WAVERLY — First-year Webster City head cross country coach Derek Turner had a simple and uplifting message for his runners following Wednesday’s Class 3A State Qualifying Meet on the Wartburg College course.

Sometimes your best still isn’t enough, and that’s OK.

Despite the best teams runs of the season for both the Lynx boys and girls, they still came up empty in their pursuits for spots in next week’s state meet. The WCHS boys’ squad placed sixth with 164 points, while the girls’ crew was back in 11th with 278.

“We have no complaints by any means and I’m really proud of everyone,” Turner, a former WCHS runner himself, said. “Are they disappointed? Of course they are. But there’s nothing they could have done or should have done to make a difference as far as preparing or during the races. It just happened (yesterday) that it was a fast course and there were a lot of fast individuals and teams.

“Our best wasn’t good enough and that’s OK. We can be OK with that.”

In the girls’ race, ninth-ranked Decorah, 15th-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock and 13th-ranked Center Point Urbana all tallied 81 points to sit at the top of the standings. Tiebreakers gave the title to Decorah, while W-SR was the runner-up.

No. 5 CP-U won the boys’ crown with 54 points, one point ahead of No. 3 Marion (55). No. 6 Decorah (63) was a close third.

WCHS senior Jacob Willson had high hopes of reaching state for the first time, but he fell four places and 17 seconds short. He placed 19th in a season-best time of 17:13.3.

The top 15 individuals advanced to state. W-SR’s Ethyn Chestnut occupied that final slot in 16:56.0.

Willson, Matt Perin and Jose Ramirez all looked to push toward the top 15, but the front pack got away from the WCHS trio early. Perin (17:22.2) and Ramirez (17:38.2) also turned in their best times of the season and placed 22nd and 29th, respectively.

“We ran the race the best we could and had the times we wanted to hit, but it wasn’t enough,” Turner said. “We told them before the race that they were going to have to stay connected. If you get too far back (from the front pack), you’re not going to catch them.”

Cole Reiling (18:17.4) and Codey Berg (18.46.5) were also scoring runners for the Lynx. Reiling was 40th, Berg 54th.

Emma Peck, a sophomore, gave a glimpse of what her future might hold with her best race of the season, leading to a 27th-place performance in the girls’ race. She crossed the finish line in 21:14.6, 100 seconds ahead of her closest teammate.

“She has so much potential and she has no idea about it,” Turner said of Peck. “She had a really solid race and I know she was kind of disappointed, but that’s OK too.”

Kaelyn Butz and Jacie Crutcher continued to be the second and third cogs for the Lynx. Butz (22:54.1) came across in 49th place, while Crutcher (23:03.0) wasn’t too far behind in 52nd.

Class 3A State Qualifying Meet

Thursday at Waverly

GIRLS RESULTS

Team Standings

1. Decorah 81; 2. Waverly-Shell Rock 81; 3. Center Point-Urbana 81; 4. Benton Community 106; 5. Charles City 109; 6. Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR 129; 7. Marion 134; 8. South Tama County 256; 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 264; 10. Independence 271; 11. Webster City 278; 12. Clear Lake 304.

Webster City Results

27. Emma Peck 21:14.6; 49. Kaelyn Butz 22:54.1; 52. Jacie Crutcher 23:03.0; 75. Carly Appel 26:21.8; 83. Brynna Croy 28:51.6.

BOYS RESULTS

Team Standings

1. Center Point-Urbana 54; 2. Marion 55; 3. Decorah 63; 4. Waverly-Shell Rock 88; 5. Clear Lake 128; 6. Webster City 164; 7. Benton Community 213; 8. Charles City 216; 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 278; 10. South Tama County 282; 11. Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR 301; 12. Hampton-Dumont/CAL 335; 13. Independence 346.

Webster City Results

19. Jacob Willson 17:13.3; 22. Matt Perin 17:22.2; 29. Jose Ramirez 17:38.2; 40. Cole Reiling 18:17.4; 54. Codey Berg 18:46.5; 74. Reece Sadler 19:29.7; 76. Wyatt Bingham 19:38.7.