When Newton Sophomore Cooper Lenz runs at the State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge Friday, he’ll be on a course he’s already done well on this season. Newton Cross Country Coach Steve Weeks says Lenz ran one of his best races at Kennedy Park.

“He actually broke into the 16-minute range earlier this year at Fort Dodge. He’s familiar with the place since Newton had a regular season meet there. He thought it was kind of exciting to get more familiar with Fort Dodge knowing getting to the State Cross Country Meet was a goal he wanted.”

After his qualifying race last week, Lenz said that race and qualifying for state was the highlight of a tough season.

“Throughout the season I was kind of hitting a block and feeling low because I have not had the best times. In the past couple of meets, they went down substantially. So it’s made it a lot better.”

Lenz finished 11th at the State Qualifying Meet at Pella Sports Park in Pella last week with a time of 16:57:28. The Newton Sophomore says he’s hoping to achieve a personal record Friday. The class 3A State Meet begins 11:15 a.m. Friday at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge.