Griswold girls finish sixth at state cross country meet

FORT DODGE — The Griswold Girls Cross Country team finished in sixth place at the 2010 1A Iowa State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge Saturday.
The team finished with 198 points and an average team time of 16:45, seven points behind fifth place Marquette Catholic from Bellevue.
“I was really impressed with the way all of the girls competed, especially down the homestretch,” Griswold Cross Country Coach Jane Chaillie said. “You could tell that last 250 meters, they were giving it their heart and soul to get across the finish line and do the best they can to represent Griswold.”
Rachel Northrup was the top finisher for Griswold as she took home 13th for Griswold with a time of 15:56. The senior’s time was three seconds better than last year.
Jordyn Sindt was second for Griswold and 26th overall with a time of 16:22. Sindt’s placing is an improvement from 2009, when she finished fourth on the team and 42nd overall.
Larissa Backhaus took tome a time of 16:41. Lauren Moore and Bailey Powers finished back-to-back with times of 17:23, 59th and 60th best individually.
Emma Maass finished in 72nd place with a time of 17:40. Serena Robinette was the final finisher for Griswold. Robinette finished in 97th with a time of 20:06.
Pekin took home the state championship with a score of 45 points and an average time of 15:29.
Emily Franks of Northeast in Goose Lake was the top overall finisher for the state meet. Franks finished with a time of 14:47. Pekin’s Celsey and Brenna Conger were second and third individually.
Earlham finished in second place with 87 points and an average time of 16 minutes. Tri-Center in Neola finished in third place with 91 points and Prince of Peace from Clinton finished in fourth with 155 points.
Griswold finished ahead of teams like Panorama, Central from Elkader, Newman Catholic from Mason City, Eagle Grove and Underwood.
The team finished in fourth place in last year’s state meet with 157 points, as well as an average time of 16:43 and a team time of 1:23:32. Northrup was the top finisher for Griswold last year, finishing in seventh individually.
“I think our girls all had a lot of high expectations,” Chaillie said. “We should be really excited that we got sixth in the state because that’s quite an accomplishment. But when you go in and you have high expectations and it doesn’t seem to be going right, sometimes that kind of gets in the way of your total performance.”
This year’s appearance was Griswold’s fourth straight.