Comets Graeser, Williams qualify for State XC Meet for second year in a row

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

MANCHESTER — Xander Graeser and Nick Williams are halfway home in a race to make history.

Or make that to become a part of a select group that you can count on your hand even with a thumb severed.

By way of placing in the Top 15 in the Boys Varsity 5K race during Wednesday’s Class 3A Cross Country State Qualifier at Hart Ridge Golf Course in Manchester, the Charles City sophomores punched their ticket to the State XC Championships for the second year in a row.

Actually, they cracked the Top 10 with Graeser placing ninth with a time of 16 minutes, 52.60 seconds and Williams being the next across the finish line in 10th (17:01.94).

Last season, Graeser and Williams qualified with respective 13th- and 15th-place finishes while helping the Comet boys qualify as a team.

Graeser and Williams are on pace to become four-time individual state qualifiers. Only two other Comet boy runners — Isaac Wendland and Michael McKenzie — have qualified for XC state four times as individuals.

Graeser said he was well aware of what was at stake on Wednesday.

“Yeah, I felt the pressure,” said Graeser, who managed to get under 17 minutes for the second time this season while coming up a little more than a second shy of a personal record. “I know I would have been very upset with myself if I didn’t make the cut.”

This year, the pair will be the lone Comet representatives for the Class 3A Boys State Race to take place Oct. 29 at 11:15 a.m. at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

Charles City’s boys placed seventh with 169 team points — 2 points behind Waverly-Shell Rock and 1 point ahead of Clear Lake.

The top three team finishers — Marion (52 team points), paced by boys winner Jedidiah Osgood (15:33.94) and distant runner-up Cooper Cook (16:37.77), Solan (79) and Clear Creek-Amana (91) — advance to state.

But even though the season has only been extended to Graeser and Williams for Charles City, they likely won’t be training alone.

“The whole team will be running with us to help us get ready,” said Williams, who has posted the fastest 5K time of the season (16:45) for the Comets.

Williams has been consistently Charles City’s top placer this season. Graeser, formerly a middle school prodigy, has had some ups and downs this season. But he has recently changed his diet, and he feels that has made a difference.

“I now pack my own lunch for school,” he said. “A ham sandwich for protein and carbs … applesauce for fruit.”

Running amid an upper-class dominated field, Williams and Graeser placed 101st and 110th, respectively, at last year’s Class 3A Boys state race.

Both have grown considerably from their freshman school year, and have a better understanding of what to expect in Fort Dodge the second time around.

“And it’s nice to have someone like (Graeser) running at my side again,” Williams said. “We know each other, we know what we can do and we push each other.”

Rounding out Charles City boys SQ lineup were junior Isaac Thompson (17:47.03, 34th), who was a member of the Comets’ state team last season; junior Lukas Vance (18:30.28, 57th), senior Breyer Ellison (18:37.04, 59th) senior Anders Haglund (19:17.09, 64th) and sophomore Carter Haberkorn (19:53.15, 79th).

In the Girls Varsity 5K, Charles City placed ninth (260 team points).

Solon, paced by girls winner Kayla Young (18:32.59), placed first (40), ahead of fellow team qualifiers Clear Creek-Amana (76) and Clear Lake (83).

The Comet girls were led by senior Harper McInroy, who placed 28th with a personal-record time of 21:06.59.

McInroy improved considerably from her junior year, and continued to improve throughout her senior season.

Charles City head coaches Ryan Rahmiller and Amanda Rahmiller said that most of their runners — with the exception of Graeser and Williams — recorded personal records and/or season bests at the SQ.

Rounding out the Charles City girls SQ lineup were senior Cloey Usher (22:04.92, 53rd), junior Lauren Staudt (22:18.25, 56th), junior Maggie Boss (23:14.72, 66th), senior Claire Eckenrod (23:26.25, 70th), freshman Emma Prichard (23:31.70, 72nd) and junior Mackenzie Zweibohmer (23:33.72, 73rd).

“We had a small team and we’re losing a lot of seniors,” Amanda Rahmiller said of her girls squad of 20 — half of which are upperclassmen. “Not a lot of girls stick with cross country all four years in high school, but they were committed. We’re going to miss them.”

Class 3A Cross Country State Qualifier — West Delaware

Oct. 19

AT HART RIDGE GOLF COURSE, MANCHESTER

Girls Varsity 5K

Team Scores

1. Solon 40, 2. Clear Creek-Amana 76, 3. Clear Lake 83, 4. Wahlert Dubuque 107, 5. Decorah 126, 6. Marion 162, 7. Xavier 164, 8. Waverly-Shell Rock 165, 9. Charles City 260, 10. West Delaware 277, 11. Vinton-Shellsburg 322, DNP — Hampton-Dumont-CAL, Independence.

Top 15 State Qualifiers

1. Kayla Young (S) 18:32.59, 2. Haidyn Barker (CCA) 19:08.81, 3. Addison Doughan (CL) 19:09.88, 4. Emma Arnold (X) 19:42.73, 5. Lucy Murphy (WaD) 19:52.75, 6. Lydia Mass (HDC) 19:54.37, 7. Sydney Dee (S) 20:00.94, 8. Gracie Federspiel (S) 20:06.56, 9. Lilah Takes (WaD) 20:10.02, 11. Lillian Graham (WaD) 20:11.01, 12. Mary Fiala (S) 20:11.03, 13. Emily McLaughlin (CL) 20:12.06, 14. Kira Barker (CCA) 20:19.36, 15. Sydney Bochmann (WSR) 20:21.10.

CHARLES CITY — 28. Harper McInroy 21:06.59, 53. Cloey Usher 22:04.92, 56. Lauren Staudt 22:18.25, 66. Maggie Boss 23:14.72, 70. Claire Eckenrod 23:26.25, 72. Emma Prichard 23:31.70, 73. Mackenzie Zweibohmer 23:33.72.

Boys Varsity 5K 

Team Scores

1. Marion 52, 2. Solon 79, 3. Clear Creek-Amana 91, 4. Vinton-Shellsburg 132, 5. Decorah 142, 6. Waverly-Shell Rock 167, 7. Charles City 169, 8. Clear Lake 170, 9. Wahlert Dubuque 198, 10. West Delaware 251, 11. Xavier 274, 12. Independence 383, 13. Hampton-Dumont-CAL 408.

Top 15 State Qualifiers

1. Jedidiah Osgood (M) 15:33.94, 2. Cooper Cook (M) 16:37.77, 3. Brock Hilsman (CCA) 16:39.63, 4. Eli Page (VS) 16:39.94, 5. Elijah Blix (VS) 16:44.96, 6. Michael Yeomans (S) 16:46.58, 7. Jack Crane (CL) 16:48.08, 8. Caleb Hoins (WSR) 16:52.20, 9. Xander Graeser (CC) 16:52.60, 10. Nick Williams (CC) 17:01.94, 11. Brick Kabela (S) 17:09.42, 12. Kyle Powers (WD) 17:10.77, 13. Isaac Sorensen (CCA) 17:11.90, 14. Jayden Brookins (WaD) 17:12.91, 15. Jordan Fischer (M) 17:12.92.

CHARLES CITY — 9. Graeser, 10. Williams, 34. Isaac Thompson 17:47.03, 57. Lukas Vance 18:30.28, 59. Breyer Ellison 18:37.04, 64. Anders Haglund 19:17.09, 76. Carter Haberkorn 19:53.15.