Regina Returns to State Cross Country Meet With Third-Place Finish at State Qualifier
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – All the way back on September 8th Chad Swope picked up on something from his Regina boys cross country team.
It wasn’t a result or a time from the Regals that caught the attention of Swope at the Tipton Invitational last month.
It was a mindset.
On a hot, humid day at the Tipton Invitational Swope suggested his team take a cautious approach to the start of the race.
Converse energy on a warm afternoon the long-time coach suggested.
When the race started Swope saw his team take off strong.
“It was 88 degrees and I told them to go out slow and they just took off,” Swope explained. “Afterward they said they knew what they wanted and they felt like they could do something special so they wanted to go out and get it. Every day they’ve been doing it.”
Months before that Tipton Invitational performance that ended with a team title the Regals knew what they wanted this season.
On Thursday, just as they did last month in Tipton, the Regals went out and got it.
Regina returned to the state cross country meet for the first time since 2023 and 25th time in program history with a third-place finish at the Class 2A state qualifying meet at Kickers Soccer Complex in Iowa City.
A year after finishing fourth at the state qualifier Regina finished one point in front of No. 15 Jesup for the third state qualifying spot.
“All year we’ve been working, all those 6 a.m. practices, all the hard workouts it all paid off,” Hoffman said. “We knew we wanted to do something special we just had to go do it.”
Fifth-ranked Chariton won the team title with 51 points followed by ninth-ranked West Burlington/Notre Dame with 84.
The battle was for the third and final spot at the Class 2A state meet scheduled for October 31 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Hoffman finished eighth and Huck Zahasky was 15th as Regina put three runners in the top 20 while edging Jesup by a single point.
“It’s all paid off after all the summer running to get this result we haven’t got,” Zahasky said. “After missing out last year by one spot it really feels good.”
Hoffman led the way for Regina finishing eighth in a time of 17:49.9 while Zahasky was 15th in 18:04.8.
Senior Corbin Daniel finished 17th in 18:19.7 while sophomore Nik Polyak was 28th in 18:40.4 and sophomore Cristiano Pratt was 39th in 19:12.8.
Senior Hugh Loening finished 44th in a time of 19:21.5.
“We have great senior leadership, Hugh Loening, Corbin Daniel, Jack Kaeding they’d always push the pace,” Hoffman said. “They are the guys that were always pushing the pace, getting on our tails at practice and just setting a great example as captains.”
The state meet appearance is the first for Regina since the Regals finished sixth at the Class 1A state meet in 2023.
“I am so proud of them,” Swope said. “They have been running with such grit and determination. I just couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The Regina girls finished fifth with 150 points.
Top-ranked Mid-Prairie won the team title with 60 points followed by sixth-ranked Tipton with 84 points, No. 10 Jesup with 109 and Albia with 131 points.
Eighth-grader Tess Kaeding led Regina placing 16th in a time of 21:35.6.
Grace Nicpon finished 27th in 22:15.2, Hannah McGrane was 30th in 22:23.3 and Julia Foley was 38th in 22:53.
“The girls are just getting there, we had those races cancelled this season and they needed those extra races to fine tune their racing and to learn what they could do,” Swope said. “The light was going off for them the longer the season went. They were so close.”
Class 2A State Qualifying Meet
At Kickers Soccer Complex
Boys Results
Team scores – 1. Chariton 51; 2. West Burlington/Notre Dame 84; 3. Regina 107; 4. Jesup 108; 5. Tipton 180; 6. Central Lee 187; 7. Mediapolis 195; 8. Mid-Prairie 227; 9. Davis County 238; 10. Louisa-Muscatine 258; 11. Albia 276; 12. Wilton 321; 13. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 327; 14. Centerville 384; 15. Cardinal 410
Individual leaders – 1. Lucas Anderson (CHA) 16:21; 2. Cy Stuart (CHA) 16:27.7; 3. Will Schmidgall (MED) 17:04.1; 4. Drake Newton (CL) 17:13.5; 5. Cody Dixson (CHA) 17:18.3; 6. Oscar Cline (L-M) 17:41.8; 7. Max Swartzentruber (M-P) 17:44.8; 8. Connor Hoffman (ICR) 17:49.9; 9. Cavin Denney (WB/ND) 17:51.8; 10. Matthew Oleson (WB/ND) 17:53.5; 11. Gage Moss (DC) 17:54.3; 12. Connor Garland (DC) 17:55; 13. Noble Fields (WIL) 17:55.4; 14. Landon Roberts (JES) 18:00; 15. Huck Zahasky (ICR) 18:04.8
Regina – 8. Connor Hoffman 17:49.9; 15. Huck Zahasky 18:04.8; 17. Corbin Daniel 18:19.7; 28. Nik Polyak 18:40.4; 39. Cristiano Pratt 19:12.8; 44. Hugh Loening 19:21.5; 57. Colin Laubscher 20:02.4
Girls Results
Team scores – 1. Mid-Prairie 60; 2. Tipton 84; 3. Jesup 109; 4. Albia 131; 5. Regina 150; 6. West Burlington/Notre Dame 171; 7. Central Lee 179; 8. Mediapolis 203; 9. Chariton 204; 10. Louisa-Muscatine 252; 11. Davis County 268; 12. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 278; 13. Centerville 355; 14. Wilton 376
Individual leaders – 1. Avery Mente (TIP) 19:32.7; 2. Kendal Landstrum (M-P) 19:35.8; 3. Mady Montgomery (ALB) 19:38.3; 4. Brooklyn Stutzman (M-P) 19:44.6; 5. Aubree Bunnell (CL) 20:25.4; 6. Hannah Ritter (WB/ND) 20:36.7; 7. Avery Deitz (MED) 20:37.4; 8. Dylan Vogel (JES) 20:38.1; 9. Tessa Brokaw (M-P) 20:41; 10. Kaitlyn Kipp (WB/ND) 20:47.8; 11. Rachel Hostetler (M-P) 20:49.8; 12. Kate Krutsinger (CHA) 20:53.2; 13. Fiona McGill (L-M) 20:57.3; 14. Addie Hall (CHA) 21:09.4; 15. Hallie Fitzgerald (TIP) 21:20.4
Regina – 16. Tess Kaeding 21:35.6; 27. Grace Nicpon 22:15.2; 30. Hannah McGrane 22:23.3; 38. Julia Foley 22:53; 39. Willow Fravel 23:02.9; 48. Avery Kullbom 23:45.3; 78. Caroline O’Rourke 26:46.8
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