(Oakland) Carly Henderson, Bailey Richardson, and Mason McCready will represent Riverside on Friday morning at the Class 1A State Cross Country meet in Fort Dodge.
The girls race starts at 10:30 a.m. with the boys to run at 11:15. For coach Alex Oliver it’s the first time he’s sending multiple girls to state in the same season. “I’m really excited for these two girls. They’ve worked really hard throughout the season. Bailey Richardson is a freshman. She had quite a bit of success in the junior high circuit and now is ready to show up and work hard at state. She had a really tight finish at the qualifier. She was 9th, but could have easily been 11th. She had a great finish there for us and has improved throughout the season. Carly Henderson played in a really exciting volleyball match to get them into the regional finals and in her spare time she gets good workouts in with cross country She’s been rated as high as 13th and I really think if all the pieces fall into place she end up on the deck (top 15) in Fort Dodge.”
For the Riverside boys Mason McCready will run in Fort Dodge for a 2nd year in a row. “Last year we were just kind of figuring it out and excited he made it.” Oliver says, “Now the goal is to run faster at state and move up quite a few spots. I really think if he runs well he’s a top 40 guy at state.”
McCready ran 67th last year as a sophomore at state in a time of 18:06.
Riverside coach Alex Oliver:
