STC senior Barrett Jesina runs at the state cross country meet on Oct. 31. Jesina finished in 24th place in Class 3A. PHOTO BY BRITT KUDLA, FORT DODGE MESSENGER

FORT DODGE — STC senior Barrett Jesina capped off his high school cross country career with a 24th place finish at the Iowa High School State Championships on Friday, October 31, in Fort Dodge. Running with 136 runners in the Class 3A championship — and finishing with a time of 16:35.90 — Jesina was content with his race.

“I wanted to place higher but I feel happy with the result because I know I left everything I had out there,” he said.

According to Jesina, the race went out fast, which is typical for the state meet. The weather was also a factor in Fort Dodge.

“The weather was not ideal,” he said. “It was very windy — especially on the backside of the course.”

Jesina intended to go out with a controlled pace in the first mile, which he felt he was able to do. But the last part of the race was tougher.

STC senior Barrett Jesina (center), STC head cross country coach Edgar Tapia (right), and STC assistant cross country coach Amanda Husak (left), at the state cross country meet on Oct. 31. PHOTO BY JOY SCHIRMER

“I ended up dying more than I was hoping for on the last half mile and lost some spots, which was unfortunate.”

Still, both Jesina and STC’s head cross country coach Edgar Tapia were happy with the performance.

“I felt like Barrett ran a great race,” Tapia said. “He left it all out there and I’m extremely proud of where he finished.”

Jesina competed in a historically strong field in this years’ Class 3A race. The race featured two defending state cross country champions: Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman (2024 champion), and Pella’s Canaan Dunham (2023 champion). Nauman won this year’s race with a time of 14:48.30, which represents a new state-meet record.

For Jesina, this year’s trip to Fort Dodge represented his third state qualification in his career. During each trip, he was able to drop his time. As a sophomore, Jesina was a part of the first STC team qualification in school history. That season (2023), he finished in 116th place with a time of 17:52. Last season (2024), Jesina qualified individually and finished in 24th place with a time of 16:39. This years’ time dropped by four seconds, while maintaining the same finishing place of 24th.

“I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to run at state three times because it is such a cool experience,” Jesina said after the race. “There is no feeling like running at state.”

The meet also was significant for Tapia, who was coaching in his first state cross country meet in his first year as Trojan head coach.

“It was such a great experience being able to go to state in my first year,” Tapia said. “I’m happy that some of our younger guys got to come up and experience the meet. And I’m really happy Barrett was able to leave it all out there one more time as a Trojan.”

As Jesina closed out his cross country career, he was able to look back on his final campaign. “Overall I’m happy with my senior season,” Jesina said. “I have had many moments to be proud of and I’m just thankful for all the opportunities I had.”

Coach Tapia concurred with what he saw from Jesina this year.

“Barrett had an amazing season–start to finish,” Tapia said. “He improved each meet and he’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve been around.”

Tapia also praised Jesina’s leadership and character.

“Barrett is such a good kid and always has a positive attitude. He’s a natural leader and he pushed the other guys and made them better. I’ve been lucky to be able to coach him,” he said.