Edens finished in 13th in the Class 1A state-qualifying meet on the Marshalltown Community College Cross Country Course, coming in with a time of 17 minutes, 13 seconds to make his way back to Fort Dodge.

Last time Edens was on the MCC course he ran a 17:38 at the Bobcat Classic on Sept. 6, so he knocked off 25 seconds in the state qualifier and he did so while under the weather.

“I was sick but I made it through. I knew the course and just fought for my place,” Edens said. “I improved my time and still did what I needed to do to make it.”

Edens and the rest of the field faced a mud pit for a course in the Bobcat Classic, but he said this time around it was much more pleasant to run on.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - East Marshall runners Cade Curphy, left, and Cam Hungerford run on the Marshalltown Community College Cross Country Course during the Class 1A state-qualifying meet on Thursday.

“This was a lot easier, they put sand over the mud, which was almost a better idea,” he said. “It felt a little weird but I ran on it twice and it was better than it was before.”

Edens made his first trip to Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge as a sophomore last year, and he said having that experience running on the state course should help him with preparation for his upcoming race.

“Hopefully I can do better this year and maybe I can get a better time,” he said. “We will see what happens, it will be a lot different experience.”

GMG finished in 13th as a team with a score of 379. Spencer Tweedy came in 85th as the second-best Wolverine with a time of 20:16, while Daniel Hughes took 90th with a 20:33.

Madrid was the top boys team with a score of 57, while South Hamilton and Mason City Newman each finished second and third to earn team qualifications.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

Sean McDermott took the top individual placing for the Tigers, crossing the line at 16:32.

East Marshall had its eyes set on a seventh-straight trip to the state meet but the Mustangs couldn’t quite achieve that goal, coming in sixth out of the 22 teams in attendance with a 213.

East Marshall head coach Trent Taylor was heartbroken for his boys after the meet.

“There were 29 different programs represented here today, and we got sixth place,” Taylor said. “There are a lot teams and schools out there that would love to have a sixth-place finish at this time of the year, it’s just not something we are accustomed to. I get to know the boys personally, I can see in their faces that this is hard to take and I get that, but I guess I’d rather have it that way than to brush it off.”

Seniors Cam Hungerford and Cade Curphy were the highest placers for the Mustangs, with Hungerford finishing in 22nd with a 17:51 and Curphy placing 32nd with an 18:24.

Taylor said those two seniors have meant so much to the program, and their work will make the East Marshall boys program stronger moving forward.

“I came into the program with coach [Erik] Niggemeyer four years ago, so they were little, skinny freshmen,” he said. “To see them go through the four seasons, they were showing leadership as sophomores and juniors so to have them come in as seniors and take over this team, they did great.

“We didn’t qualify today, I get that, but if you look at my juniors on down and some of the junior high boys coming up, we have some really solid athletes and that really is a tribute to Cade and Cam. They have done a great job of carrying on the tradition.”

Meskwaki sophomore Taurice Grant got off to a good start through the first mile and a half, but he faded off as the race wore on and finished in 39th with a time of 18:43. Tate Bear also competed for the Warriors, coming in 94th with a 20:57.

Team Standings — 1. Madrid 57, 2. South Hamilton 84, 3. Newman Catholic 118, 4. Ogden 169, 5. North Linn 202, 6. East Marshall 213, 7. Central Springs 226, 8. West Fork 228, 9. Baxter 249, 10. Hudson 254, 11. Martensdale St. Marys 305, 12. Southeast Warren 320, 13. GMG 379, 14. Lake Mills 418, 15. Wayne Community 418, 16. Collins-Maxwell 421, 17. Melcher-Dallas 426, 18. Colo-NESCO 431, 19. Interstate 35 472, 20. Ankeny Christian 483, 21. Belmond-Klemme 532, 22. West Hancock 587.

Individual Qualifiers — 1. Sean McDermott, MAD, 16:32; 2. Carson Rygh, LM, 16:42; 3. Logan Peters, SH, 16:51; 4. Jason Renze, MAD, 16:54; 5. Quinton Grove, SH, 16:54; 6. Seth Hershey, SA, 16:55; 7. Logan Berg, BAX, 17:00; 8. Seth Boss, NL, 17:02; 9. Ellis Regan, CS, 17:07; 10. Emery Sage, MD, 17:09; 11. Randy Jimenez, SEW, 17:11; 12. Gabe Soda, MAD, 17:13; 13. Jackson Edens, GMG, 17:13, 14. Garrett Buxton, OG, 17:15; 15. Sam Hansen, HUD, 17:18.

EAST MARSHALL (213) — 22. Cam Hungerford 17:51, 32. Cade Curphy 18:24, 47. Trevor Taul 19:07, 62. Korbin Seth 19:32, 71. Jordan Swift 19:56, 79. Kordell Negrette, 116. Eli Curtis 21:55.

GMG (379) — 13. Edens 17:13, 85. Spencer Tweedy 20:16, 90. Daniel Hughes 20:33, 115. Cameron Spurlin 21:52, 118. Gabe Zielstorf 22:05, 140. Justin Savatdy 23:09, 141. Abe Dieleman 23:10.

MESKWAKI — 39. Taurice Grant 18:43, 94. Taté Bear 20:57, 133. Zayton Weninger 22:41.