North Scott girls cross country advances to state

By Christopher Maloney | No comments posted

Led by senior Kara Danielsen, the North Scott  girls cross country team advanced to the state finals with a third-place finish at Thursday’s Class 4A District race.

“I am overwhelmed, proud and thankful that we had young women that are very willing to work very hard and also are class individuals,” North Scott coach Dave Williams said.

Iowa City West won the 10-team meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf, with 36 points.

Pleasant Valley finished second with 59, followed by North Scott’s 127, Davenport North’s 142 and Davenport West’s 150.

For Iowa City West, it marked 11 straight years of winning the Class 4A district meet.

Davenport North junior Kelsey Regan won the 2.5-mile race in 15:03 to advance to state, although her team just missed the state cutoff point.

The top-three team finishers advance to state with the top 10 individuals.

“It was a pretty good race,” said Regan, who finished second at state last year. “It was nice winning with such tough competition today.

“This gives me a good boost heading into state. I came here to win, and despite the wind and wet grounds, I refused to let the weather or competition get in the way.”

Pleasant Valley freshman Anne Martin finished fourth with in 15:26 to lead the Spartans.

“I think I started out too fast,” she said. “I had a tough time over the last half-mile because of that start. I am looking forward to state when I will face even tougher competition.”

Iowa City West coach Mike Parker said he isn’t only proud of the district-winning streak continuing on but also in how well his top five runners finished.

“These girls were still in first grade when our 11-year streak started,” he said. “We had five girls finish in the top 12 today and they ran against a very tough field of competition. I am very pleased with our whole team.”