IOWA CITY

Fall winds blew briskly over the Kickers Complex in Iowa City.

The temperatures were cool, almost cold.

Simply perfect. Hillcrest Academy cross country runner Leah Bontrager couldn’t have asked for anything better as she chased after her fourth consecutive state championship berth at a Class 1A state qualifier on October 21.

“It was a beautiful day to run,” she said after securing a state meet berth with a fourth-place finish. “I love this weather.”

“She likes cool weather,” Hillcrest coach Marty Gingerich said. “Obviously, this was the coolest that we’ve run this year.”

Bontrager, who said she hopes to set a personal-record time at the 1A state championship race this Saturday, October 30, in Fort Dodge, was the only runner among local schools to qualify for the state meet.

Bontrager finished with a season-best time of 21:42 to grab one of the top 10 individual qualifying spots. Also finishing among the top 40 were Lone Tree’s Vivian Zaruba, in 22^nd place with a time of 24:42; Highland’s Katelyn Waters, in 31st place with a time of 25:19; and Hillcrest’s Delaney Shaw, in 39^th place with a time of 25:52.

Hillcrest senior Collin Miller finished 18^th in the boys race and Highland’s Carlos Valenzuela was 31^st.

Bontrager, who finished seventh in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference Championships, began the race conservatively and then moved up consistently and was in the top five in the last mile, often running through the two-lap course with a smile on her face. And why not?

“She was grinning ear to ear, the first mile especially,” Gingerich said. “You could tell she was feeling well.”

That is a change from just a few months ago, when Bontrager was still recovering from three stress fractures and a bout with mononucleosis. At last year’s state meet, when Bontrager finished a career-best 52^nd, she ran on a stress fracture.

A healthy Bontrager has gotten stronger as the fall season went on. She won her first two high school races and captured an All-Conference honor for the fourth straight year.

“It feels really good,” she said. “I feel like I’m in as good a shape with what I went through this summer and stuff, and my foot, and everything. I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in my life. It feels really good, the ability that God’s given me and He’s healed me.”

Her last high school cross country race will be Saturday afternoon in the 1A championship race at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Start time is 2:30.

Miller almost joined Bontrager on state championship day. He chased after a state berth in the boys qualifier, maintaining a position among the top 10 through most of the first lap with the fastest times of his career. He fell back in the second lap of the 5-kilometer race, but finished less than a minute back of the final qualifier. He finished 18^th with a time of 19:22.

“He went after it,” Gingerich said. “He ran his first mile 20 seconds faster than he’s ever run a first mile, 5:34. Then it kind of caught up to him. Still, it was a great effort.”

Miller beat five runners from other schools who had defeated him in previous races and helped the Ravens to a 10^th-place team finish. Also finishing among the top 51 for the Ravens were Micah Gerber, in 44^th place with a time of 21:21, and Jesse Blossom, in 51^st place with a time of 21:47.

Among the Hillcrest runners recording season bests were Blossom , Jorge Canchola (57^th place, 22:08), Diego Ramos (71^st place, 24:06), Quang Huynh (80^th place, 25:43) and Garrett Hurst (82^nd place, 26:17).

Valenzuela, the top finisher among four Highland runners, missed a state spot by less than two minutes. Jackson Schneider of Highland finished 66^th, Brendan Schnoebelen was three spots behind Schneider and Andrew Lana was 81^st.

Lone Tree was led by Taylor Alberhasky’s 45^th-place finish. Joey Birtcher was 70^th and Jadin Grieser was 74^th.