The Little Hawk Girl’s cross country team punched their ticket to state on Wednesday, October 22nd for the fifth year in a row. The cross country team has been racking up accomplishments. Last week, the Little Hawks won the MVC for the first time since 2015, and won districts for the first time since 2016.
Head Coach Ryan Ahlers discussed the great success his team has had this season.
“We’re feeling really good. The girls are racing awesome, and I think they’re feeling good about what they’re doing too, which is the most important part,” Ahlers said.
The Little Hawks were led Wednesday night by star senior Abigail Burns, who placed second in the state qualifier with a time of 18:36. The Little Hawks had three runners placing in the top 10, with Grace Hamann ‘27 placing 4th, and Eliza Doster ‘28 following closely behind in 6th.
“I ran 18:36 at the meet last night, but we weren’t focused on time,” Burns said. “Ryan [Ahlers] always tells us that in cross country, we race for place. And if we do that, our times will follow. A focus on place especially mattered yesterday because we wanted to win the meet.”
As Burns explained, focusing on the runners ahead as possible points to deduct from the team score is more motivating than what any watch says, because it provides a concrete goal. Becoming preoccupied with a time on your watch can lead to being discouraged.
“As a team, I’d love for us to podium at State. That’s a really high-reach goal for us, but I think it’s one we can accomplish if we all give it our best effort and race for each other. As an individual, I want to place in the top 10 at the State meet this year,” Burns said.
Ahlers shared a similar goal.
“We are ranked 5th in the state, and the top four teams are really good,” he said. “But the top three get trophies, so let’s go for top three.”
The Little Hawks plan to do just that on November 1st, where they will compete at the 4A Iowa Cross-Country State Meet in Fort Dodge.
“I’m really proud of what we accomplished last night. I think we all raced for each other, which is such a beautiful thing to do in cross country,” Burns said.
