PHOTO PROVIDED — The first-ever South Tama boys’ cross country team to advance for state poses with its banner after finishing second at the Class 3A state-qualifying meet Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Golf Club in Clear Lake. Pictured, from left, are Holden Schirmer, Barrett Jesina, Braxten Rohrs, Tommy Tyynismaa, Cade Rosenberger and James Brant.

CLEAR LAKE — For the first time in school history, the South Tama County boys’ cross country team has qualified for state.

The Trojans took second place at Wednesday’s Class 3A state-qualifying meet at Veterans Memorial Golf Club in Clear Lake, trailing only fifth-ranked Carlisle in the 13-team invitational.

Carlisle totaled 57 points, followed by 12th-ranked South Tama (70) and ninth-ranked ADM (76). No. 15 Decorah (111) finished fourth and was denied a spot at the Oct. 28 state meet in Fort Dodge.

South Tama, meanwhile, earned its first trip to state in convincing fashion.

Seniors Tommy Tyynismaa and James Brant finished first and second, respectively, to pave a path to state for the rest of the Trojans for the first time in program history.

“It was a really good day, perfect weather conditions. The course was pretty good too, but it was a little bit different because usually there’s a couple guys around me helping me push along. I was out there just kind of on my own today, which is kind of nice,” Tyynismaa said. “It kind of gives you a bit of a confidence booster going into next week, so next week I’m gonna have a lot more competition.”

Tyynismaa earned his fourth state berth with a winning time of 16 minutes, 17.5 seconds, while Brant made it for the third time with his clocking of 16:34.8. Both of the star seniors were excited to watch their teammates cross the finish line and had a feeling it would put the Trojans in a great spot to qualify.

“It was kind of a little bit of a different race just being by myself the whole time in second, so just grinding it out, keeping the lead and doing the best (thing) for the team (was key),” Brant said. “It just means the world that it’s with the team. It’s been me and Tommy the past three years, but to get these guys right here, who worked their butt off, to get them here, it means the world to me. I love those guys.”

Fellow senior Cade Rosenberger bridged the gap for the Trojans with his 18th-place finish in a personal-record time of 17:35.4. Braxten Rohrs, also a senior, posted his season-best time in finishing 24th in 17:45.6.

“I was just hoping that my teammates and I would give it all we had, try real hard, and I think we did that. I’m happy with it,” Rohrs said.

Sophomore Barrett Jesina rounded out STC’s scoring effort in 25th place with a personal-record time (17:47.6).

“I felt really good and just, with the team getting ready to go to state, just pushing through the whole entire race knowing you’ve gotta do it for your teammates felt amazing,” Jesina said.

South Tama would have still qualified as a team if it had to count its sixth runner’s finish, as senior Holden Schirmer was 30th in 17:57.5 — also a personal record.

“It feels amazing. All the hard work we put in, it paid off today. Couldn’t ask for a better meet,” Schirmer said.

The boys’ 3A race at state starts at 2:45 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Lakeside Memorial Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Tyynismaa, the seasoned veteran, said it took him “a couple years” to figure out how to run the course efficiently, and he plans to share the wisdom he’s gleaned from that experience with his teammates ahead of the state meet.

“I’ll definitely be giving them some tips and pointers throughout the next week to make sure we do our best,” he said.

The South Tama girls were unable to advance any runners to state, as the Trojans finished last out of 12 scoring teams in the meet with 332 points.

The highlight of the night for STC was a new personal-best time for foreign exchange student Nadia Onichimowska, who led the Trojans in 44th place in 22:47.2.

Fellow senior Kayla Heck was 58th in 23:39.9, followed by Livia Smith (75th, 25:30.9), Andrea Padilla (76th, 26:07.7) and Jenny Manzo (79nd, 29:12.8).

Former News Chronicle Editor Darvin Graham conducted the interviews that the quotes in this story were pulled from. We thank him for granting his permission to use them.