Quentin Nauman blazes on a cold day; his 14:48 is a state-meet record

FORT DODGE -- When he hit the final uphill, Quentin Nauman also hit the jets.

The final result was as predictable as it was breathtaking.

Nauman repeated as the Class 3A boys’ individual champion at the state cross country championships Friday afternoon at Lakeside Golf Course.

His final time -- 14 minutes, 48 seconds -- was the fastest run in state competition by an Iowa boy.

Ever.

By 8 seconds.

West Des Moines Dowling’s Jackson Heidesch (14:56, 2022) was the former record-holder.

“To me, he’s still the greatest cross country runner ever in Iowa,” said Nauman, a senior at Western Dubuque and a University of Oregon commit.

So, then, what are you, Quentin?

“That’s for others to decide.”

The race was a four-man battle -- Nauman, Pella’s Canaan Dunham, Des Moines Christian’s Caleb Ten Pas and Gilbert’s Logan Bleich, all of which can be designated as “elite” -- for more than 2 miles.

Bleich dropped off, then Ten Pas did the same.

Finally, with a little more than a half-mile to go, Nauman attacked the final hill and separated from Dunham, who finished in 15:02.

“I just drove my arms and kept my eyes up,” Nauman said.

Nauman said he adjusted his race strategy slightly. And he persevered through the raw conditions (the Fort Dodge wind chill was below 30 degrees Friday afternoon).

“We’re cross country guys,” he said. “We adapt or we die.”

The state championship was Nauman’s second consecutive on grass; he also has eight track titles with a season to go.

Gilbert’s boys and Pella’s girls maintained their 3A team supremacy.

Gilbert made it three consecutive boys titles behind the 4-5-6 finish of Bleich, Jacob Tallman and Carson Squiers. The Tigers scored 71 points and were followed by Mount Vernon-Lisbon (101) and Pella (109).

Pella extended its girls’ reign to four years behind third-time individual champion Marissa Ferebee (17:47). The Dutch had four runners in the top nine in a nifty 31-point effort.

Des Moines Christian (113) and Mount Vernon-Lisbon (136) were the other girls’ podium teams.

Yes, it was a memorable afternoon from the kids from Mount Vernon and Lisbon.

“(Coach) Kory (Swart) put us through the best workouts possible to prepare us for today,” boys’ leader Dawson Scheil said. “We hit a taper right after the conference meet, stopped using as much mileage.

Scheil, Sawyer Feldman and Benjamin Brinkmann were eighth, 14th and 17th. But they weren’t the only heroes on this day.

“Our fifth guy, (Anthony) Armstrong, he passed 16 guys in the last mile,” Scheil said. “That’s what got us to second place.”

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Maquoketa’s Izzy Hardin ran with Ferebee for the first part of the race and finished second in 18:02. Mount Vernon-Lisbon’s Evelyn Moeller (18:06) was third.

“It’s so exciting,” Moeller said. “It was a lot of fun to get third (individually), but to see the team get third ... that’s what’s really important. For the seniors, I really wanted it for them.”

Last year, Moeller went out hard -- “I was the 400-meter champion,” she said -- and learned from it.

“I didn’t want to do that again,” she said. “I’m just tougher mentally and physically this year.”

Mount Vernon-Lisbon was one of four Wamac girls’ teams to grace the girls’ top eight: Solon was sixth, Williamsburg seventh, Center Point-Urbana eighth.

CPU’s Aaliyah Causey ran eighth in 18:43.

Vinton-Shellsburg’s Alex Torres (16:00) placed ninth in the boys’ race. Carson Meskimen of Clear Creek Amana was 11th.

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2025 STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

(At Lakeside Golf Course, Fort Dodge)

Class 3A Girls

TEAMS

1. Pella 31, 2. Des Moines Christian 113, 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 136, 4. Sioux Center 165, 5. Winterset 181, 6. Solon 201, 7. Williamsburg 223, 8. Center Point-Urbana 232, 9. Harlan 248, 10. Gilbert 253, 11. Adel ADM 255, 12. Cedar Rapids Xavier 262, 13. Dubuque Wahlert 268, 14. Ballard 281, 15. MOC-Floyd Valley 288.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Marissa Ferebee (Pella), 17:47; 2. Izzy Hardin (Maquoketa), 18:02; 3. Evelyn Moeller (MVL), 18:06; 4. Elsie Brenneman (Pella), 18:11; 5. Elyse Erzen (DM Christian), 18:28; 6. Natalie Anderson (MOC-FV), 18:38; 7. Lizzy Vande Voort (Pella), 18:41; 8. Aaliyah Causey (CPU), 18:43; 9. Ruth Dunham (Pella), 18:44; 10. Ashlyn Rau (Harlan), 18:45.

11. Audrina Jones (Sioux Center), 18:56; 12. Julia Heslink (Harlan), 18:56; 13. Tierney Carter (Oskaloosa), 18:57; 14. Lucy Murphy (Wahlert), 18:59; 15. Alexis Hergenreter (North Polk), 19:01; 16. Carleigh Altwine (Pella), 19:04; 17. Falyn Svalstad (Solon), 19:11; 18. Ava Hope (Winterset), 19:11; 19. Addison Dabroski (Marion), 19:13; 20. Iris Dahl (Washington), 19:16.

Class 3A Boys

TEAMS

1. Gilbert 71, 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 101, 3. Pella 109, 4. Des Moines Christian 139, 5. Central DeWitt 184, 6. Decorah 202, 7. Sioux Center 202, 8. Grinnell 206, 9. Davenport Assumption 207, 10. Adel ADM 247, 11. Bondurant-Farrar 251, 12. Western Dubuque 263, 13. Clear Creek Amana 280, 14. MOC-Floyd Valley 287, 15. Storm Lake 295.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Quentin Nauman (Western Dubuque), 14:48; 2. Canaan Dunham (Pella), 15:02; 3. Caleb Ten Pas (DM Christian), 15:18; 4. Logan Bleich (Gilbert), 15:31; 5. Jacob Tallman (Gilbert), 15:38; 6. Carson Squiers (Gilbert), 15:47; 7. Cadel Conner (Grinnell), 15:57; 8. Dawson Scheil (MVL), 16:00; 9. Alex Torres (Vinton-Shellsburg), 16:00; 10. Isaac Rankin (Knoxville), 16:02.

11. Carson Meskimen (CCA), 16:03; 12. Gavin Weber (Algona), 16:12; 13. Kyle Olson (Central DeWitt), 16:15; 14. Sawyer Feldman (MVL), 16:15; 15. Josiah Sisler (DM Christian), 16:16; 16. Dilton Dorenkamp (DM Christian), 16:20; 17. Benjamin Brinkmann (MVL), 16:22; 18. Andrew Rees (Washington), 16:22; 19. Joel Ramirez-Parra (Storm Lake), 16:28; 20. Isaac Hummel (MOC-FV), 16:29.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com