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Trojanns get their top ten finish by taking eighth place at state meet
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AHS freshmen Ali Krogman rises to the occasion again, placing fifth overall as an individual
By Drew Herron
NT Sports Editor
FORT DODGE— Taken as a collective work, Atlantic coed cross-country coach Bruce Henderson’s past few trips home from the state meet in Fort Dodge have had their share of disappointments.
This most recent episode Saturday didn’t carry as much weight.
Atlantic freshman Ali Krogman turned in the finest finish at the state meet from a Trojann runner in the modern era of the 4K race (converted from a length of two miles in 2002), and the rest of the team jointly overachieved to place eighth in the final team standings, all making for a girls’ 2008 season that was a giant step forward to say the least.
Krogman ran in the front pack of the Class 3A field, turning up the dial on the final hill of the otherwise flat course to turn in a time of 15:03 with one second separating her from fourth place. The performance was a 41-second improvement from her regional winning time at Nishna Hills nine days earlier.
A top five finish is a surprise even to Krogman, who has won her last three races (Trojanns Invite, Hawkeye 10 Meet and Regional) and admits she doesn’t like to lose.
“I was hoping for a top 10 finish, but fifth place is awesome,” Krogman said afterwards. “I thought I might take seventh or eighth. Here, there are so many runners that are just as good or better, it was very challenging.”
The performance isn’t half bad for a freshman runner who had spent her previous fall seasons playing volleyball until she hit AHS.
Krogman’s exponential rise to distance running elite was once again verified Saturday, but this kind of showing is still a bit of a surprise, admits Henderson.
“When you go to another level, you assume since she’s met every other challenge, she’ll meet this one too,” Henderson said of Krogman. “We also know that this can be a scary place, and I am real excited and proud of how she continued to compete like she always has.”
Former Trojanns runner Courtney Jacobs had Atlantic’s previous top finish at the modern state meet, placing eighth in 2003 with a time of 15:12. Under the old format, Jacobs still has Atlantic’s best overall finish, placing second in 2001with a time of 11:41, achieved in an era when only two classes existed.
As far as the team showing, the young squad performed about as good as or better than Henderson hoped for or could reasonably expect.
A math teacher by trade, Henderson distributed a pre-state meet flier to the group in which he crunched numbers and explains where he hopes each runner could place to achieve their goals. Even amidst all the calculations he worked out where the Trojanns might finish as high as sixth as a team or as low as 12th, Henderson didn’t list Krogman as doing any better than seventh, nor did he figure all five runners to score would crack the top 60 in a race 128 runners deep.
“We thought 10th place would be good and anything better would be icing on the cake,” he said. “It was a good start for a young team that will probably do better in the future.”
The team will lose one senior starter in Kaley Stender, a three-time state qualifier. In her final prep race, she did her part, turning in the team’s second best time at 16:30 for a 48th place finish. It was a step back from last year when she went to state as an individual and placed 17th overall with a time of 15:35, but at the end of a season where she has battled injuries, her veteran savvy and leadership paid dividends for the rest of a group that was making their first appearance at Fort Dodge.
“Kaley ran really well today,” Henderson said. “As the race went on, she kept creeping along and boy, she took the rest of the pack with her. Running here is different than anyplace else, and she’s been there and done that.”
Runners three, four and five all finished within 11 places of Stender.
Michelle Buboltz overachieved on the day to serve as Atlantic’s third runner (No. 53 – 16:34), followed closely by Palmer Hoegh (No. 56 – 16:43) and Amanda Gude (No. 59 – 16:46).
Even Atlantic’s sixth runner, Misty Fleagle factored in when her time of 17:08 topped Estherville-Lincoln Central’s sixth runner by seven seconds, separating a pair of teams who each scored 217 points and pushing Atlantic ahead to eighth place overall while ELC slipped to ninth.
“We feel good about what we did today,” Henderson said. “We’ve got a good young group that will return.”
In a bit of an upset, heavily-favored Decorah fell to fourth in the team race while Mount Vernon-Lisbon packed their front three in the top 11 and had all five runners score in the top 30. Williamsburg was a close second with 74 points, four more than the champions.
At 109 points, Dubuque Wahlert slipped in ahead of Decorah in third place while Decorah, with 127 points, enjoyed two runners in the top seven but had runners three through five labor in the 30s and 40s, and lost their chance to repeat.
Class 3A Girls Team Standings
1. 70 MOUNT VERNON-LISBON
2. 74 WILLIAMSBURG
3. 109 DUBUQUE WAHLERT
4. 127 DECORAH
5. 181 BALLARD, HUXLEY
6. 196 DENVER-TRIPOLI
7. 202 HARLAN
8. 217 ATLANTIC
9. 217 ESTHERVILLE-LINCOLN CENTRAL
10. 233 PELLA
11. 258 ADM, ADEL
12. 271 MARION
13. 279 BENTON, VAN HORNE
14. 320 KNOXVILLE
15. 364 SIOUX CITY HEELAN
Atlantic Trojanns Individual Finishes
1 05 Ali Krogman 09 15:03
2 48 Kaley Stender 12 16:30
3 53 Michelle Buboltz 10 16:34
4 56 Palmer Hoegh 11 16:43
5 59 Amanda Gude 09 16:46
6 ( 79) Misty Fleagle 09 17:08
7 ( 97) Katie Blake 09 17:41
This most recent episode Saturday didn’t carry as much weight.
Atlantic freshman Ali Krogman turned in the finest finish at the state meet from a Trojann runner in the modern era of the 4K race (converted from a length of two miles in 2002), and the rest of the team jointly overachieved to place eighth in the final team standings, all making for a girls’ 2008 season that was a giant step forward to say the least.
Krogman ran in the front pack of the Class 3A field, turning up the dial on the final hill of the otherwise flat course to turn in a time of 15:03 with one second separating her from fourth place. The performance was a 41-second improvement from her regional winning time at Nishna Hills nine days earlier.
A top five finish is a surprise even to Krogman, who has won her last three races (Trojanns Invite, Hawkeye 10 Meet and Regional) and admits she doesn’t like to lose.
“I was hoping for a top 10 finish, but fifth place is awesome,” Krogman said afterwards. “I thought I might take seventh or eighth. Here, there are so many runners that are just as good or better, it was very challenging.”
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Krogman’s exponential rise to distance running elite was once again verified Saturday, but this kind of showing is still a bit of a surprise, admits Henderson.
“When you go to another level, you assume since she’s met every other challenge, she’ll meet this one too,” Henderson said of Krogman. “We also know that this can be a scary place, and I am real excited and proud of how she continued to compete like she always has.”
Former Trojanns runner Courtney Jacobs had Atlantic’s previous top finish at the modern state meet, placing eighth in 2003 with a time of 15:12. Under the old format, Jacobs still has Atlantic’s best overall finish, placing second in 2001with a time of 11:41, achieved in an era when only two classes existed.
As far as the team showing, the young squad performed about as good as or better than Henderson hoped for or could reasonably expect.
A math teacher by trade, Henderson distributed a pre-state meet flier to the group in which he crunched numbers and explains where he hopes each runner could place to achieve their goals. Even amidst all the calculations he worked out where the Trojanns might finish as high as sixth as a team or as low as 12th, Henderson didn’t list Krogman as doing any better than seventh, nor did he figure all five runners to score would crack the top 60 in a race 128 runners deep.
“We thought 10th place would be good and anything better would be icing on the cake,” he said. “It was a good start for a young team that will probably do better in the future.”
The team will lose one senior starter in Kaley Stender, a three-time state qualifier. In her final prep race, she did her part, turning in the team’s second best time at 16:30 for a 48th place finish. It was a step back from last year when she went to state as an individual and placed 17th overall with a time of 15:35, but at the end of a season where she has battled injuries, her veteran savvy and leadership paid dividends for the rest of a group that was making their first appearance at Fort Dodge.
“Kaley ran really well today,” Henderson said. “As the race went on, she kept creeping along and boy, she took the rest of the pack with her. Running here is different than anyplace else, and she’s been there and done that.”
Runners three, four and five all finished within 11 places of Stender.
Michelle Buboltz overachieved on the day to serve as Atlantic’s third runner (No. 53 – 16:34), followed closely by Palmer Hoegh (No. 56 – 16:43) and Amanda Gude (No. 59 – 16:46).
Even Atlantic’s sixth runner, Misty Fleagle factored in when her time of 17:08 topped Estherville-Lincoln Central’s sixth runner by seven seconds, separating a pair of teams who each scored 217 points and pushing Atlantic ahead to eighth place overall while ELC slipped to ninth.
“We feel good about what we did today,” Henderson said. “We’ve got a good young group that will return.”
In a bit of an upset, heavily-favored Decorah fell to fourth in the team race while Mount Vernon-Lisbon packed their front three in the top 11 and had all five runners score in the top 30. Williamsburg was a close second with 74 points, four more than the champions.
At 109 points, Dubuque Wahlert slipped in ahead of Decorah in third place while Decorah, with 127 points, enjoyed two runners in the top seven but had runners three through five labor in the 30s and 40s, and lost their chance to repeat.
Class 3A Girls Team Standings
1. 70 MOUNT VERNON-LISBON
2. 74 WILLIAMSBURG
3. 109 DUBUQUE WAHLERT
4. 127 DECORAH
5. 181 BALLARD, HUXLEY
6. 196 DENVER-TRIPOLI
7. 202 HARLAN
8. 217 ATLANTIC
9. 217 ESTHERVILLE-LINCOLN CENTRAL
10. 233 PELLA
11. 258 ADM, ADEL
12. 271 MARION
13. 279 BENTON, VAN HORNE
14. 320 KNOXVILLE
15. 364 SIOUX CITY HEELAN
Atlantic Trojanns Individual Finishes
1 05 Ali Krogman 09 15:03
2 48 Kaley Stender 12 16:30
3 53 Michelle Buboltz 10 16:34
4 56 Palmer Hoegh 11 16:43
5 59 Amanda Gude 09 16:46
6 ( 79) Misty Fleagle 09 17:08
7 ( 97) Katie Blake 09 17:41
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| Class 3A Volleyball Playoffs: Torrid start pushes Harlan past Trojanns |
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