Coon Finishes 16th In State Competition

On their way to state: Austin Scholes, Lauren Coon and Sienna DeJong with Head Coach Mike Comfort.

On their way to state: Austin Scholes, Lauren Coon and Sienna DeJong with Head Coach Mike Comfort.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – It’s becoming a yearly tradition for the Oskaloosa Cross Country Program to send runners on to state.

This year, Head Coach Mike Comfort escorted 3 runners to the biggest run of the year. Senior Austin Scholes ran for the boys title, while freshman Lauren Coon and junior Sienna DeJong represented Oskaloosa on the girls side.

Comfort said that eventually a team from Oskaloosa will qualify, but he is enjoying watching state newcomers Scholes and Coon progress. “I’m really excited for Austin, Lauren and Sienna.”

Sienna DeJong has headed to state twice before, but this time around she is recovering from illness. “Had she not been sick, I think she would have challenged for the state title,” says Comfort.

As for the team, Comfort believes that the number of students participating in cross country and their hard work are both helping the team achieve a higher standard for themselves. “They are understanding you’ve got to train hard in the off-season.”

Comfort says that the team is talking about their goals. “I don’t believe you can accomplish anything if you don’t talk about it,” and making it to state as your goal and mindset all year is important.

Setting that expectation of success every year is something that Comfort talks about with the runners.

At the state meet on Saturday, it was freshman Lauren Coon who blazed the trail for Oskaloosa, crossing the line in 16th place in Class 3A with a time of 19:41.7. Junior Sienna DeJong crossed the line 36th with a time of 20:10.4.

For the boys, Senior Austin Scholes, who went out for cross country this year for the first time, made it to state and crossed the finish line in 79th place in a time of 17:44.2.

In the area, Class 3A Grinnell placed 2nd in the team effort, with Class 3A Pella placing 3rd in Boys competition. For the ladies in Class 3A, Pella raced to a second place finish, behind Assumption.

Posted by on Nov 2 2015. Filed under News, School Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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