After runner-up finishes at last year’s conference meet and the state meet in Fort Dodge, the junior star for Grundy Center boys cross country made a statement on Thursday by running away with the individual title at the North Iowa Cedar League Championships at Jesup Golf and Country Club.

Vokes crossed the finish line in 15 minutes, 34 seconds — 40 seconds faster than Oelwein’ Conall Sauser in the runner-up position.

While slower than his personal best of 15:12 set just over a week ago at Dike and a few seconds slower than the 15:20 he posted on this course on Oct. 1, Vokes said he can’t find fault with the end results.

“Can’t complain about that time at all,” Vokes said. “I went out a little hard, it happens, … I just finished as hard as I could and God gave me the ability, even on one of my worst days, to run a 15:35. I’m super thankful and blessed for that.”

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Grundy Center’s Grace Storjohann maneuvers around the course on her way to fourth place at the North Iowa Cedar League Cross Country Championships on Thursday at Jesup Golf and Country Club.

The first time Vokes broke 16 minutes was at last year’s NICL meet, where he finished 10 seconds behind Denver’s Neal Pinter.

This time around, Vokes, who is ranked second in the Class 2A individual rankings, wanted to go out there and be number one.

“I was really motivated,” Vokes said. “I just had to fight the whole time, I had a chip on my shoulder and just wanted to get that title.”

Grundy Center competes at a Class 2A state qualifier at Pella next Thursday. Vokes said he’s not looking to overdo it there, when he can potentially make an even bigger statement at the state meet in two weeks’ time.

Woodbine senior Landon Bendgen clipped Vokes for the 1A title last year by a seven-second margin. Moving up a class, Vokes isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Time doesn’t matter next week, just seal the deal,” Vokes said. “Get to [Fort] Dodge, get the work done there.”

East Marshall had the best boys team finish among area teams, placing 10th with a 267 team score. Austin Pansegrau led the way in 32nd in 18:49; Cael Curphy was 37th in 18:57; Chandler Curtis placed 60th in 20:24; Lars Dommer was 67th in 20:51 and Joe Fuller rounded out the scoring in 71st in 21:20.

Grundy Center scored 282 points for 12th; Oliver Del Castillo was the second Spartan in behind Vokes in 52nd in 20:01, Brayden Wallis was 73rd in 21:22.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck scored 314 points for 14th place, led by Devin Wrider who just missed out on NICL honorable mention honors in 31st with an 18:45 clocking.

In the girls race, Grace Storjohann of Grundy Center led area runners with a fourth-place finish in 19:50 to earn first-team All-NICL honors.

Storjohann finished ninth at last year’s NICL meet and was a second-teamer as a freshman.

“I ran my best time ever here two weeks ago,” Storjohann said. “That definitely gave me a lot of confidence that I could perform well here today.”

Grundy Center’s Evelyn Geerdes earned honorable mention distinction, placing 26th overall in 21:44. Sydney Hull of East Marshall was also an honorable mention, 27th in 21:45.

The Spartan girls also had the best team finish from the area in fifth with a 141 team score. Rounding out scoring were Maddy Hendershot and Karlee Lynch in 22 minutes flat in 30th and 31st, respectively; and Makenna Steinmeyer in 52nd in 23:31.

The Grundy Center girls are ranked 18th in the latest 2A team rankings. They will compete at Pella in a state qualifier that will also include No. 2 Mid-Prairie, No. 7 Pella Christian and No. 10 Hudson.

“I’m really proud of how far we’ve come since the beginning of the season,” Storjohann said. “We got a pretty tough state qualifier, but I think it’ll make us stronger, make us rise to the occasion.”

East Marshall’s girls were 10th with a 251 team score. Mallory Ostroski followed Hull in 44th in 22:54 and Delaney Ryan was 50th in 23:26.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck’s Katelyn Monaghan was 78th in 33:41.

North Iowa Cedar League Cross Country Championships

At Jesup Golf and Country Club

GIRLS

Team Standings — 1. Hudson 68, 2. Sumner-Fredericksburg 73, 3. Denver 85, 4. Jesup 111, 5. Grundy Center 141, 6. Wapsie Valley 152, 7. Union 167, 8. Dike-New Hartford 182, 9. Aplington-Parkersburg 235, 10. East Marshall 251, 11. Oelwein 271.

Top 10 individuals — 1. Amilia Condon, UNIO, 18:43; 2. Mackenzie Wilson, JES, 19:07; 3. Mollie Hansen, HUD, 19:33; 4. Grace Storjohann, GC, 19:50; 5. Desarae Lang, HUD, 20:01; 6. Ashlynn Sauser, OEL, 20:02; 7. Reeve Ristau, DEN, 20:06; 8. Avery Trunkhill, DEN, 20:06; 9. Ella Steele, HUD, 20:18; 10. Adalynn Kane, WV, 20:24.

GRUNDY CENTER (141) — 4. Storjohann, 19:50; 24. Evelyn Geerdes, 21:44; 30. Maddy Hendershot, 22:00.1; 31. Karlee Lynch, 22:00.9; 52. Makenna Steinmeyer, 23:31; 57. Avery Miller, 23:55; 58. Keria Day, 23:56.

EAST MARSHALL (251) — 25. Sydney Hull, 21:45; 44. Mallory Ostroski, 22:54; 50. Delaney Ryan, 23:26; 59. Aubrey Lambi, 23:57; 73. Ava Hendricks, 25:48.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK — 78. Katelyn Monaghan, 33:41.

BOYS

Team Standings — 1. Oelwein 52, 2. Denver 55, 3. Jesup 77, 4. Dike-New Hartford 175, 5. South Hardin 175, 6. Sumner-Fredericksburg 186, 7. Columbus Catholic 201, 8. Union 233, 9. Hudson 258, 10. East Marshall 267, 11. Wapsie Valley 276, 12. Grundy Center 282, 13. Aplington-Parkersburg 303, 14. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 314.

Top 10 individuals — 1. Emerson Vokes, GC, 15:34; 2. Conall Sauser, OEL, 16:14; 3. Jesse Gomez, DEN, 16:22; 4. Myles Matthias, DEN, 16:26; 5. Aidan Brady, WV, 16:30; 6. Nathan Pint, JES, 16:34; 7. Karsten Nuehring, JES, 16:47; 8. Jace Matern, WC, 16:49; 9. Caden Knoblock, DEN, 16:52; 10. Caleb Schunk, OEL, 16:59.

EAST MARSHALL (267) — 32. Austin Pansegrau, 18:49; 37. Cael Curphy, 18:57; 60. Chandler Curtis, 20:24; 67. Lars Dommer, 20:51; 71. Joe Fuller, 21:20; 72. Landen Shoeman, 21:20.

GRUNDY CENTER (282) — 1. Vokes, 15:34; 52. Oliver Del Castillo, 20:01; 73. Brayden Wallis, 21:22; 74. Daniel Hommel, 21:51; 82. Daniel Barkley, 22:45; 88. Caleb Knutsen, 25:37.

GLADBROOK-REINBECK (314) — 31. Devin Wrider, 18:45; 46. Christopher Utterback, 19:38; 63. Caleb Bowser, 20:41; 85. Kaden Kauffman, 23:34; 89. Campbell Gramer, 27:54.