Haley Meyer is Class 1A State Runner-Up, leads Kee girls to sixth-place State Meet team finish; Chris Wagner finishes near Class 1A’s top third


Class 1A State Runner-Up ... Pictured in photo above, Kee girls cross country sophomore Haley Meyer receives her second-place medal after being announced as the Class 1A State Runner-Up at this year’s State Cross Country Meet held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Saturday, November 2. Pictured below, Meyer ran to Class 1A State Runner-Up honors and was the first Class 1A team-scored runner in a new school record time of 18:51.4, outdistancing by three seconds a pack of three other runners pictured in the photo background above that included the fellow Upper Iowa Conference pair of Jalyssa Blazek, a sophomore from Turkey Valley, and Billie Wagner, a freshman from South Winneshiek who had edged Meyer for championship honors at both the Upper Iowa Conference and Class 1A State Qualifying Meets within the last two weeks. Meyer finished just six seconds behind this year’s Class 1A State Champion, Tri-Center Neola junior Peyton Pogge, who is pictured to the right of Meyer in the medal presentation photo at left. View and find out how to purchase these photos and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.

The 2019 State Cross Country Meet proved to be somewhat surprising and bittersweet for the Kee cross country team and many others, as the season grand finale held Saturday, November 2 at a chilly, windswept Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge provided plenty to cheer about but also some results different than what may have been anticipated, and by more than just the Kee contingency.

The sweetest for the Hawks was nearly as sweet as it can be when Lady Hawk sophomore Haley Meyer ran to Class 1A State Runner-Up honors, just six seconds behind this year’s State Champion. However, with the Lady Hawks ranked third in this season’s final Iowa Track and Field Coaches poll heading into Saturday’s season grand finale, they ended up in sixth place among this season’s Class 1A elite teams.

Furthering that Kee telling of two tales, Hawk junior Chris Wagner broke a quarter century drought at the season grand finale for the Kee boys cross country team with his first-ever State Meet competition. Coming into that final race of the season ranked 25th among Class 1A individuals in that final coaches poll, Wagner ran to a 49th-place individual finish just beyond the top one-third of this season’s Class 1A elite.

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