The Xavier boys’ cross country team just keeps running. With the regular season over, the Saints are preparing for the postseason.

The boys’ cross country team hosted the MVC meet on Tuesday, October 12 at Seminole Valley Park. Seniors Jon Lansing and John Pape placed sixth and eighth, respectively. The 3A, #10 ranked Saints beat the 3A, #4 ranked Dubuque Wahlert. They lost to 5A, #3 ranked Iowa City West and #9 ranked Linn-Mar.

“We came into the MVC meet confident,” junior Grayson Walther said. “We knew the course and were excited to be able to host.”

Lansing was awarded first team all conference, Pape and senior Nolan Pithan were awarded second team, and seniors Keaton Maier and Pape were awarded all academic.

Now that it is go time, the Saints are looking for success at the state qualifying meet. They run tonight, Thursday, October 19 at 3A, #1 ranked West Delaware High School.

“Our goal for the qualifying meet is to win again,” Walther said. “We are competing against the 3A, #1 ranked team, so they will push us to do our best.”

With winning experience, the Saints know what to expect heading into the postseason.

“We learned that we can compete with anybody,” Lansing said. “Our team knows that we may not always be viewed as the best team, but we know that we will fight and try our hardest to do the best that we can.”

Last year the Saints won the qualifying meet, and advanced to state. The team placed eighth, Lansing placed fifteenth, and Pape placed twentieth at state. The goals are set for this year.

“My philosophy this year is to ‘just run’,” Lansing said. “I learned that there is a lot of great competition at both meets and that you cannot have a bad race if you want to finish at the top. My goal as an individual is to get top ten in the state, and our team goal is to do better than last year and hopefully bring back a trophy.”

The state meet takes place on Saturday, October 28 in Fort Dodge. The top three teams and fifteen individuals from each qualifying meet advance to state.

Keera Ball

Sports Writer