Lady Vikes bag third-place 1A state trophy

Portch earns eighth-place medal in state debut; AHSTW caps banner season on the balcony in Fort Dodge

 FORT DODGE (Nov. 2) -- The AHSTW girls cross country team opened the 2019 season by winning its first meet title in exactly a decade.
 On Saturday the Lady Vikes closed the year with so much more, waving to their fans from the balcony of the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course clubhouse with a third-place state trophy raised high.
 Led by senior Ryann Portch’s eighth-place medal-winning performance, AHSTW achieved its highest finish in program history by placing third in Class 1A at the State Cross Country Championships.
 Logan-Magnolia defended its 1A girls crown with a score of 112, followed by second-place Hudson (133) and the Lady Vikes (142), who held off Aplington-Parkersburg (146) and Iowa City Regina (150) for the third and final trophy/balcony spot. There were 15 teams in the field.
 “We feel on top of the world,” said AHSTW coach Jenny Hamilton, who ran on four Harlan Community state meet teams in high school, including the 2006 3A runner-up.
 “Rankings don’t mean everything to us, but...I guess we wanted to move up from fifth and we knew that top three get on the podium and the girls just came in confident.”
 In addition to Portch placing eighth - one spot better than her district meet performance nine days earlier - the Lady Vikes got a 20th-place effort from junior Chloe Falkena. Three more juniors rounded out the team score: Julia Kock in 51st, Holly Hoepner 61st and Jade Draman 95th. Sophomore Jordan Blotzer and senior Grace Luna came in 132nd and 138th, respectively.
 Falkena and Kock, both competing in their third state meet, described an elated reaction upon seeing AHSTW come up third on the results board. In their previous state meet team appearance, the Lady Vikes finished 13th in 2017.
 “We were all just screaming. It was very, very exciting for all of us,” said Kock, who was the first to notice the team placing.
 “We didn’t really have any expectations,” Falkena said, “but when we got done and looked up at that board, we were all shocked and we all started screaming... It was absolutely crazy.”
 Portch, who in previous years played soccer during the fall months, gave the Lady Vikes an added boost as a first-year senior. “Honestly, we weren’t expecting (third), but this team deserves it,” she said. “They’re out here running, giving it their all all the time.”
 Portch entered the state meet unranked individually following a season of ups and downs. She missed some time with an illness during the middle of the year and was later unable to finish at the conference meet. She only placed ninth at the state qualifying meet but stepped up her game on Saturday, clocking a five-kilometer time of 19:47 Portch is the Lady Vikes’ highest individual state medalist since Ashley Adams placed fifth in 2002.

2019 State Cross Country Championships • Lakeside Municipal GC • Ft. Dodge • Nov. 2

Class 1A Girls Results
Team Standings: 1. Logan-Magnolia 112 (repeat champion), 2. Hudson 133, 3. AHSTW 142, 4. Aplington-Parkersburg 146, 5. Iowa City Regina 150, 6. Kee 164, 7. Denver 183, 8. Nodaway Valley 198, 9. Pekin 211, 10. Van Meter 215, 11. Manson NW Webster 233, 12. Madrid 241, 13. Sumner-Fredericksburg 270, 14. St. Edmond 277, 15. Prince of Peace Catholic 289.
Top 3 Medalists: 1. Peyton Pogge (Tri-Center), 18:45; 2. Haley Meyer (Kee), 18:51; 3. Jalyssa Blazek (Turkey Valley), 18:54. Also: 8. Ryann Portch (AHSTW), 19:47; 13. Taylor Sporrer (Lo-Ma), 19:52; 14. Sophia Broers (Nodaway Valley), 19:56; 15. Kylie Morrison (Lo-Ma), 20:01.
AHSTW Results - 8th: Ryann Portch (sr.), 19:47.7; 20th: Chloe Falkena (jr.), 20:12.5; 51st: Julia Kock (jr.), 21:01.3; 61st: Holly Hoepner (jr.), 21:20.8; 95th: Jade Draman (jr.), 22:12.4; 132nd: Jordan Blotzer (so.), 24:27.7; 138th: Grace Luna (sr.), 25:45.3. (139 runners)
 

 
 

 

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