Published: October 30, 2009 07:07 am      

Griffin, Casey lead charge to state cross country meet

By Jon Gremmels

Herald Sports Editor

CLINTON — Audrey Griffin sneaked up on a lot of people last year as a freshman cross country runner for Prince of Peace. Not on the course — she almost always was running out front there — but as a runner in general because of the anonymity freshmen often can enjoy.

It’s been different as a sophomore. After she placed second in the Iowa Class 1A state cross country meet last fall, everybody knows who she is. She has felt the difference, too.

“Last year I could just run and no one expected things, but now I try harder because people expect it from me,” Griffin said recently.

Griffin is hoping that she is peaking at the right time again this fall as she makes final preparations to run Saturday in this year’s state meet in Fort Dodge.

If her performance Monday is any indication, she again should challenge for top honors.

Griffin won the Class 1A Wapello Regional title Monday, running the 4,000-plus-meter course in 16 minutes, 28 seconds. Making things even better, she gets to run with her team again this year at state in the second-to-last race of the day at about 2 p.m. The Irish advanced to the state meet with a third-place team finish in the race and also had another top-10 finisher in Katie Isenhour.

Several other area individuals and teams also have qualified for one of the eight meets. For instance, the Irish will be joined in their race by Big East Conference rival Bellevue Marquette, which won the team title at Wapello.

Morgan Casey of Northeast returns to defend her state championship in Class 2A. Although she has battled illness at times, Casey still has been dominant in most of her meets and is ranked No. 1 in 2A. Still, she said she has faced challenges this season.

“It’s been a little bit hard at times this season,” she said. “Oh, I’m so excited to be a senior, it’s like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to focus on my race now.’ I’ve been having too much fun with this, then I get too serious and then I remember I’m doing what I love to do whether it’s conference or state or any other meet. You’ve just got to get pumped because it’s easy to. I love it.”

She definitely is looking forward to state.

“There are some days when you want it a little worse,” she said. “At state it’s like I’m a completely different person.”

Casey turned in the fastest regional time in Class 2A. She won the Monticello Regional in 14:41. Joining her at state for the first time is freshman teammate Emily Franks, who took third in the regional in 15:18 and is ranked fourth in the state. Camanche’s Lorena Temple also will return to state in 2A after placing ninth at the Columbus Junction Regional.

Clinton will have a pair of runners in the Class 4A girls field, the first race of the day at 11 a.m. at Kennedy Park, which is a couple of miles north of Fort Dodge. Kate Kaster placed sixth at the Burlington Regional while Grace Shemwell took ninth to advance for the second year in a row.

Central DeWitt is the only area boys team that qualified for state. The Sabers won the Class 3A Anamosa Regional on Monday, led by a second-place finish from Nolan Knudson and a fifth from Ryan Hamby.

Camanche’s Codie Adams earned a return trip in Class 2A with a second-place finish at the Columbus Regional where he finished 11 seconds behind Sam Chaney of Columbus, the No. 1-ranked runner in the class. Adams is ranked eighth in the state in 2A.