By Brayden Dirks
On October 29th, the Iowa State Cross Country Meet took place, and MMCRU Royal Kaden Galles participated in the 1A Boys division. At 3:15 on Saturday, the gun went off and Galles had a very good start in a fast first mile. He crossed the first mile in 33rd at 5:18, with the leader crossing in 5:02, so it was a crowded front pack. The second mile at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge is much more hilly than the first, causing slower times. Although the times were a few seconds slower, Galles held his position at 33rd as he crossed the two mile mark. He went across in a time of 11:07 with a 5:49 split for his second mile. Galles had a very strong finish as he passed four people in the final 800 meters, and finished in 29th place among 157 runners. His time was 17:33 which is his second best time of the year. Galles had a very good year and capped it off with a top 30 finish at state.
Coach Lisa Spieler gave her remarks on Kaden’s race, “Saturday was a beautiful day for the state cross country meet and Kaden took advantage of the ideal conditions. Out of 157 runners in class 1A, he finished 29th. To finish in the top 20% as a sophomore is a great accomplishment and I am excited to see what he can do going forward. I really appreciated all his teammates that went along to cheer him on too. It was a fun day!” Thank you for all the support during the cross country season! Now we look forward to track!