Senior Isabelle Tyynismaa took 13th place to secure a trip to the State Cross Country meet on Saturday, October 31. Chronicle Photo/Allison Graham

For senior Blake Keller a trip to the State Cross Country Meet has been a dream three years in the making. It has been his goal since his sophomore year to make the journey to Fort Dodge and compete against the best high school runners in the state. Last year Keller narrowly missed his goal. He was disappointed but that disappointment turned into motivation as he prepared during the off season and in competition this fall.

Keller has put in a lot of time and sweat to make his goal a reality. He ran a lot over the summer and could often be spotted around town putting in his time on the pavement.

He also peaked at just the right time. Taking fourth a week earlier at the WaMaC conference meet he was confident then that he was where he needed to be.

A change was made this season to the number of State qualifiers, going from 10 up to 15. But Keller didn’t need those extra five spots.

On Thursday at the Iowa State University Cross Country Course in Ames, Keller strongly asserted himself during the State qualifying race, setting an aggressive pace while leading the pack for a majority of the race. He ended up third just .02 seconds behind Carlisle’s J.J. Orput and just .08 seconds behind senior Adam Sievers from Pella. But Keller will take it. He was feeling a bit nauseous after the race but also very excited.

Blake Keller leads the pack of runners at Districts on Thursday, October 22 in Ames. Keller took third at the meet and will go to the State meet on Saturday, Oct. 31. Chronicle Photo/Allison Graham

“My main goal was to get there. I wanted to go out with Grinnell but when they were going up one of the hills they started to slow down and I knew I didn’t have as much sprint speed so I took it kind of faster at that point so I could get a bigger lead on some of the guys,” said Keller.

Keller currently sits at 13th in the rankings and should not be overlooked for a strong State finish. Keller’s times aren’t far behind some of the top ranked Class 3A runners. In Ames Keller came in ahead of Class 3A number three runner Thomas Clower of Grinnell. He was also within striking distance of Class 3A number two runner Reid Smock of Mount Vernon. The Mustangs ran their state qualifying meet at Decorah on Thursday and Smock came in first at 16:28.

Class 3A qualifiers at Ames: Adam Sievers (Pella), JJ Orput (Carlisle), Blake Keller (South Tama), Blaise Winegardner (Pella), Trenton O’Halloran (Grinnell), Luke Sinclair (Carlisle), Thomas Clower (Grinnell), Nick Swift (Bondurant-Farrar), Nick Bernhagen (Pella), Jason Taylor (Gilbert), William Roberts (Grinnell), Carson Polich (Madrid), Josh Henrksen (Madrid), Owen Whitham (Gilbert), Conner MacVey (Nevada)

Team Results: Pella 53, Grinnell 57, Gilbert 95, Carlisle 100, Madrid 156, Bondurant-Farrar 166, Nevada 201, Ballard 229, South Tama 248, Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR 280, Newton 289, Knoxville 291, Boone 325

On the girls side senior Belle Tyynismaa has quite a different story. A sprinter who has made a couple of appearances at the State Track and Field Meet took up cross country for the first time last season because there was simply “nothing better to do.”

Cross country has suited her well. After all her father, Robert Tyynismaa, is the assistant coach and her older brother Robert ran cross country throughout high school as well. Cross country was something to help Tyynismaa with her endurance in her track work. And it worked. She took three events to the Blue Oval last spring including the 100, 200, and 400 meter dash races. Now she can add a trip to Fort Dodge to her impressive resume.

Tyynismaa worked hard for her spot and did not succumb to negative thoughts that can creep into your head when you are running, especially in the more remote areas of a course.

“Once we got back on the far side there aren’t a lot of people, it’s pretty quite and all you can hear is everyone’s feet and everyone’s breathing so that’s when the mental part really comes in. You kind of get in your own thoughts and that’s when you decide how your race is going to go and whether you are going to have positive thoughts or negative thoughts going through your head,” said Tyynismaa.

She’s never actually been to Fort Dodge even as a spectator so Tyynismaa was thrilled to take the 13th spot.

I definitely did not think I was going to be able to qualify for State. I was like, I’m just gonna do cross country because there’s nothing better to do besides running all the time! I’m so excited,” said Tyynismaa.

Class 3A qualifiers at Ames: Abby Kohut-Jackson (Ballard), Emily Branson (Gilbert), Aubrie Fisher (IFA/AGWSR), Kesey Bloomers (Pella), Megan Sievers (Carlisle), Grace Coen (Newton), Gracee Kivett (Grinnell), Tess Roorda (Pella), Bethany Lippert (IFA/AGWSR), Annika Pingel (Pella), Isabelle Tyynsimaa (South Tama), Maggie Pollard (Gilbert), Carly Rahn (Gilbert), Rylan Santi (Madrid)

Team Results: Pella 58, Gilbert 80, Ballard 109, Newton 109, Grinnell 139, Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR 192, Madrid 215, South Tama 229, Boone 232, Carlisle 248, Knoxville 278, Nevada 286, Bondurant-Farrar 311

Tyynismaa and Keller will travel to Fort Dodge on Halloween, Saturday, October 31 for the State Meet.