It is a good cross-country season when you finish in Fort Dodge.
Both the boys’ and girls’ team for Mount Vernon-Lisbon qualified to run there again, winning the State-Qualifying Meet on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in Manchester.
“It is always a special night,” MVL coach Kory Swart said. “It was a fun bus ride home.”
Both teams were dominant.
The Mustang boys had all five scoring runners finish among the Top 11, led by Dawson Scheil in second, Sawyer Feldman in third, and Benjamin Brinkmann in fourth. They scored 27 points to top No. 9 Decorah (68) and No. 15 Western Dubuque (102).
“They set the tone for us,” Swart said. “And honestly, Anthony Armstrong (who was seventh) that’s a PR for him (16:44.73) and good to see as we move into the final race.
“He’s just a really competitive kid.”
Scheil, who wins most races, finished almost a full minute behind Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque (16:12.46 to 15:22.13). Swart said Scheil didn’t try to chase the Oregon commit and defending 3A individual champion.
“We talked about it before the race,” Swart said. “Just let Quentin do his thing and run our race. (Dawson) did that to perfection. He was thinking team-first to get to state.”
Chasen Caskey rounded out the scoring for MVL, placing 11th.
“He could be a big factor at Fort Dodge,” Swart said.
The girls also cruised to the SQM team title, scoring 43 points to top No. 10 Solon (67) and No. 20 Dubuque Wahlert (104).
Evelyn Moeller finished runner-up, about two seconds behind Izzy Hardin of Maquoketa.
“She ran great,” Swart said. “She got into a little back and forth with Izzy. … But Evelyn is ready for next week.”
Kiersten Swart was fifth, Rose Pisarik was 10th, Miranda Sellner was 12th, and Cora Smith was 19th.
“Kiersten ran another nice race (dealing with injury) and Rose had another PR, 11 seconds off her previous best,” Coach Swart said. “Sellner was under 20 minutes for the first time, and Cora had a season-best.
“State will be about how close our fourth and fifth runners can be to our 1-2-3.”
Both teams head to state Friday. Oct. 31, at Kennedy Park ranked third in 3A. The girls must contend with No. 1 Pella, which won their SQM with a perfect score (15).
“They are incredible, they are on another level,” Swart said. “But you never know. They have definitely elevated our program and pushed us to be at our best.”
The MVL boys are also ranked No. 3, behind Gilbert and Pella.
