A pair of top 50 finishes for Hillcrest Academy’s Marie and Troy Yoder capped off the siblings’ lone cross country season together at the IGHSAU/IHSAA state meet in Fort Dodge.
Marie, who was making her fourth appearance at the state meet in as many years, capped off her career with a 40th place finish and a time of 20:34.
“I just had to give it everything, it was the end of a great four years,” Marie said.
Her brother, a freshman, finished 43rd in his first trip to the state meet with a time of 17:30.
Hillcrest coach Martin Gingerich discussed what it’s been like to see the two run together this season.
“Today was a special day for the Yoder family,” Gingerich said. “I think they’ve appreciated each other more after the season.”
As for Marie and Troy, they’re thankful for the time they got as cross country teammates.
“She’s a great runner and a great athlete, it’s been great having her here,” Troy said of Marie.
Also racing for Hillcrest was Calvin Meller, a sophomore who grew exponentially in his second season alongside Yoder, a partnership which Gingerich says has been mutually beneficial.
“Calvin and Troy feed off of each other a lot. It’s good for Troy to have Calvin, and it’s really good for Calvin to have Troy.”
The meet was the biggest field Calvin and Troy had ever faced. According to the two young runners, that field caused the start to be a bit of a shock.
“[Before the meet] you’re like, ‘Oh, this isn’t that big of a race,’ and then you have that entire right side with all those other teams colliding in the middle, it was nuts,” Meller said.
Following the trio of Ravens around the course was a flock of maroon-clad fans, screaming for the three runners at each turn.
“It’s amazing,” Meller said. “It’s amazing that these guys could come out and watch us and cheer us on from everywhere, they were running almost as much as we were.”
Troy built off that idea.
“Our community is great, the school is amazing, and it felt great having them all year to watch us.”
On the girls’ side, Marie leaves a legacy that will be difficult to live up to given Hillcrest’s small numbers. On the boys’ side, the Ravens have plenty to build off with both Yoder and Meller set to return and a strong contingent of runners behind them. When looking ahead to the seasons to come, Meller had only one thought on his mind:
“Let’s do some damage next year.”
Nebergall disappointed but proud
It wasn’t the finish Brock Nebergall wanted for his career, finishing 70th with a time of 17:36, but the senior’s second trip to state capped off a career that he says he’ll look back on fondly.
“Looking back at my career as a whole, I can’t do anything more than be proud and be happy it was a good four years, especially my last two, finishing them here at state,” Nebergall said.
Nebergall said he struggled with the cold conditions in Fort Dodge on Friday, a sudden shift from the unusually warm season to that point.
Nebergall was also the lone Husky to compete on Friday, a challenge which Nebergall said had an impact on his race.
“It’s hard being out there alone,” Nebergall said. “When you’re a team, you know you’ve got your brothers around to push you, you’re doing it for them. When it’s just you out there, it’s a different world.”
A six-sport athlete, Nebergall’s eyes now turn to wrestling, where he’ll look to qualify for state in the ring as well.
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