ADM’s top boys cross country runner Josh Berger saw his season end at the state meet in Fort Dodge last Saturday, as the senior placed 89th in the boys’ Class 3-A 5k.

While the official season might be over, Berger’s high school career isn’t.  He will run in his final race at the Iowa Association of Track Coach’s 2013 Senior All-Star meet in Ankeny later this afternoon.

ADM head coach David Zwank says Berger is more than deserving of the honor, especially considering how much the senior captain meant to the Tigers this season.

“He dual-roled with some important leadership responsibilities and he’s done a real nice job of demonstrating what it takes, you know we’ve talked about the summer training that he did.  That’s a real big take away that he’s going to be plugging into the other kids too.  It doesn’t take a lot, I’m pretty conservative, I don’t need hundreds and hundreds of miles, but a little bit goes a long way over the entire course of the season.  So, he’s done a lot for us besides just what he’s done for performances.”

To be nominated for the senior all-star meet, runners had to have shown the ability to run their 5k in under the 17:30 mark at least once during the season.

Once Berger completes today’s race, he will move on to the track season in the spring.  Zwank, also a coach on the track team, says Berger will be the Tigers’ unquestioned leading long-distance runner this season.

Berger’s final cross country run in Ankeny begins at 1:45pm today at the Des Moines Area Community College campus.