Bears experience tremendous growth in 2024 season

Going into the season there were more than a few question marks. 

Yes, the girls team had some young runners returning to the team, but how would they fare throughout the year?

On the boys side there were two looming questions for the English Valleys cross country team. First, would senior Gage Heyne perform up to expectations? Secondly, what would the team look like throughout the season?

Even though there were big questions, the Bears still set out lofty goals for their team this season.

“We ended the season very well,” said Luke Caster, the head coach for the English Valleys cross country team. “We came into the season and we had set high goals for both teams.We were able to meet most of those. Excited to see how the hard work of the season carries over into future seasons.”

The answers proved to be extremely positive as the cross country season waged on. On the girls side the young core of girls ran extremely well, and were able to finish second at their conference meet and place fifth overall as a team at the State cross country meet. 

On the boys side Heyne continued to surpass expectations as he was able to finish fourth overall at the class 1A State cross country meet. For the boys team as a whole they were able to send two qualifiers to the State meet, and had some school spirit help them to finish second at the conference meet. 

“We had a couple football players that came and ran with us,” Caster said. “Gage was very happy about that and being able to compete as a team and finish second at the conference meet.”

Heyne, a senior for the Bears, went on a tear throughout the cross country season. The senior either won, or ran in the top-5, of nearly every meet that he ran in this season. 

It was the kind of year that everyone wanted to see out of Heyne, mostly because he was able to stay healthy throughout the whole season, something that he hadn’t been able to do in seasons past.

“It was the first year to see what he could do without any injury,” Caster explained, as Heyne had to miss part of the previous seasons due to one injury or another. 

Injury free Heyne was able to climb in the state rankings. The senior showed up in force winning the conference meet and also the State qualifier meet held in Iowa City. 

At the State meet Heyne ran on the heels of the eventual winner for over two miles before fading to his fourth place finish. 

“He’s a great kid. He is very dedicated to the sport,” Caster said about Heyne. He’s very understanding of the sport. Great worker and a great kid. Easy to work with. Very focused on what he needs to do to continue to get better.”

Joining Heyne at the State meet, and running beside him at most of the area meets was freshman Isaac Frazier. 

Frazier was able to finish 90th overall at the State meet. 

“What an awesome feat for a freshman to make it to the state meet,” Caster said. “Especially as a freshman boy. He was very excited about making it there and being able to compete.”

Additionally there was another freshman runner for the Bears throughout the season. Evan Koehn was the third part of a English Valleys boys cross country team that ran very well. 

Although Koehn was just shy of making it to Fort Dodge for the State meet, the freshman still captured a ninth place finish at the conference meet and put together a solid freshman year. 

“Evan improved every meet he was in,” Caster said. “He pushes himself. The season didn’t end the way he wanted. That is just going to be fuel for him to work harder and go farther next year.”

There’s a lot of excitement for the future of English Valleys cross country. The girls, who finished fifth at the State meet as a team, will return every runner from this season. 

“I think we have a pretty bright future,” Caster said about the English Valleys girls team. “We finished fifth at state, but they really thought that they could have been in the third spot. A lot of good things to look forward to.”

The girls team finished second at the SICL meet in early October, where they were led by Anna Luers, who finished second overall. At the State meet the freshman led her team with a 48th place finish. 

“Having a freshman like Anna Luers come in was a big boost for us,” Caster said.

Addison Achenbach and Aubrey Achenbach both continued to make improvements throughout the year showing leadership despite being sophomores. 

Kailor Lown, who set a personal record at the State meet, was another of the stellar sophomores who ran all season for the Bears. 

Another freshman, Kaylynn Caster also had a personal record set at the meet. She was able to help provide a crucial spot in their eventual fifth-place finish. 

Our girls were competitive with each other throughout the season. That builds on our success,” Caster said. “All of the girls just competed with each other. We had several that pushed each other and that made us stronger as a team.”

Overall there is a lot of bright days ahead for the future of English Valleys cross country. Both the boys and girls teams have runners that are currently in middle school that appear to have promising futures as high school runners. 

Also, the recent success of the program won’t hurt. 

“Success breeds success,” Caster said. “I think both teams have a bright future ahead of them. I think that will continue to grow especially as we have already had a good middle school season of running.”

Although the Bears will miss Heyne next cross country season the strong group of runners returning for the next season and beyond. The trips to Fort Dodge don’t appear to be limited.

“We have already started to talk about what our goals will be for next year,” Caster said. “We will definitely continue to work hard and keep the success that we have built going.”  

Photos by Mark Schafer