Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

FORT DODGE – With a brand new school and a totally blank record book Camille Mac knew history would be made in the inaugural cross country season at Liberty High.

The Liberty High freshman never envisioned that history would come in the form of a state medal.

Mac capped a season full of firsts on Saturday by becoming the first Liberty High state medalist with a 13th place finish at the Class 3A state meet at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

“Not at all, I never imagined this” Mac said when asked if earning a medal was a goal at the start of the year. “I didn’t think it would end like this but I cut a lot of time off my original time so I’m really happy.”

Mac made history last week at the state qualifier when she joined Liberty High sophomore Peter Woodward as the first state qualifiers in program history.

On Saturday Mac took it one step further by securing a state medal in the first ever race for a Liberty High athlete at a state meet with her 13th place finish in a time of 19:16.2.

“To finish in the top 13 as a freshman is pretty awesome and it’s a tribute to her because she’s a competitive kid,” Liberty High coach Tonya McDonough said. “She knew what she wanted to get done today and she just made it happen.”

In her first ever state meet appearance Mac didn’t look like a newcomer.

With nearly 140 runners the massive start at state can swallow up first-year qualifiers.

Mac navigated the start to near perfection racing toward the front of the pack and settling into a steady pace behind the lead pack.

“We talked about getting out and getting into good position, that is the number one thing is you have to get out and we knew that today it’s going to be a big push there are going to be a lot of kids that go out hard,” McDonough said. “She was in the top 10 right away and she was able to hang on to that all the way through basically.”

Mac secured her trip to state with a seventh-place finish at the state qualifying meet last Thursday.

The top four finishers at the state meet were at the same state qualifier at Solon including Center Point-Urbana sophomore Adrianna Katcher who won her second straight 3A title in 18:23.5 on Saturday.

It was after facing that loaded field at the state qualifier that gave Mac the confidence to run  with the best at the state.

“At districts there were a lot of great runners there and I had a PR and I was really happy,” Mac said. “That’s when I thought I belonged at state.”

Mac showed every she indeed belonged on Saturday as she finished less than two seconds out of the top 10.

“We had a lot of goals this season but at the end of the goal list was qualify for state,” Liberty High coach Tonya McDonough said. “We didn’t know who or how many and I’m so proud of Camille.

All six members of the Liberty High girls team were in attendance on Saturday to watch Mac runner and then receive her medal.

Mac hopes bring a state medal back to Liberty helps to build excitement in the program.

“Hopefully it helps build excitement, that would be amazing,” Mac said. “If it helps us get more girls out next year that would be great.”

Woodward just missed out on making the Lightning two-for-two in medals in their first appearance at state, finishing 17th in the boys race in 16:40.8.

The sophomore finished five seconds out of medalist honors in his own impressive state meet debut.

“It was crazy but I was really happy with the way I ran,” Woodward said. “I thought I ran a great race.”

The time of 16:40.8 for Woodward on Saturday was the best of his career, breaking his own school record.

It was 5.2 seconds behind Mount Vernon-Lisbon senior Payton Bahl who secured the last state medal with a 15th place finish.

“I think it’s huge for Peter,” Hildebrand said. “This is a chance for him to shine and a huge confidence boost for him and the guys around him.”

The goal for Woodward from the start of the season was a spot at the state meet. With that achieved Woodward has already established a new goal for next year, qualifying as a team.

“I’m bringing everybody with me next year,” Woodward said.

State Cross Country Meet

At Lakeside Golf Course

Class 3A Boys

Team scores – 1. Gilbert 75; 2. Dallas Center-Grimes 113; 3. Decorah 115; 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 145; 5. Grinnell 146; 6. Marion 189; 7. Carlisle 210; 8. Center Point-Urbana 222; 9. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 236; 10. Clear Creek Amana 242; 11. Cedar Rapids Xavier 253; 12. Bondurant-Farrar 264; 13. Nevada 265; 14. ADM 282; 15. Clear Lake 290.

Individual medalists – 1. Myles Bach (Center Point-Urbana) 15:49.1; 2. Jeremy Fopma (Marion) 15:54.8; 3. Andrew Kephart (Decorah) 16:04.5; 4. Thomas Clower (Grinnell) 16:11.7; 5. Miles Scott (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) 16:14.1; 6. Rees Tyler (Gilbert) 16:15.5; 7. Gus Hayes (Decorah) 16:19.8; 8. Cody Mertens (Mount Pleasant) 16:26; 9. Malachi Hornbuckle (Nevada) 16:28.3; 10. Nathan Patel (Gilbert) 16:29.6; 11. Nate Mueller (ADM) 16:30.5; 12. Trent O’Halloran (Grinnell) 16:33.3; 13. Patrick Gorkow (Benton Community) 16:34.9; 14. Harrison VanderLinden (Marion) 16:35.4; 15. Payton Bahl (Mount Vernon-Lisbon) 16:35.6.

Liberty – 17. Peter Woodward 16:40.8.

Class 3A Girls

Team scores – 1. Dubuque Wahlert 72; 2. Pella 104; 3. Decorah 150; 4. Dallas Center-Grimes 157; 5. Charles City 177; 6. Sioux City Heelan 184; 7. Humboldt 199; 8. North Polk 201; 9. Anamosa 207; 10. Ballard 227; 11. Benton Community 240; 12. Grinnell 258; 13. Denison-Schleswig 280; 14. Glenwood 294; 15. Spencer 324.

Individual medalists – 1. Adrianna Katcher (Center Point-Urbana) 18:23.5; 2. Mary Blanchard (Grinnell) 18:35.7; 3. Gabby Moran (Dubuque Wahlert) 18:44.7; 4. Sophia Gilbert (Benton Community) 18:51; 5. Bryce Gidel (Humboldt) 18:59.8; 6. Kiki Connell (Charles City) 19:04.4; 7. Grace Herber (Dubuque Wahlert) 19:05.3; 8. Katie Nimrod (Decorah) 19:06.1; 9. Megan Sievers (Carlisle) 19:11.9; 10. Kaylee Osterberger (Dubuque Wahlert) 19:13.3; 11. Carolina McMartin (Pella) 19:13.8; 12. Raegan Anderson (Denison-Schleswig) 19:14.8; 13. Camille Mac (Liberty High) 19:16.2; 14. Whitney Martin (Charles City) 19:23.8; 15. Amber Aesoph (Sioux City Heelan) 19:25.4.

Liberty High – 13. Camille Mac 19:16.2.