HUXLEY, Iowa — The Ballard girls cross country team is looking to win its third state championship in four years when they head to Fort Dodge this weekend for the state cross country meet.
The program has produced several successful runners over the years, creating a winning standard and they don't seem to be slowing down any time soon.
Ballard senior and defending 3A state champion Paityn Noe is the latest in the string of great runners for the Bombers.
"She's always going to be ready for her race, focused on her race," said head coach Scott Barth. "She's not gonna let distractions get to her. You can just see that as soon as she steps to the line. She knows she's doing everything she needs to do to be a champion."
After breaking the state record at the beginning of the season, she's since been able to top that twice with her fastest time coming in at a little over 17 minutes.
This year, Noe said she's been running with a lot more confidence.
"There's definitely a higher confidence level that's helped me to just perform better and kind of take a little bit of stress away," she said. "Just being able to go out and do what I know I can do."
She said being a leader for her team has been a big motivator for her this season and that her teammates have helped make her better in the process.
"I definitely put in a lot of work to do that, which is cool but I just love being a part of my team and definitely helping lead my team to where we are and they help me too, so it's all fun," Noe said.
As she gets ready to run her last cross-country race for Ballard this weekend, the team's future remains bright, with young up-and-comers ready to carry the torch.
"We do have a really good team," Barth said. "A lot of the other runners kind of get lost in the shuffle, but if you look at our squad, you know, you have Paityn but you also have a sophomore Anika Larson. who you know has very high potential to be a top 5 or 10 runner at state and you have Ava Vance who has potential to be a top 15, top 20 runner at state."
With nine straight state appearances and 19 overall, Barth believes it's the culture of consistency, hard work and will that's shaped the program into what it is today.
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