The Wildcats made the trip up to Fort Dodge on Thursday to check out the state meet course against a field of strong 4A teams. In a well run race, the Wildcats finished 7th of 9 teams with 151 points. Valley won the B race with 40 points, Southeast Polk placed 2nd with 76 points, and Ankeny High finished 3rd with 86 points.  Jr. Ainsley Erzen led the race with 4A ranked runners from Valley and Ankeny- Lauren Shulze and Lauren McMahon. Unfortunately, with 400 meters to go, Shulze of Valley and Erzen got tangled up and both fell on the course. Erzen was down for about 15 seconds which resulted in McMahon winning the race outright, Schulze placing 2nd, and Erzen finishing in 3rd. Had the finish been clean, it would have been a thrilling race all the way to the line! Erzen is predicted to qualify for state and is looking forward to returning to Fort Dodge and reclaiming the course. Fr. Marie Daggett and Sr. Ella Andersen both ran personal best times at the meet on Thursday! Daggett ran 21:24 to a 30th place finish. Andersen ran 24:20 and placed 51st. Other Carlisle Varsity racers were: Maya Bergstrom who ran 22:01 and placed 35th, Laura Downs ran 23:00 and placed 41st, Riley Sievers ran 23:09 and placed 42nd, Sage Austin ran 23:41 and placed 48th, and Hannah McGraw ran 24:23 and finished 61st. This race served as a great tune-up for Monday's Raccoon River Conference Meet that will take place in Ames, hosted by Gilbert.

The JV squad of Katie Keeney, Bella Pagel, Madelynn McFadden, Cadence Sinclair, and Abby Zoll toed the line at McAninch Sports Complex in Norwalk on Monday night. Three of the girls finished the race, so a team score and place could not be recorded. Among those finishing in the JV race were Katie Keeney ran 27:01 in 45th, Bella Pagel ran 28:01 in 55th and Madelynn McFadden ran 30:31 in 64th. Pagel ran two minutes faster than her race last week at SEP!