NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT — South Tama County Senior Barrett Jesina secured a trip to the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge after placing seventh at a state qualifying meet in Williamsburg with a time of 16:39.

WILLIAMSBURG — STC senior Barrett Jesina is headed back to State. For the third year in a row, Jesina has qualified for the state cross country meet to be held in Fort Dodge on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Jesina will be running on Friday, Oct. 31, at approximately 2:45 p.m.

“It feels really good,” Jesina commented on returning to Fort Dodge.

To qualify, Jesina ran at the state qualifying meet in Williamsburg on Wednesday, Oct. 22. It’s a course that Jesina knows well — having run there twice this season already and multiple times over his career. Jesina finished in 7th place with a time of 16:39. The finish easily qualified him for a return trip to the state meet.

“My time really wasn’t what I was hoping for,” said Jesina. “But I’m still really happy about how everything went because I get to go to state.”

Alongside Jesina, the STC boys team ran four other runners and finished in 12th place as a team. The other Trojan runners included: freshman Riley Stubbs (71st place, 20:29); senior Jovanie Perez (78th place, 21:05); freshman Nolan Arp (81st place, 21:37.1); and freshman Kyler Johnson (tied for 81st place; 21:37.1).

For Jesina, the state qualification represents the culmination of a successful cross country career. As a sophomore, he was part of the group of runners to qualify for state as a team for the first time in school history. Last year, he qualified individually for the first time. On this, his third trip to Fort Dodge, Jesina has his sights set on a different approach.

“This year my goal is to perform well at state,” he said. “I am not worried about my time but my goal is to get in the top 15 and make all-state. It’s a pretty tough goal but I think I can get it done.”

The trip to Fort Dodge is also significant for first-year STC head coach Edgar Tapia. It represents his first trip there as a coach.

“I am proud of how all the boys ran,” said Tapia about the qualifying meet in Williamsburg.