Hillcrest Academy’s Leah Bontrager is the model of consistency. The Raven junior runner qualified for the state meet in Fort Dodge for the third time of three tries in her career, and just like her previous two trips, she continued to improve on her finish at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.

Her freshman season, Bontrager was 72nd, her sophomore run in Fort Dodge saw her finish 67th and this year, she followed that up by moving 15 places forward in the standings to take 52nd in a time of 21:43. After the race, she talked about her day. “Each year I get a little less nervous. It’s nice to know the course. It’s crazy, I was thinking how fast this season has gone, and how fast my high school career is going, this is my third year here, I’m already a junior. It’s hard to believe I have been here three times. I started toward the back, I was definitely in the back 50 at the beginning. Then I started passing people, even in the first half mile. The wind was really tough in the beginning, but then it helped down the stretch.”

With Bontrager qualifying for state, this is the fifth consecutive year the Ravens have been represented at Fort Dodge.