Sophomore Gus Brown led the 17th-ranked Ankeny boys’ cross country team to a seventh-place finish in the CIML Conference meet on Wednesday at Johnston. The Hawks posted a total of 188 points.
Brown, who is 18th in Class 4A in the individual rankings, placed sixth in the 5k race with a personal-best time of 15 minutes 31 seconds. His previous best of 15:47 came at the Fort Dodge Invitational on Oct. 8, when he broke the 16-minute barrier for the first time.
Here is some inside info on Brown:
Congratulations on a great race. Were you surprised that your final time was as fast as it was?
I’m really happy with my time, but it wasn’t something I wasn’t expecting.
Were the conditions that day about the best that you’ve had all year?
I think Fort Dodge was a bit better, but they both had almost perfect conditions.
Coach Lindaman told me that you posted the fastest time ever by an Ankeny sophomore, eclipsing some pretty decorated runners that went on to have amazing careers. Was that a goal for you at the beginning of the season?
I don’t know if it was necessarily my goal, but I definitely had it in my sights.
You have had five top-10 finishes in six meets this season, including a victory in the 9/10 race in the Jaguar Early Bird Invitational on Aug. 25 at DMACC. What do you think has been the key to your success?
I would have to say just getting out hard has been one of the things that has helped me, but also realizing that a kick doesn’t start at 400 meters. For me, it usually starts with 1k to go (in the race).
You placed eighth in the Heartland Classic on Sept. 19 at Central College, where the race was contested on a muddy course after some heavy rains. What was it like to run in those conditions?
That course was definitely something, but I think at that course you had to be extremely mentally tough to just not give up even when the conditions were as bad as they were.
After that race, you had 18 days off before your next meet due to some constant rainy weather. How difficult was it to maintain your conditioning during that stretch?
I wouldn’t say it was too hard, but it was annoying not being able to see where I compare next to other teams. But I think the training really helped teach me how fit I actually was.
What did you think of your team’s performance at the conference meet?
I definitely think we could’ve performed better, but I’m really hoping we can pull it together for districts and punch our ticket to state.
Your team will now compete in a Class 4A district meet on Wednesday at Kickers Park in Iowa City. Do you know anything about that course?
I know that it is a soccer course and it is pretty far away so I will definitely get out of school early, but since it’s on a soccer field I hope I can put up a good time.
Top-ranked Dowling Catholic will be the heavy favorite to win the team title, so the rest of the squads will likely be fighting for the other two berths to the state meet. Do you think your team can contend for one of those spots?
I think it will be close, but we just have to want it more than any other team. I think it will come down to what our mentality is going into the race.
I’m sure your personal goal will be to qualify for state as an individual if your team doesn’t make it. Are you pretty confident that you can do that?
I am very confident about qualifying for state if my team doesn’t qualify because I know that I am capable based on past races.
Assuming that you make it to state one way or the other, what will be your goal for state? Do you feel like a podium finish is well within your reach?
My goal for state is top 15 so I can get all-state honors, but I also want to try and be the No. 1 sophomore in the state. I am very confident in a podium finish because I don’t want all my hard work over the summer to be for nothing.