ANKENY, Iowa — The Ankeny Christian boys cross country team received a nice sendoff on Thursday ahead of the Class 1A State Cross Country Meet.
The school held a pep rally for the team before they head to Fort Dodge.
This is the first time in school history that the team has qualified for the state meet.
"The neatest stories I think that will come up from the course of the year aren't even necessarily with times or results, just simply effort based," said head coach Nate Davis.
Daniel Schoening and Alex Davis both qualified as individuals as well.
"I mean the way we've grown from these last two years especially has just been insane," Schoening said. "It's been lots of hard work and it's been a very good process of just putting things together and running like we know we can."
Throughout the season, they weren't really focused on the results, but rather putting forth a strong effort and doing it with a positive attitude.
"The more we put into it, the more you get out of it and that's just a good attitude for life," senior Landon Nehring said. "I think we really personified that as a team."
The Class 1A state meet will be held at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge on Friday, Oct. 27. The boys race will begin at 2:45 p.m.