(Guthrie Center) Since day one of the season the goal for the ACGC boys cross country team was to win a state championship. Coach Colin Shawgo wasn’t shy about the expectation and now his Chargers enter Saturday’s state meet with the #1 ranking.
The lineup features Trevin Suhr, Andrew Mahaffey, Justin Reinhart, Kaden Thompson, Lance Bunde, Bo Arrasmith, and Noah Kading. Shawgo believes they have what it takes to bring home the big trophy. “It’s going to take full effort from all seven boys. Our key all year has been Trevin Suhr leading the way and then having a really strong pack.” Shawgo says, “Trevin has to show up and have a Trevin like race, which we are hoping for top three and then our pack has to come in pretty quick.”
Suhr is looking to run in the top three. He’s familiar with Earlham’s Jayden Dickson and Dominic Braet who are each ranked in the top five. Other individual contenders are expected to be Saint Ansgar’s Riley Witt and Valley Lutheran’s Isaac Natvig. “We’re thinking it’s probably going to have to be a 16:20 or faster. It looks like the weather is going to be good so I’m expecting a lot of really fast times at this course at this meet. His personal goal is under 16:00 and I think he’s in great position to do that. Physically I know he’s ready to go, so what it really comes down to for him is if he can stay mentally tough in that last half mile to hammer it and get across that finish line as fast as he can.”
The finish of the rest of the crew will be vital. They all likely need to place within the top 40. “To win it we are going to have to be in the 20’s and 30’s.” Shawgo says, “Generally speaking we knock off :45 to 1:00 from the Panora meet to the state meet and we are hopeful if that trend continues that would put us in the high teens and low 20’s for our whole pack and that would I think get the job done.”
Shawgo was happy with the way the team performed in winning the State Qualifying Meet at Panorama last week. “Absolutely. Trevin had an incredible bounce back race. He didn’t race great at conference so to knock off about :20-:25 from his conference time on the same course with little to no competition for him was really good. I think that helped his psyche out a lot. He was followed up by Andrew Mahaffey and Justin Reinhart who had top ten finishes and they broke 18:00 which is difficult to do on that course. Our pack I told them to stay healthy back in the woods and not twist any ankles. They did really well with that and then they responded when they got onto the golf course and passed people to help us secure that state qualifying meet championship.”
Coach Shawgo says his team competed well at state last year by placing 4th and that experience will be a bonus. He adds it’s a group that has performed well under pressure. The Class 1A boys race begins at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.
In addition to results and video interviews on our website at WesternIowaToday.com, KSOM will air a State Cross Country Recap Show on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m.
ACGC coach Colin Shawgo:
