Cyclone Girls’ XC Finishes 9th at State, Gross places 50th

Cyclone Girls’ XC Finishes 9th at State, Gross places 50th –

(10-31-25) – It’s always good to end your season at the state meet, even if the outcome is exactly what you hoped for in the end.

The Harlan Community girls’ cross-country team finished in 9th place in the Class 3A State Cross-Country Meet in Fort Dodge Friday with 248 points, while Cyclone runner Jeffery Gross came in 50th individually on the boys’ side.

The Cyclones Ashlyn Rau was 10th individually with a time of 18:45.6 while Julia Heslink was 12th with a time of 18”56.5.

“That’s always fun,” said Cyclone Coach Zack Klaassen of Rau and Heslink medaling at the State Meet. “Plus, you know, you just get rewarded for your hard work and dedication and I thought they attacked the course pretty well. You know, at the State Meet, when you got a hundred and some runners out there and it's hard to find targets and it's hard, if you ever get boxed in it's just hard to move up.”

Rau improved by seven spots from last year’s State Meet, a goal that Klaassen said Rau set for herself this year.

“She went out 19th last year and I know she wanted to make sure she was in that Top-15 this year, so she got her goal.”

The rest of Harlan Community girls’ times and places: Aspen Bieker (88th – 21:01.7), Allie Anderson (109th – 21:45.4), Ava Freund (116th – 21:57.9), Sadie Alberti (125th – 22:50.4), and Josie Sonderman (127th – 23:21.8).

Meanwhile on the boys’ side, Jeffery Gross was 50th individually for Harlan Community with a time of 17:02.2. Klaassen thinks it’s a good learning moment for Gross but thinks he should also be proud of his accomplishments this past season.

“It's his first year there, and obviously he worked hard to get there. He was a little frustrated at the end. He thought he could have done a little better, and I applaud him for holding himself accountable and things like that, but he finished his year on the last day of the season.”

For Klaassen, the season seemed to speed by and he’s appreciative of his athletes and their parents for their part in a successful 2025 season.

“I'd like to say thank you to all of them. We've got a great group of kids, just really nice kids, and the parents are top notch as well, and they let us coach them up. That's all you can ask for.”

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats