TR photo by Stephen Koenigsfeld GMG’s Kyla Wilkening finishes her 5K race Thursday at the Cedar Falls state qualifying meet at Birdsall Park. Wilkening returns to the state meet for the second consecutive year with a fourth-place finish in a time of 20 minutes, 22 seconds.

CEDAR FALLS – A year after becoming the first female to qualify for the state meet in school history, junior Kyla Wilkening was back at it again with a smile of confidence and contentment as she crossed the finish line at Birdsall Park on Thursday. Wilkening was fourth place for the second-straight year, in a time of 20 minutes, 22 seconds to qualify for her second consecutive state meet at the Cedar Falls state qualifying meet. The Wolverines finished sixth as a team with 173 points. “It feels pretty good,” Wilkening said. “I did get the same place I got last year, but I’m still happy that I got back again.” Coming in to this year’s qualifying meet was a little different for the state returner. Eyeing an individual championship, Wilkening also had more pressures to get back than she did just to qualify like last year. “I was pretty nervous today,” Wilkening said. “Just thinking about the fact if I didn’t make it, what would happen. At conference, I went in with the mindset I’m winning this, no doubt I can’t. And I kind of got in the same mindset of, ‘I’m going today.'” Freshman Belle Duncan was 38th and second for the Wolverines, through in a time of 22:55. Freshman runner Lindsey Slifer and sophomore Zoe Duncan were 42nd (23:01) and 43rd (23:07) respectively. Haley Stahl grabbed 60th (24:08) and Grace Schewe was 137th (28:54). Laura Landt was the seventh runner for the Wolverines in 140th (29:41). Heading into her second consecutive state meet, Wilkening said she’s got her goals, training and priorities in order, just eight days out. “State is where it really matters. That’s where I’m going to gun it,” Wilkening said. “Being as this is my second year, I probably want to blow it out of the water. Make my school proud. I’m going for at least top 20, that’d be best in my mind. I’ve done a lot better this season than last year, so I’m feeling pretty confident.” North Tama was able to sneak out 16th place, just ahead of BCLUW in 17th. The Redhawks scored 463 points while the Comets grabbed 467 points. North Tama was led by junior Lydia Ketter, who placed 67th (24:21). Shelby McKinley was 82nd (24:57) and Emma Scherrer was 110th (26:39). Tessa Dvorak was 126th (27:45) and Olivia Schrier was 145th (30:21) to complete the five-runner team. BCLUW was led by junior Samantha Schleisman who was 63rd (24:15). Skylar Nelson was 104th (26:27), Milena Ralston was 114th (26:52), Payton Pekarek was 125th (27:44) and Haley McDonald was 132nd (28:14) to round out the scorers for BCLUW. Sarah Schmitt was 141st in a time of 29:56 for the Comets as their sixth runner. The state cross country meet runs on Oct. 29, starting with the 4A girls’ race at 11 a.m. The 1A girls’ race is at 2 p.m., just after the 2A boys. The meet is held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.