South Tama junior Barrett Jesina settles in during the Class 3A boys’ portion of the Iowa High School State Cross Country Championships last Friday, Nov. 1, at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Jesina clocked in at 16 minutes, 39 seconds, to earn 24th place.

FORT DODGE — Barrett Jesina’s first solo journey at the state cross country meet was a major improvement.

The South Tama County junior finished 24th in the Class 3A boys race at the co-ed meet at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge on Friday morning. Jesina completed the course in 16:39, more than a minute faster than his first time in Fort Dodge last year running with his STC teammates, when he clocked in at 17:52 for 116th overall.

“My goal today was top 30, and my time was better than what I expected, too,” Jesina said. “It can be hard to take tangents on this course for the shortest route, and I was running on the outside for a lot of the race.”

He said he kept an eye out for a lot of his WaMaC competition that has been at his pace this year, including Grinnell’s Cadel Conner and Clear Creek-Amana frontrunners like Brock Hilsman and Carson Meskimen.

“I knew the course compared to last year,” Jesina said. “Last year I went out a bit too hard and died in the second half, and I also just trained better this year and eventually prepared better, too.”

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

Jesina moves on to basketball this winter, in addition to offseason track preparations where he hopes to make waves in the 3,200-meter run.

“I almost ran a two-mile PR today so I think track’s going to be great for me this year,” Jesina said.

And after meeting his goals for Friday’s race as a junior, he’s setting his sights higher for his senior campaign.

“I’m going to be going for a medal here, and knowing I wasn’t even too far off this year makes me way more confident,” Jesina said. “Now I know that my training has paid off, and I can ramp up that a little better for next year.”

Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman was the individual champion in 14:59, a new 3A state meet record. Gilbert won the team title with 33 points, followed by Des Moines Christian (78) and Pella (92).