HURON – Northwestern’s Ella Boekelheide led from start to finish to win her state championship, while Ipswich runners used a late surge to secure their state title during the State B Cross Country Meet at Broadland Creek Golf Course on Saturday afternoon.
Boekelheide set the pace from the opening gun and pulled away to capture her third overall individual state crown.
“There’s definitely more emotions attached to it, just being the last one,” Boekelheide said. “It’s just so, so special.”
The conditions were a little less than ideal on the day. While the temps were cool, the wind was strong and the course was challenging. That did not phase Boekelheide.
“It’s definitely a challenge, but if you just have a good attitude, tell yourself you’re strong, you’re confident in your abilities, the hill, running into the wind, took it as a challenge,” Boekelheide said. “It was so fun.”
Boekelheide is used to leading the field whenever she runs. She understands that there is a target on her back.
“I know the chase pack is there and they’re hungry, they’re looking at me and wanting to catch me,” Boekelheide said, “and I just have that in the back of my mind. I know I’m out there, it’s just me versus myself. I’m just pushing every single step.”
Ipswich came from behind to win the team title by three points over Northwestern. The Tigers trailed until the last portion of the race.
“We got to the top of the hill, we’re probably in third place, actually. Then our girls had a good kick and stuck to the plan,” said Ipswich coach Todd Thorson. “Our first 400 was to the second, and our mile was to the second. We just didn’t calculate that everybody else would run that good, so we had a little work to do, but we stuck with the plan and they followed it and it panned out.”
The team members included an eighth grader and a trio of seventh graders.
“They’re so disciplined for a young crew,” Thorson said. “I’ve never had a crew that followed the plan to a T when the stakes are that high and that much emotion.”
Seventh-graders Isabella Gailbraith and Jayla Stiles finished third and fourth, respectively, to lead the Tigers. Madison Gellhaus finished 10th and needed medical treatment following the race. Seventh grader Kalynn Oban finished 11th, and eight-grader Jennay Gisi was 16th.
“It’s really good. Hard work in the summer has definitely paid off,” Stiles said. “It feels amazing to go on the podium and hold on to the number one trophy.”
Gailbraith, also running in her first state meet, talked about heading up the final hill, running straight into the wind.
“You really just gotta push through it and you have to have the right mindset,” Galbraith said. “You’ve just got to believe, ‘I can. I got this.’ “
One of the individuals who was in on the celebration was senior Gracyn Kadlec, who ran on the varsity last year before being bumped by the seventh graders this fall.
“It’s definitely bittersweet, but I’m so proud of these girls. They’ve worked their butts off,” Kadlec said. “I wouldn’t want a title on the team that I didn’t deserve, and these girls worked their butts off for it, and I’m just happy to be here alongside them.”
Kadlec provided invaluable leadership for the younger runners this past fall. When asked what the best advice was she gave them, the senior responded, “God over everything. When anything else fails, God won’t, so really just turn to Him in times of need and He’ll provide for you.”
While the Tigers had not won a state title since 2016, the Ipswich program came up big under pressure to secure their ninth overall championship.
“In the most humble way, it’s the Ipswich thing,” Kadlec said. “We come out here and we do what we’re expected, but we also go above and beyond that. That’s who Ipswich is and that’s the legacy we’re leaving behind here.”
Other area runners in the top 25 included Northwestern’s Tara Blachford (8th), and Breanna Halvorson (17th), Kendal Uttecht of Wolsey-Wessington (12th), Warner’s Katelyn Wirth (22nd), and Faulkton’s Austina Sorensen (25th).
Herreid-Selby Area’s Gavin Hirsch was the top area finisher in the boys’ race taking fifth.
“Goal was shock everybody,” Hirsch said, “because I got 40th last year and I wanted to get major improvement.”
Hirsch said he took last year’s finish personal and felt like he had something to prove on Saturday.
“I took it personal when I got 40th, and I worked really hard after that. The year before, I got 10th and then I fell off and got 40th,” Hirsch said. “I took it personal and just went out today and was like, ‘gotta do what I gotta do,’ and show everyone what I got.”
Hirsch, who this past fall broke a 50-year-old Selby record, was running among the leaders in the first half of the race, but was unable to keep up that pace.
“I was with them. My goal was let’s just try to stay with them and see what happens. What’s it going to hurt to try to win?” Hirsch said. “Then those hills got me a little bit. I went up those hills fast, and it kind of made me lose my momentum a little bit.”
Faulkton’s Korbin Stark continued his memorable week. After helping to lead Faulkton to an opening-round win in the football playoffs, he finished 17th at the state meet. He will have another playoff football game coming up on Thursday.
“It’s really tough. There’s so many things to focus on. This week I had to get ready for our first playoff game. That ended up going just as planned and we got a big win there. Now we’ve got a huge game to focus on,” Stark said. “Coming into today I just wanted to make sure I could go out and run a strong race. Now I can start focusing on football.”
When asked what his football teammates think of him competing in both football and cross country, Stark said, “They know the struggle. They see the early mornings. There’s a few that have ran before and they know just how it feels to go out and run a course, and then play a football game all within a few days of each other.”
Stark knows he doesn’t have to compete in multiple sports at the same time, but the junior enjoys both and doesn’t want to give one up.
“I just love ‘em both so much. I always wondered if I was going to have to quit one or the other when I was growing up, but I’ve made it work so far,” Stark said. “I plan to do it. I have one year left. I want to go out strong in both of them.”
Other area top 25 finishers included Titus Kippley of Leola (15th) Noah Edison of Castlewood (18th), Drew Arbach of North Central (21st), and Ty Boekelheide of Northwestern (25th).
Philip won the boys’ team championship, while Mitchell Christian’s Silas Holdeman won the individual title.
To see complete meet results, click on the following link:
