By james art 
Gilbert XC boys by winning the 3A qualifying meet in Ames
Gilbert’s Logan Bleich, Jacob Tallman and Carson Squires talk about their dominant performance at the 3A cross country qualifying meet in Ames.
AMES — The Gilbert boys cross country team made another big statement during the Class 3A state qualifying meet held at the Iowa State Cross Country Course on Wednesday.
The Tigers showed why they are ranked No. 1 in Class 3A by the Iowa Track Coaches Association by posting a perfect score of 15 at the meet. The top five individual finishers in the varsity boys race were all from Gilbert, and all seven Tiger varsity runners placed in the top 15 to qualify for state.
“It shows what a good program we have,” Gilbert sophomore running back Jacob Tallman said. “We have great coaches (and) a great community behind us. It’s so much fun running with these guys every day at practice.”
more: How much depth the Gilbert boys cross country team has as it eyes another state title
Carson Squires was the man of the hour for Gilbert at the meeting.
Squiers entered the meet ranked No. 6 individually in 3A, but No. 3 Logan Bleich and Tallman have been the top two runners on the team for most of the season.
On Wednesday it was Squires’ turn to lead the pack. He ran right with Bleich for most of the race, then had an incredible kick to cross the finish line with a winning 5km time of 15 minutes, 12.50 seconds.
“It was just a good race for me,” Squires said. “We went out a little faster and I just stayed on Logan’s back for a while. After the corner I raced really hard.”
Squires won the race in an impressive 35.5 seconds. Bleich took second in 15:48.
“I said at the beginning of the year that Carson was going to really close the gap on Jacob and me and really be a big role model for us,” Bleich said. “I think Carson really stepped up and did that. The three of us have become better because of it.”
more: Gilbert is ranked No. 1 in 3A boys cross country. Carson Squires is a big reason for that
Thalmann took third overall after finishing just behind Bleich in 15:50.70. Emmett Barber ran a 16-flat to place fourth and Emerick Ryan took fifth in 16:03.20.
Ryan just beat the 16:04.20 effort of Algona’s Gavin Weber to give Gilbert the perfect team score. Sioux Center, the No. 10 team in 3A, was a distant second to Gilbert in the Ames team standings with 82 points, and No. 11 MOC-Floyd Valley was the other team from the meet to qualify for state after placing third with 101 points .
Preston Stensland and John Artz were the other Gilbert runners to compete in the event, and they also qualified for state individually with top 15 finishes. Stensland placed ninth in 16:17 and Artz took 13th after crossing the finish line in 16:33.30.
The Tigers now aim to repeat as 3A state champions next Friday during the 3A boys meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Pella, the No. 2 team in 3A, placed second to Gilbert at last year’s state meet, and the Dutchmen dominated their qualifying meet at Pella on Wednesday. But if Gilbert’s runners can perform at the level they did Wednesday, they should like their chances at state.
“That’s all we’re thinking about,” Squires said. “We don’t want to hold anyone accountable. Pella, DMC (Des Moines Christian), even Mount Vernon-Lisbon. We don’t want to hold anyone accountable – we still have to keep our heads up. There’s still a long way to go, I’m excited to see a lot of these guys next Friday at Fort Dodge.”
Ballard’s Max Davidson qualified
Ballard pushed one runner to state from the qualifying meet.
Bomber junior Max Davidson was the last competitor to place individually in the 3A boys race with a top-15 finish. Davidson took 15th in 16:36.10.
Ballard almost sent two runners to Fort Dodge. Freshman Austin Vance came in just behind Davidson with a 16th-place time of 16:37.10.
As a team, Ballard placed eighth out of 13 schools with 185 points.
Nevada finished one spot ahead of the top three and a state berth. The Cubs finished fourth behind MOC-Floyd Valley with 123 points.
more: How a surging Nevada boys cross country team could qualify for the 3A state meet
Dawson Lemke of the Cubs came close to qualifying individually. Lemke finished just behind Davidson and Vance with a 17th-place time of 16:41.20.
Brian Rohde took 22nd in 17:03.80, Caleb Biensen 23rd in 17:04.30, Henry Little 26th in 17:10.70 and Maddix Holland 35th in 17:43 flat for Nevada.
Final Boys Team Results: 1. Gilbert 15 points, 2. Sioux Center 82, 3. MOC-Floyd Valley 101, 4. Nevada 123, 5. Storm Lake 135, 6. Algona 165, 7. Kuemper Catholic 174, 8. Ballard 185, 9. Atlantic 238, 10. Perry 295, 11. Humboldt 303, 12. Boone 318, 13. Creston 392.
Individual state qualifications (5 kilometers): 1. Carson Squires (Gilbert), 15:12.50; 2. Logan Bleich (Gilbert), 15:48.00; 3. Jacob Tallman (Gilbert), 15:50.70; 4. Emmett Barber (Gilbert), 16:00; 5. Emerick Ryan (Gilbert), 16:03.20; 6. Gavin Weber (Algona), 16:04.20; 7. Joel Ramirez-Parra (Strom Lake); 4:04.30 p.m.; 8. Caden Kooiker (Sioux Center), 16:50.50; 9. Preston Stensland (Gilbert), 16:17.00; 10. Matthew Dahm (Sioux Center), 16:20.50; 11. Isaac Hummel (MOC-Floyd Valley), 16:27.90; 12. Micah VandeVegte (Sioux Center), 16:30.20; 13. John Artz (Gilbert), 16:33.30; 14. Thatcher Dogan (MOC-Floyd Valley), 16:35.60; 15. Max Davidson (Ballard), 16:36.10.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman