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Schellhorn headed to state cross country meet

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MFL MarMac freshman Jacob Schellhorn placed sixth at the Oct. 21 Class 1A state qualifying meet in Guttenberg, punching a ticket to state cross country. (Photos by Audrey Posten)

On the girls side, Abby Schellhorn narrowly missed a top-10 state berth. The senior was 13th with a time of 21:59.5.

Junior Will Koether (left) placed 21st with a time of 18:53.6, followed closely by freshman Tucker Ruff (right), whose 18:56.4 effort put him 22nd.

Sophomore Clare Grau placed 21st at the state qualifying meet.

Senior Caleb Nordheim finished out his cross country career with a time of 19:21.4, which was good for 31st place.

Alexis Ross, a junior, placed 51st at the district/state qualifying meet.

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

 

MFL MarMac freshman Jacob Schellhorn placed sixth at the Oct. 21 Class 1A state qualifying meet in Guttenberg, punching a ticket to the state cross country meet.

 

This was just the fourth meet of the season for Schellhorn, who was hampered by a painful iliotibial (IT) band injury. The IT band is a long piece of connective tissue that runs along the outside of the leg from the hip to the knee and shinbone.

 

Considering how the season started, “I was just hoping I was going to be able to run at districts,” shared Schellhorn, who said he’s fully healed now.

 

Recovery included two to three weeks without running.

 

“But he rode a bike every day that kept him working hard and didn’t have any effect on the knee. That, I think, is what kept him in the game,” said MFL MarMac head coach Eric Koenig.

 

Schellhorn’s first meet was Sept. 28 at Jesup. It was the team’s largest competition of the season, with 30 schools in the boys varsity race. He placed 63rd with a time of 18:55.9, but Schellhorn said it was hard to gauge his performance.

 

“Jesup was a lot of people, so I couldn’t really get out and run. Now, it’s a lot better,” he said.

 

Schellhorn was second at the Upper Iowa Conference meet. There, he said he gained confidence.

 

“I understood I could run with [other top runners],” he reflected.

 

“We knew we’d see a lot of the same people here,” added Koenig. “And we watched all those other guys run all season long, so we knew where we were.”

 

Schellhorn turned in a season best time of 17:26.3 at the state qualifying meet, aided by a strong finish.

 

“I knew I had to stick with those top guys, and that I could beat them at the end. I knew I had a kick at the end to pass whoever I needed to,” he stated.

 

Schellhorn said he’s just excited to make it to state, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 30, at Fort Dodge.

 

“I just like the competition of it,” he commented.

 

Koenig sees a lot of potential for the freshman, who’s the first MFL MarMac boy  to participate in the state meet in recent memory.

 

“A state champion in 1A will do 16, 16:30 maybe. We cut another 35 seconds off from last week. Why can’t we cut a little more?” Koenig said. “It was cool out today, but it wasn’t ideal running conditions. So who knows what else we could do?”

 

Koenig was just as impressed with the rest of the Bulldogs. Junior Will Koether placed 21st with a time of 18:53.6, followed closely by freshman Tucker Ruff, whose 18:56.4 effort put him 22nd. Senior Caleb Nordheim ran the course in 19:21.4, for 31st place.

 

“Both Tucker and Will were under 19. Caleb was right around 19. The last time that’s happened at MFL MarMac is forever,” said Koenig. “I was happy three years ago when we were at 20.”

 

Other MFL MarMac runners included junior Bobby Kober, who was 51st at 20:26.2, while freshman Logan Ross was 84th at 23:16.2 and senior Dusty Berns was 96th at 26:22.5.

 

The Bulldogs placed fifth of 12 teams with a score of 126. Maquoketa Valley took the top spot with 44 points.

 

On the girls side, Abby Schellhorn, Jacob’s older sister, narrowly missed a top-10 state berth. The senior was 13th with a time of 21:59.5. Sophomore Clare Grau came in 21st at 22:36.3, followed by freshman Evelyn Ruff in 31st at 23:54.0. Sophomore Kaylee Walch’s time of 24:49.2 put her 39th, and fellow sophomore Kaylee Nuehring was 44th at 25:35.0. Alexis Ross, a junior, placed 51st at 25:57.7.

 

“Abby ran really well. Clare ran well. All the girls ran well,” Koenig said. “I think most of them set PRs today, at least for the season.”

 

With 116 points, the Bulldogs were sixth as a team. South Winneshiek placed first with a score of 47.

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