November 07, 2024

Winkelmann captures state cross country bid

By Ryan Stonebraker
Nodaway Valley freshman Gabe Winkelmann finds his way in a crowd early on in the state-qualifying race at Guthrie Center.

Nodaway Valley freshman Gabe Winkelmann finds his way in a crowd early on in the state-qualifying race at Guthrie Center. (Dan Dickinson)

Nodaway Valley freshman Gabe Winkelmann’s fine season will continue one more week. This comes because he qualified for the 2024 Class 1A Iowa High School State Cross Country Meet, scheduled for this Saturday in Fort Dodge. Class 1A boys run at 11:15 a.m.

The 2024 boys Pride of Iowa Conference champ can now end his first varsity season in a way that many dream to finish, but few get to. Winkelmann captured a ninth-place finish in the qualifying race of 70 runners.

The Wolverine team ran their hearts out at the competitive meet, placing fourth with one of the youngest teams at the meet. The Wolverines scored an even 100 team points, had three total top-20 finishers and four runners finishing in the top-half.

Sophomore Luke Kading just missed joining Winkelmann at state with an 11th place finish in 18:36. The cutoff to qualify as an individual is 10th place. At the meet, the 10th place runner was Brennan Boden from Tri-Center, Neola in a time of 18:11. Sophomore Paul Kading added a third Wolverine top-30 finish at the meet, placing 28th in 19:43.

Other Nodaway Valley finishes came from Cherumin Mercado 44th in 20:34, Dom Breheny 61st in 23:26, and Fynn Thompson 68th in 25:58.

The Wolverines will no doubt have a strong cheering section Saturday in Fort Dodge made up of current and possibly former Wolverine runners and community members supporting Winkelmann.

East Union was the only other POI team represented at the meet. The Eagles were led by a 39th place finish by Brock Driskill at 20:26.

The top two teams qualify for the state meet in Fort Dodge this weekend. This meet, however, had a tie in the runner-up team. Class 1A No. 13 ACGC won the meet with a team score of 51 points. No. 11 Tri-Center and No. 20 Council Bluffs St. Albert tied for the runner-up spot with 63 points. St. Albert’s fifth runner finished behind the fifth runner for Tri-Center, thus only the Trojans went to state and the Falcons’ season ended.

Council Bluffs St. Albert did have a pair of individual qualifiers after they placed in the top-10, including meet champion Parker Heistrekamp, who won in a time of 17:14. Heistrekamp is the No. 7 ranked runner individually in Class 1A. Two other state-ranked runners were top-5 finishers, 1A No. 27 Haven Weers from Tri-Center (the runner-up) in 17:25 and 1A No. 26 Noah Poldberg from Panorama (third) in 17:42.

Tickets for the 2024 state meet can be purchased on Bound and are $10 per person plus fees. Tickets will be required of all individuals, including children school-aged and older. There will be no on-site cash sales. Parking will be inside Kennedy Park and there will be a charge of $3 per person. A parking fee will be added to the purchase of a ticket a the time of the purchase.

Class 1A State Qualifying Meet

AC/GC

At Guthrie Center

Boy’s Team Scores: 1. AC/GC* 51, 2. Tri-Center* 63, 3. Council Bluffs St. Albert* 63, 4. Nodaway Valley 100, 5. IKM-Manning 115, 6. Boyer Valley 141, 7. Woodward Academy 182, 8. Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton 197.No Team Scores: CAM, Colo-Nesco, Whiting, East Union, West Monona.

*- Denotes State Team Qualifiers

Top-10 Fishers:

1. Parker Heistrekamp (CB St. Albert) 17:14, 2. Haven Weers (TC) 17:25, 3. Noah Poldberg (Panorama) 17:42, 4. Dane Gorham (Boyer Valley) 17:50, 5. Preston Kent (AC/GC) 17:50, 6. Gavin Sloss (AC/GC) 17:58, 7. Austin Rasmussen (EHK) 17:59, 8. Jackson Walter (CB St. Albert) 18:05, 9. Gabe Winkelmann (Nodaway Valley) 18:06, 10. Brennan Boden (TC) 18:11.

Individual Team Finishes:

AC/GC (51): 5. Preston Kent 17:50, 6. Gavin Sloss 17:58, 12. Tate Fever 18:41, 15. Noah Kading 18:50, 18. Jonny Kading 19:18, 23. Brody Beeler 19:36, 48. Jameson Pfrang 21:04.

TRI-CENTER (63): 2. Haven Weers 17:25, 10. Brennan Boden 18:11, 13. Evan Wham 18:42, 17. Nicholas Dahir 19:09, 26. Kyle McDonald 19:41, 29. Lincoln Thomas 19:46, 45. Micah McCarty 20:35.

COUNCIL BLUFFS ST. ALBERT (63): 1. Parker Heisterkamp 17:14, 8. Jackson Walter 18:05, 14. Joey Mazzella 18:45, 20. Alex Dawson 19:23, 25. Konstant Poulos-Schweer 19:41, 34. Aiden Gaul 20:16, 38. Brady Smith 20:26.

NODAWAY VALLEY (NTS): 9. Gabe Winkelmann 18:06, 11. Luke Kading 18:36, 19. Haden Colton 19:22, 28. Paul Kading 19:43, 44. Cherubim Mercado 20:34, 61. Dom Breheny 23:26, 68. Fynn Thompson 25:58.

EAST UNION (NTS): 39. Brock Driskill 20:26.80, 39. Adam McNeill 20:26.80, 60. Cyler Wuebker 22:59.