This past Saturday was the cross country state meet. After a weird season, the boys XC team was feeling ready for state. Four weeks from the state meet, the boys were ranked fourth. The next week they were ranked second. After they swept districts, they were ranked second in the state. They were hoping to finish off the season ranked number one, by winning state.
The media surrounding running had not predicted PV to win last year, and that was the case this year. When asked about how this made the coach’s feel, Nick Sacco said, “I really don’t put too much stock into the rankings, but it’s nice to know that you have a chance and to know that others think you’re close enough to the top that you could accomplish your goal.”
The team had barely squeezed by Dubuque Hempstead at Crow Creek during districts. One point was all it took to win, and that’s what happened. They won 34-35. Hoping to win by more, and clutching the win at the very end, the Spartans were planning and preparing to beat Dubuque by more at state. “To prepare for state we did everything exactly the same as the previous year. We had the mindsets and the capability from working extremely hard this season,” said junior Kent Nickles.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t their day, and the other teams had their good day. “As a coach, I know what our guys are capable of doing, you can’t really worry too much about what other teams do because it’s out of your control”, commented Nick Sacco, assistant coach of the team. Even though the boys gave it their all, there were some problems.
Gavin Smith, a senior, had injured some of the muscles on the inside of his leg near his groin. Right after districts, Gavin was trying to run his cool down, and couldn’t finish. He wasn’t the only member of the crippled crew. Parker Huhn was having problems with his foot. A couple weeks before the state meet, he had injured a nerve in his foot.
Even though the team finished fourth in the state, they are still hungry to prove themselves at Nike Regionals in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. With this being the last official 5k meet for seniors Parker Huhn and Gavin Smith, the team wants to make it count.
