(Greenfield) The defending Class 1A Boys State Cross Country runner-up is headed back to Fort Dodge. Nodaway Valley will compete at 4:00 p.m. Saturday.
This season Madrid and Earlham are the clear top two teams, but Nodaway Valley will be among a handful of others competing for 3rd. Coach Darrell Burmeister says South Winneshiek, if healthy, might be the favorite to land that final spot on the deck, but there will be a lot of teams in hot pursuit. “Maquoketa Valley has some good runners up front, Bellevue has two brothers that are very good, Pekin is always traditionally good.”
Senior Ben Breheny has been a scoring runner on a state meet team every year of his high school career. He was 36th at last year’s state meet. “Ben will run well. I think the key is getting under 17:00. That would be huge for Ben.”
Doug Berg is the lone Wolverine currently in the rankings. He was their top finisher at the state qualifying meet in 5th. “He has a lot of raw tools. He’s going to be really, really good before it’s over with. We wouldn’t have gotten runner-up last year without Dough. He ran a 17:52 last year as a freshman.
Burmeister is hopeful Berg can earn all state status and feels the same way about Toby Bower. “He’ll be ready. He’s been training great this week. I think you’re going to see him and Doug both up there and hopefully they can get in that top 15 and get all-state. If Ben is running really well, we are hoping he can get in that 14th or 15th spot.”
The goal for the 4th and 5th scoring runners is to get in the 18:00 range which Burmeister says can make a very big difference in Class 1A. Gavin Shoemaker, Jaxon Christensen, Jevin Christensen, and Tyler Cooper round out the lineup. Burmeister says they have a tradition of showing up at state and it’s all business.
