By Brayden Dirks
This week for the Cross Country article we will be doing a preview of the Iowa State Cross Country Meet, in which Royals sophomore Kaden Galles is running in. Galles had a tremendous 2021 season. He was War Eagle Conference Champion, won four meets individually, and was second at the state qualifying district meet. His personal best time, which is 17:26, came at the conference meet. According to iowarunjumpthrow.com, he is currently ranked 26th in the state amongst Class 1A boys. Galles has a good chance to potentially medal at state and is looking to do well.
This week, I asked Kaden some questions about the meet and this season. He says that the thing he is looking forward to the most for the state meet is running with the best 1A runners in the state. His biggest goal is to get a personal best time among those runners. Kaden reflected back on this season, and says his favorite part was winning two meets as a team. Looking into the future, Galles says he wants to continue improving his times and go to state as a team.
Coach Lisa Spieler also gave some of her insight on the upcoming state meet, “According to Iowa Run Jump Throw, Kaden is ranked 26th in Class 1A. Looking at the athletes ranked ahead of him, I’m confident he can finish higher than that. I’m looking forward to watching him compete at this level. As a first time qualifier and only a sophomore, he won’t have the experience some of his competitors have, but I’ve seen him run effortlessly and think he’ll be able to just go out and run his race without letting the pressure get to him.”” Galles has had a great season, and is looking to do more great things at Fort Dodge.