North Mahaska senior Brayden Veiseth and sophomore Emmerson Jedlicka qualified for next Friday’s state cross country meet with top 10 finishes. The duo competed at the Class 1A state qualifier at Pine Lakes Golf Course in Eldora Thursday.
North Mahaska’s boys team placed sixth overall but only the top two teams advance in total. Pekin dominated the field with 47 points and Fort Dodge St. Edmond was second with 87. They were followed by 3. North Butler 103; 4. HLV 112; 5. South Hamilton 132; 6. Baxter 144 and 7. North Mahaska 165.
Pekin’s Brady McWhirter led the field of 101 runners covering the distance in 17 minutes 30.3 seconds. Runnerup was St. Edmond’s Anthony Valles in 17:38.4. Veiseth ran sixth in 18:33.9. NM junior Ben Yang placed 17th in 19:54.2 followed by junior Kincaid Mitchell in 41st in 21:11.2; freshman Maddox Wynja 50th in 21:45.4 and senior Clay Thompson placed 51st in 21:46.
Sophomore Emmerson Jedlicka, left, and senior Brayden Veiseth, right, earned state berths at the state cross country qualifier in Eldora Thursday. It is the second consecutive year coach Seth Streebin has had state qualifiers.
Jedlicka was a seventh place finisher covering the course in 21:59.1. St. Edmond was the overall team winner with 36 points edging Pekin by one point. North Butler’s Addison Voelker won the girls’ meet in 20:01.1 and Pekin’s Chloe Glosser was second in 20:33.9.
North Mahaska’s other two runners were sophomores Ava Huffman and Alivia Schock. Huffman was 19th in 24:46.2 and Schock took 43rd in the 75-runner field in 26:29.9.
“Brayden and Emmerson ran really hard and have worked hard all season,” said NM coach Seth Streebin. “They earned this and I’m so proud of them. The rest of the boys and girls both ran very well. It was a great season and I’m proud of how everyone progressed throughout the season.”
This was second consecutive year Veiseth has qualified for the state meet. Jedlicka is the second girl to represent North Mahaska in recent years. Jedlicka will run at 2 p.m. with Veiseth scheduled to run at 2:45 p.m.