Union senior Millie Condon leads the way down an elementary hallway as she and her fellow state cross country qualifiers Sawyer Spence (back left) and Cooper Davis (back right) are greeted by La Porte City Elementary students on Friday, Nov. 1. PHOTO COURTESY OF UNION HIGH SCHOOL

FORT DODGE – Union senior Amilia ‘Millie’ Condon capped off her high school cross country career last Saturday afternoon in Fort Dodge by running her way to a sixth place in the Class 2A girls race at Lakeside Golf Course.

Amid the wind and brisk temperatures, Condon crossed the finish line in 19 minutes, 3 seconds – 16 seconds faster than her 2023 state finish. She qualified for the pinnacle meet all four years of her high school career, finishing 38th as a freshman (20:40.37), 41st as a sophomore (20:51.17), and 11th as a junior (19:19.3).

Top-5 girls 2A finishers this year included Tipton’s Noelle Steines in first with 18:12.8, Van Meter’s Laura Streck in second with 18:31.8, Albia’s McKenna Montgomery in third with 18:43.3, Unity Christian’s Addison Liston in fourth with 18:45.1, and Osage’s Scarlett Byrnes in fifth with 18:47.2. This was Steines’ fourth individual title. She is only the second girls competitor to ever win four; she won her first three with Calamus-Wheatland in 1A.

Also at Fort Dodge, Union’s Sawyer Spence and Cooper Davis competed in the Class 2A boys race with junior Spence placing 40th in 17 minutes, 16.8 seconds, and sophomore Davis placing 92nd in 18 minutes, 5.9 seconds.

Grundy Center junior Emerson Vokes was the boys champion in 15:37.5.