt (DbqSr), 18:53; 3. Rowan Boulter (ICH), 19:07; 4. Claire Edmondson (DbqSr), 19:17; 5. Izzy Gorton (DbqSr), 19:25; 6. Lilly Reynolds (ICH), 19:41; 7. Lauren Klein (WDbq), 19:48; 8. Kate Miron (DbqSr), 19:48; 9. Mackenzie Michael (CF), 20:02; 10. Grace Ries (DbqSr), 20:05; 11. Mary Cline (CRW), 20:08; 12. Audrey Biermann (WDbq), 20:15; 13. Iris Wedemeyer (ICH), 20:18; 14. Erin Anderson (ICH), 20:25; 15. Lucy Thompkins-Garoutte (DbqSr), 20:25.

Iowa City High — 3, Boulter, 6. Reynolds, 13. Wedemeyer, 14. Anderson, 17. Mary Bounds, 20:38.

C.R. Washington — 11. Cline, 31. Libby Wickham, 21:45; 35. Sage Slessor, 22:01; 37. JoJo Hayes, 22:10; 48. Maggie Gorman, 22:46.

C.R. Kennedy — 39. Emily Fusselman, 22:15; 40. Bethany Smeed, 22:18; 41. Anabel Bradley, 22:22; 44. Kayleigh Duncan, 22:27; 50. Erica Schulte, 23:12.

C.R. Jefferson — 27. Rachel Nagel, 21:30; 55. Aidrana Brandis, 23:51; 56. Hannah Hoeger, 24:06; 58. Katrina Truitt, 24:18; 64. Megan Bumpus, 26:04.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams — 1. Cedar Falls 47, 2. Ames 61, 3. C.R. Kennedy 92, 4. Iowa City High 93, 5. C.R. Washington 105, 6. Western Dubuque 153, 7. C.R. Jefferson 206, 8. Dubuque Senior 210, 9. Muscatine 222, 10. Waterloo 290.

Individuals — 1. Jacob Green (CRK), 16:15; 2. Noah Kohut-Jackson (Ames), 16:24; 3. Aniey Akok (Ames), 16:25; 4. Max Locher (CRW), 16:27; 5. Brayden Burnett (CF), 16:31; 6. Lewis Kleman (CRW), 16:32; 7. Ford Washburn (ICH), 16:36; 8. Michael Goodenbour (CF), 16:46; 9. Conner Kilgore (DS), 16:47; 10. Eli Smith (CF), 16:48; 11. T.J. Tomlyanovich (CF), 16:54; 12. Cade Messer (WDbq), 16:55; 13. Joel Burris (CF), 16:56; 14. Kayde Bowers (CRK), 16:57; 15. Benett Ryken (Ames), 17:00.

C.R. Kennedy — 1. Green, 14. Bowers, 23. Jack Schissel, 17:26; 26. Lucas Middlekauff, 17:31; 28. Levi Sullivan, 17:33.

Iowa City High — 7. Washburn, 18. Mitchell Wilkes, 17:16; 20. Lance Smith, 17:22; 21. Evan McElroy, 17:23; 27. Truman Thompson, 17:33.

C.R. Washington — 4. Locher, 6. Kleman, 19. Ethan Stout, 17:21; 31. Lukas Engledown, 17:38; 45. Britt Edwards, 18:07.

C.R. Jefferson — 22. Gavin Hall, 17:24; 40. Lukas Lamparek, 17:58; 41. Xander Scaglione, 17:59; 49. Nathan Lauterwasser, 18:13; 54. Brandon Cano, 18:21.

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