Comet junior Gavin Connell competes in third state meet

By John Burbridge  |  sports@charlescitypress.com

FORT DODGE — Charles City junior Gavin Connell has already been to enough cross country state meets to know that they’re not the same.

“You never know what you’ll get this time of the year,” Connell said. “Last year, it was wet, windy and cold … it was horrible.

“Today was great.”

The temperature for Saturday’s Iowa Cross Country State Championships was in the mid-60s with a slight cloud cover. The wind was brisk and chilly when many of the participants walked or jogged the path-lined course at Lakeside Golf Course, but by the time the first race took place at 11 a.m. the wind had lost much of its bite.

But there were still obstacles to negotiate, especially amid a dense field of state qualified-caliber runners.

“I got bunched inside a pack at the start,” said Connell, Charles City’s lone boys Class 3A state qualifier who placed 53rd out of field of 131 with a 5K time of 17 minutes, 19 seconds.

Last year as a sophomore, Connell placed 97th with a time of 17:57.

“My legs got a little tired at the end, but I guess that happens to most runners,” Connell said. “I’m just happy to make it down here for the third time. I don’t get too nervous for this race … it’s the state qualifier race that sometimes scares me.”

Connell said he plans to take a week off before training again in preparation for the track season.

“I’m going to work a little more on my abs to get my core stronger,” he said.

Though he prefers good weather over bad, Connell won’t let the conditions curtail his road work.

“When it gets cold, I usually wear a hat and gloves,” he said. “I still stick with the shorts. So when it’s 10 degrees out and you see some crazy guy running the streets in shorts, that will be me.”

Mount Vernon bested Grinnell by just 2 points (86-88) to claim the Class 3A boys title.

Jeremy Fopma finished 12 seconds ahead of fellow Marion junior Myles Boch for individual honors with a first-place time of 16:02.