The task of getting back to state required a Herculean effort from the Marshalltown boys’ cross country team — and they gave it.

Alas, state was not in the stars for all of the Bobcats.

Marshalltown finished fifth out of 10 teams at Wednesday’s Class 4A District 4 state-qualifying meet, coming up two spots shy of earning a return trip to the season-ending state meet next week in Fort Dodge. Seniors Preston Johnson and Carter Nunn earned their places at state by finishing inside the top 15.

The Bobcats managed to leapfrog a team seeded ahead of them, but not even monumental time drops were enough to follow up last year’s first state meet appearance since 2010.

“Obviously they wanted to go back,” said MHS head coach Chad Pietig. “Once you experience it, you want to go back, so they definitely wanted to go back, but I don’t think it put any added pressure on them.

“I don’t think it changed how we approached anything. If anything, it made those returners hungrier, and to the guys that haven’t experienced it, hopefully they passed on that work ethic to those younger guys so that we have a shot at it again in the future.”

The Bobcats placed fifth with a team total of 135, just two points in front of an Ankeny team they were projected to finish behind. Top-ranked Cedar Falls claimed the title with 39 points and will be joined at state by No. 14 Dubuque Hempstead (69) and No. 7 Waukee Northwest (82). Seventeenth-ranked Waukee (113) settled for fourth.

“This district wasn’t top-heavy, it was loaded in the middle,” said Pietig. “Last year we were kind of top-heavy with the district and we knew we only had to beat one or two teams. This year, you look at all these teams are all evenly balanced and fighting for that same spot and we’re right there with them.

“We knew it was going to be tough and it was going to come down to us having absolutely perfect races and some luck. When you’re trying to jump three teams, things have got to go perfectly. We did get Ankeny — we did come out ahead of our ranking in fifth — so I’m proud of that.”

Johnson, a junior, finished second to defending state runner-up Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls for the second time on the same course this season. Merrick took the Bobcat Invite title by four seconds in front of Johnson on Sept. 11, but Johnson let Merrick chase the clock and came in 31 seconds behind the top-ranked runner in Wednesday’s qualifying meet.

Merrick won with a time of 14 minutes, 55.3 seconds, while Johnson was second in 15:26.0.

“At the end of the day it’s just a state-qualifying meet, so it’s qualifying for state and learning more than anything,” said Johnson, a three-time qualifier. “It was about just going out there, running beside him and focusing on next week rather than placing all my marbles on today.”

Nunn, a senior, scored fifth place in 16:05.7, clocking in ahead of a ranked runner in his quest to throw his hat into the ring next week in Fort Dodge.

“I was hoping for third but I think I pushed myself a little too hard,” said Nunn. “I feel like I went out a little too fast. Usually I run a lot better with a pack but I was running by myself for the first mile just trying to keep up and see what I could do.”

Nunn earned a top-15 finish to gain entry into the state meet after being a scoring runner on last year’s state-qualifying team that placed 13th at state.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “Top 15 is the goal for sure. One more race in high school, I’ve just got to give it everything.”

Marshalltown’s last five runners all finished within 11 positions of each other, led by freshman Costin Piscitelli in 40th place. Piscitelli smashed his personal-best time by nearly 30 seconds, finishing in 17:42.4.

“That was a fantastic run for the freshman,” said Pietig. “We walked about just going for it. Last night I said ‘you have full permission to pass those seniors. You do not have to sit behind anybody and just go for it’ and he did, and that was fantastic.”

Seniors Myles Goldman (17:54.2) and Isacc Ceniceros (18:12.3) finished 42nd and 46th, respectively, followed by sophomore Michael Downs (18:26.8) in 48th and senior Kade Randall (18:39.6) in 51st.

“Four out of our last five guys had PRs (personal records) or were close to their PRs, so that’s all you can ask for,” Pietig said. “You hope you walk away with no regrets, and I think those guys can walk away feeling like they didn’t have any regrets.

“That’s a tough group of seniors to say goodbye to. Myles ran 30 minutes as a ninth-grader in his first race. He got down to 23 minutes as a ninth-grader and went 17:50 today. That’s just sticking with it. That’s just not giving up on yourself. A lot of guys would have picked a different sport. So I’m very proud of his efforts and the role model he’s been.”

The 4A boys race will be Saturday, Nov. 1, at 11:15 a.m. at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

No state for Bobcat girls

The Marshalltown girls’ cross country team was last out of seven scoring teams in the Class 4A District 4 state-qualifying meet, totaling 214 points in their season finale.

Grace Whitmore — one of three freshmen — finished at the front of the Bobcats’ pack by placing 40th in a time of 21:51.6.

Anessa Morrison, the lone senior on the Marshalltown squad, was 44th in 22:15.4, followed by sophomore Mallory Meyeraan (22:21.7) in 45th. Freshmen Lily Johnson (22:42.1) and Airi Hoven (24:40.4) finished 47th and 51st, respectively, followed by juniors Mattea Wright (54th, 25:23.5) and Sophia Valdez Chavez (55th, 25:53.0).

“Grace, Lily, Mallory and Airi all had PRs, so I’m just super proud of them,” said MHS girls’ head coach Kim Hurley. “The girls who PR’ed today, this is their first year, so that really excites me for our future.

“I’m just excited to see what another year of trying to build team and commitment will look like.”

Second-ranked Waukee Northwest won the team title with just 24 points, while No. 6 Cedar Falls placed second with 57 and No. 9 Waukee was third with 72. Mason City (115) finished ahead of No. 17 Ankeny (128) for fourth, followed by Dubuque Hempstead (144) and the Bobcats.

Top-ranked Charlee Gall of Cedar Falls finished at the front of a field that included six other rated runners, winning with a time of 17:41.7.

State-Qualifying Cross Country

Class 4A District 4

At Marshalltown

GIRLS

Team Standings — 1. Waukee Northwest 24, 2. Cedar Falls 57, 3. Waukee 72, 4. Mason City 115, 5. Ankeny 128, 6. Dubuque Hempstead 144, 7. Marshalltown 214.

Individual Qualifiers — 1. Charlee Gall, CF, 17:41.7; 2. Laney Sundet, WNW, 18:05.8; 3. Emmy Stubbendeck, WNW, 18:11.6; 4. Nakia Ollivierre, Waterloo West, 18:14.6; 5. Makenna Madetzke, ANK, 18:36.3; 6. Ella Jones, WNW, 18:36.7; 7. Piper Vander Ley, WNW, 18:55.7; 8. Sydney Burrier, WAU, 18:56.6; 9. Caroline Opfer, WNW, 18:57.1; 10. Brogan Evans, MC, 19:02.4; 11. Avery Driscoll, WAU, 19:05.2; 12. Kate Tomlyanovich, CF, 19:10.3; 13. Quinn Jorgensen, WNW, 19:21.5; 14. Allison Sheriff, WNW, 19:29.1; 15. Emersyn Fonley, CF, 19:49.9; 20. Chelsie Heiberger, DH, 19:59.2; 24. Leah Dystrka, MC, 20:21.6.

MARSHALLTOWN (214) — 40. Grace Whitmore 21:51.6, 44. Anessa Morrison 22:15.4, 45. Mallory Meyeraan 22:21.7, 47. Lily Johnson 22:42.1, 51. Airi Hoven 24:50.8, 54. Mattea Wright 25:23.5, 55. Sophia Valdez Chavez 25:53.0.

BOYS

Team Standings — 1. Cedar Falls 39, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 69, 3. Waukee Northwest 82, 4. Waukee 113, 5. Marshalltown 135, 6. Ankeny 137, 7. Mason City 202, 8. Waterloo West 219, 9. Fort Dodge 249, 10. Waterloo East 324.

Individual Qualifiers — 1. Jaden Merrick, CF, 14:55.3; 2. Preston Johnson, MHS, 15:26.0; 3. Dominic Williams, CF, 15:43.6; 4. Ike Smith, ANK, 16:02.0; 5. Carter Nunn, MHS, 16:05.7; 6. Henry Maloney, DH, 16:08.5; 7. Henry Hansen, MC, 16:08.5; 8. Colin Henn, DH, 16:09.3; 9. Ayden Gabrielson, WNW, 16:11.1; 10. Jeremy Gall, CF, 16:11.6; 11. Kellen Tuyls, WNW, 16:12.0; 12. Brennen Hoyer, CF, 16:17.3; 13. Porter Myers, CF, 16:18.9; 14. Ben Peterson, WAU, 16:19.3; 15. James Mandt, CF, 16:20.2.

MARSHALLTOWN (135) — 2. Johnson 15:26.0, 5. Nunn 16:05.7, 40. Costin Piscitelli 17:42.4, 42. Myles Goldman 17:54.2, 46. Isacc Ceniceros 18:12.3, 48. Michael Downs 18:26.8, 51. Kade Randall 18:39.6.