FORT DODGE — Kaleb Grant saved his best race for last.

The East Marshall senior and four-time state qualifier ran a personal-best of 17 minutes flat to finish 30th in the Class 2A boys race at the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge on Saturday.

“I felt pretty good coming into today,” Grant said. “I was just hoping to get a PR and I did.”

While the weather was a little cold for his taste, with wind chills well below freezing at the start, the extra experience on the course paid off.

Grant was 55th at the mile mark, zoomed ahead to 37th at the 2-mile mark and caught seven more opponents on his way in to the finish line.

“I just had to use the hills better,” Grant said. “Last year, I died on the hills but I was able to use them to my advantage instead this year.”

Grant also appreciated having someone to run with, stride-for-stride with freshman teammate Cooper Lenz in the first 1 1/2 miles of the race.

Lenz was 51st in his state debut with a time of 17:14.

“I was a little nervous for this, wasn’t sure how I’d do,” Lenz said. “Running with him really helped to push me to run with him instead of holding back.”

While Lenz admitted the weather got to him by the end of the race, he impressed himself, figuring that he’d finish outside the top 60 today.

“I just want to keep improving my times,” Lenz said. “I figured I’d have a chance to make it to state this year but I didn’t know if it was something I could really do until the end of the season.”

Grant added, “He could be really good by his junior and senior year.”

Mid-Prairie’s Emmett Swartzentruber won the boys race in 15:51. Des Moines Christian repeated as champions, scoring 63 points.

West Marshall sophomore Addie Thompson was the other area 2A competitor in the morning’s girls race, finishing 48th in 20:35. She was 98th as a freshman in 21:54.

Thompson warmed up with recent Trojan grad Emelia Hauser before the race. While she came into the race with some knee pain, she wanted to find a consistent pace to lower her time from last year.

“Last season, I learned that this is a very fast meet and that you need to run smart,” Thompson added. “I made sure to not get boxed in at the beginning and kept pushing myself forward. I knew what to expect from the race and I thought it was a very good race, though I would have run better if it was warmer.”

Iowa High School State Cross Country Championships

GIRLS

Team Standings — 1. Des Moines Christian 101, 2. Van Meter 110, 3. Monticello 119, 4. Mid-Prairie 122, 5. Forest City 152, 6. Unity Christian 176, 7. Jesup 186, 8. Denver 202, 9. Albia 211, 10. Williamsburg 225, 11. Tipton 231, 12. Okoboji 261, 13. Hudson 324, 14. Clarinda 324, 15. Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 345.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Hillary Trainor, Sumner-Fredericksburg, 18:09.5; 2. McKenna Montgomery, ALB, 18:35.7; 3. Mackenzie Wilson, JES, 18:38.7; 4. Clare Wright, JES, 18:46.2; 5. Danielle Hochstetler, M-P, 18:55.3; 6. Lauren Krogmann, Starmont-West Central, 18:57.8; 7. Raenna Henke, CLAR, 19:00.3; 8. Hailey Egbert, Shenandoah, 19:05.0; 9. Kinze Shea, Crestwood, 19:07.5; 10. Scarlett Byrnes, Osage, 19:08.9.

WEST MARSHALL — 48. Addie Thompson, 20:35.9.

BOYS

Team Standings — 1. Des Moines Christian 63, 2. Okoboji 129, 3. Unity Christian 130, 4. Waukon 149, 5. Chariton 156, 6. Mediapolis 167, 7. Vinton-Shellsburg 189, 8. Forest City 221, 9. East Sac County 229, 10. Mid-Prairie 231, 11. Spirit Lake 258, 12. Garner-Hayfield-Ventura 258, 13. Oelwein 262, 14. Pella Christian 293, 15. Anamosa 320.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Emmett Swartzentruber, M-P, 15:51.0; 2. Neal Pinter, Denver, 15:53.9; 3. Evan Osler, OKO, 15:55.1; 4. Collin Houg, DMC, 15:58.3; 5. Kyle Wagoner, Clarinda, 15:59.6; 6. Alex Torres, V-S, 16:12.6; 7. Caleb Ten Pas, DMC, 16:16.1; 8. Brandon Hughes, SPL, 16:19.5; 9. Owen Schmidgall, MED, 16:22.3; 10. Jack McPartland, DMC, 16:25.0.

EAST MARSHALL — 30. Kaleb Grant 17:00.6; 51. Cooper Lenz 17:14.4.