Ankeny cross country standout Isaiah Smith has earned a fourth consecutive trip to the boys’ Class 4A state meet.
Another senior, Makenna Madetzke, has qualified for the third time in the girls’ race.
This year, though, their respective teams will not be joining them.
“It’s really sad and kind of tragic to not have the team behind me,” said Madetzke. “The past three years we’ve had that whole team make it to state, so I don’t really know anything else. I just kind of tried to focus on getting the job done for myself today.”
Madetzke placed fifth in a state qualifying meet on Wednesday at Marshalltown. She posted a time of 18 minutes 36 seconds in the 5K race.
“That comes with competing in big meets,” Ankeny girls’ coach TJ Jumper said of Madetzke’s top-five finish. “We talked about her job was just to qualify today. We’re going to do what we need to do to qualify today, and next week is when we really want to run fast. She took that approach and ran a smart race, and now we’re just looking forward to next week.”
Smith, meanwhile, placed fourth in the boys’ race in a time of 16:02. He has steadily improved in each of his four races in October after missing the entire month of September due to a bad case of mononucleosis.
“It feels good to come back each race and feel better each time,” Smith said.
Smith led Ankeny to a sixth-place finish in the 10-team field. The Hawks finished with 137 points.
“I was proud of our guys and how they persevered this season, and the district meet was no different,” said Ankeny boys’ coach Jon Lindaman, whose team was trying to advance for the fifth straight year. “Our goal each year is to be running at the state meet. We fell short of that goal, but it was not from lack of effort. Our team overcame a number of challenging situations this year including a crazy number of injuries and sickness to varsity guys. They never complained, never made excuses, and always went out and competed hard. That says a lot about the character of these kids.”
Second-ranked Cedar Falls captured the boys’ crown with 39 points. No. 15 Dubuque Hempstead placed second with 69 points, and No. 11 Waukee Northwest also qualified for state by placing third with 82.
“It was going to take a lot (for us to qualify),” said Ankeny senior Brett Augustine. “But credit to coach Lindaman–he gave us a lot of motivation the last week, saying that we could do it. And I thought there was a chance. But we always knew it was kind of a longshot.”
Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls, the state’s top-ranked runner, pulled away from the field to win the race in 14:55. He finished 31 seconds ahead of Marshalltown’s Preston Johnson.
Smith emerged from a pack of runners to earn his fourth-place finish. Seven other competitors crossed the finish line within 10 seconds of Smith.
“Ike continues to look better each week,” Lindaman said. “He is learning and gaining confidence from each race. I am just so dang proud of the way he has come back this season. His preparation, work ethic and drive is remarkable. Those things will pay off for him, and I am really excited to see him close out his high school career in style next week. He is a four-year state meet qualifier, which puts him in pretty rare company.”
Augustine placed 30th in his final race for the Hawks. He was clocked in 17:01.
“It wasn’t great to be honest with you,” Augustine said of his race. “I’ve kind of been dealing with allergies and not feeling good all week. It was just tough out there today, but looking back at my season, I’m proud of how everything went in my career.”
Ankeny’s Benton Schuchart placed 32nd in 17:13. Logan Rolling took 34th in 17:26, Brayden Nixt was 37th in 17:33, Cody Banks placed 38th in 17:35, and Jackson Kaiser finished 53rd in 18:42.
“The pace went out faster than usual for our pack, and I think that had an effect on the back half of our races,” Lindaman said. “We talked about staying aggressive and keeping contact with the top teams, and they did just that. Brett was our latest victim to not feeling 100 percent, but he fought through it and gave us everything he had. Benton and Cody both stepped in as sophomores and contributed as varsity guys. Along with Brayden, who also had a solid showing, we will lean on them as the foundation to next year’s team. They all got some great experience running in a high-stakes meet today. Logan and Jackson are both kids that have worked their tales off all offseason, and I am just so dang proud of them. It has been fun to see their growth throughout their careers.”
Augustine wasn’t surprised when Merrick set a blistering pace.
“He’s a good competitor,” Augustine said. “I always like to joke around that I’m going to beat him…and that’s never going to happen. That (pace) was to be expected from him.”
No. 2 Waukee Northwest placed five runners in the top nine and easily won the girls’ title with 24 points. No. 8 Cedar Falls was the runner-up with 57 points, and No. 9 Waukee took third with 72.
Ankeny placed fifth in the seven-team field with 128 points. The Hawkettes had qualified for state in each of the previous five seasons.
“We knew we were the No. 4 seed coming in, and we were going to have to run well and have a couple other things from other teams kind of go our way,” Jumper said. “I’m super proud of the girls’ effort.”
Top-ranked Charlee Gall of Cedar Falls won the race in 17:42. She finished 24 seconds ahead of Northwest’s Laney Sundet.
“I kind of expected some of those girls to take it out (fast). They’ve been running pretty well this season,” Madetzke said. “I trailed a little bit more than I would have liked to, but I’m just kind of getting my confidence back after having some rough races and dealing with some stuff.”
It was the final race for four other seniors, including Ella Schulz. She placed 26th in a time of 20:27.
“We talked about leaving it all out there, and Ella set a lifetime PR and just missed qualifying for state,” Jumper said. “She ran huge.”
Ivy Wiegand placed 31st for the Hawkettes in 20:44, and Reagan Prendergast took 35th in 21:20. Another senior, Ainsley Kiene, was running well before she took a tumble and did not finish the race.
“Ivy has been Miss Consistent for us all year, and she was right there,” Jumper said. “But we were just off. Unfortunately, Ainsley went down in the race. She was giving her best effort and doing everything she could. I couldn’t be more proud of this group and their improvement and what they’ve given to the program.”
Ankeny’s Vanessa Wise placed 36th in 21:24. Isabella Sullivan finished 38th in 21:41.
“I felt like we had a shot (to make state),” Schulz said. “We all just had to perform our best and even though it’s not exactly how we wanted it, we gave it all that we had. Honestly, I’m just happy with how far our team has come this year.”
The two-day state meet will be held at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. The Class 4A girls’ race will be held on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 10:30 a.m., with the boys’ race to follow at 11:15.
Madetzke will try to close out her career with a top-15 finish. She placed 21st as a junior after finishing 49th in 2023.
“I’ve never actually made it onto the top deck so that’s my No. 1 goal,” she said. “Depending on the day, it can be anyone in that top five or top three (that wins it).”
Smith will try to reach the awards stand for the second time in his career. He placed 15th as a sophomore.
Both runners will have the support of their teammates.
“It’s been good to run with Ike for five years now going back to eighth grade,” Augustine said. “I’m excited to see what he can do at state, and in track and whatever he does in college.”