For the first time in 39 years, the Carlisle girls cross country team has qualified for the state XC meet! The Wildcats finished third of 12 teams at the state qualifying meet in Pella on Wednesday, October 21. Coming in as an unranked team, Carlisle finished behind No. 1-ranked Ballard and unranked Pella. Ballard, Pella, and Carlisle will all advance to the state championships on Friday, October 30 in Ft. Dodge at Lakeside Golf Course. Junior Ainsley Erzen led the Wildcats, placing third in the race, individually punching her ticket to state. A. Erzen toured the course in an impressive 18:27. Sophomore Tessa Erzen finished 16th in a time of 20:49 and freshman Marie Daggett finished 18th in a personal-best time of 21:01. Freshman Maya Bergstrom was Carlisle's fourth finisher. She ran the 5k course in 21:34. Carlisle's final scorer was sophomore Laura Downs, who finished in 30th. Downs ran a personal-best 21:57 and clinched the No. 10 spot on Carlisle's all-time 5k list. Rounding out the varsity was sophomore Riley Sievers and senior Ella Andersen. Sievers finished in 47th and ran a time of 22:56. Andersen finished 50th and ran 23:08. The Wildcats last ran at the state championship meet in 1981, when high school girls only ran 2-mile races. We have entered a new era of running and history has been made!