BETTENDORF — One glance from behind Emmanuel Marcos-Teles as he relaxed after crossing the finish line showed the look of a warrior who battled in the trenches. The other side revealed a smile.

Spattered in mud from head to heel, Marcos-Teles earned his third consecutive trip to the Iowa boys cross country state meet with a third-place finish at Thursday's Class 4A district meet. Marcos-Teles, a senior at Clinton High, slogged his way over a 5,000-meter quagmire to reach the finish line in 16 minutes, 53 seconds on a rainy, windy, chilly afternoon at Crow Creek Park.

"It's exciting to race in conditions like this," said Marcos-Teles, who completed the same course in 16:13 a week ago at the Mississippi Athletic Conference meet.

The weather also made things much more challenging.

"I wanted to start fast and try to keep up with the front group," Marcos-Teles said. "If you get behind it's tough to sprint because it's muddy. The hills were the worst part; they were really slippery."

Marcos-Teles finished behind MAC champion Caleb Drake of Pleasant Valley (16:19) and Dylan Eigenberger of Dubuque Senior (16:31) but was 8 seconds faster than fourth-place finisher Jon Specht of Dubuque Hempstead. Mark Fairley of Senior (17:02) rounded out the top five.

"That was a great race for Manny," Clinton coach Tony Smith said. "At two miles, he was probably fifth. He ran strong."

The rest of the River Kings finished within a minute of each other, led by Nathan Schroeder, who was 42nd in 18:56. Jon Cady (19:12), Dustin Ewalt (19:18) and Bret Determan (19:20) crossed the finish line in a row to take 45th, 46th and 47th. The Kings placed seventh out of 10 teams with 183 points.

"I thought everybody ran well," Smith said. "The boys ran in a good pack. The times were not as good, but that's to be expected (because of the conditions)."

Marcos-Teles now turns his attention to the state meet a week from Saturday in Fort Dodge, where he will try to improve upon last his 14th-place finish of a year ago.

"I'll try to do well there," he said.

It's certainly doubtful that the conditions could be any worse.

The rain and wind were a bit lighter for the girls race that preceded the boys race, but they too had to deal with less-than-ideal conditions.

"The course was really bad; there was so much mud everywhere," said sophomore Kim Kaster, who led the Clinton girls with a 22nd-place finish in 16:56. "There were puddles everywhere. They were impossible to avoid.

"It was so different (than last week). I was worried I was going to fall or the girl in front was going to fall. The hill at two miles was so wet you couldn't get up it; you were sliding."

All things considered, though, Kaster was happy with her placing and is looking forward to next year.

"This season I ran faster than last season by 20-25 seconds," she said. "If I improve like that at all the rest of the meets, I should hopefully, maybe be able to break 16 minutes."

The River Queens, who competed without regular No. 2 runner Shelby Weets, placed ninth with 231 points. Weets has been bothered by shin splints the second half of the season.

"We had some PRs today for the girls," Smith said. He said the times for Emily Bradley (19:40), Lily Gabel (19:51) and Yissel Lopez-Ruiz (20:52) all were personal records. Kathleen Marston (19:48) was Clinton's other scorer.

Pleasant Valley claimed both the boys and girls team titles and also crowned both individual champions. Maddie Reynolds led all the girls with a time of 14:51.

The Spartans had five of the top six finishers in the girls race and scored 19 points. Bettendorf (55) and Dubuque Senior (68) claimed the other two team spots for the state meet. Senior (62) and Burlington (84) joined Pleasant Valley (40) in qualifying teams for state in boys competition.

IOWA CLASS 4A BOYS DISTRICT MEET

5,000 meters

Team standings

(Top 3 qualify for state meet)

1. Pleasant Valley 40; 2. Dubuque Senior 62; 3. Burlington 84; 4. Dubuque Hempstead 95; 5. Bettendorf 148; 6. Davenport Central 156; 7. Clinton 183; 8. Davenport West 226; 9. North Scott 253; 10. Davenport North 281.

Individual leaders

(Top 10 qualify for state meet)

1. Caleb Drake (PV) 16:19; 2. Dylan Eigenberger (DS) 16:31; 3. Emmanuel Marcos-Teles (Cli) 16:53; 4. Jon Specht (DH) 17:01; 5. Mark Fairley (DS) 17:02; 6. David Zimmer (PV) 17:02; 7. Tyler Henson (Bet) 17:07; 8. Andrew Dixon (PV) 17:10; 9. Steven Kruse (Bur) 17:11; 10. Mason Tope (DC) 17:11.

CLINTON — 3. Marcos-Teles 16:53; 42. Nathan Schroeder 18:56; 45. Jon Cady 19:12; 46. Dustin Ewalt 19:18; 47. Bret Determan 19:20; 52. Jeremy Mooney 19:39; 56. Cole Stuedemann 19:54.

IOWA CLASS 4A GIRLS REGIONAL MEET

4,000 meters

Team standings

(Top 3 qualify for state meet)

1. Pleasant Valley 19; 2. Bettendorf 55; 3. Dubuque Senior 68; 4. Dubuque Hempstead 102; 5. North Scott 164; 6. Davenport North 198; 7. Davenport West 199; 8. Davenport Central 206; 9. Clinton 231; Burlington also competed but did not have enough runners for a team score.

Individual leaders

(Top 10 qualify for state meet)

1. Maddie Reynolds (PV) 14:51; 2. Anna Peer (Bet) 14:58; 3. Kaley Ciluffo (PV) 15:03; 4. McKenzie Yanek (PV) 15:07; 5. Addie Royer (PV) 15:26; 6. Ali Oppel (PV) 15:29; 7. Elly Tebon (DS) 15:32; 8. Mahnee Watts (Bet) 15:40; 9. Isabella Blackman (Bet) 15:41; 10. Alesha Duccini (DH) 16:02.

CLINTON — 22, Kim Kaster 16:56; 50. Emily Bradley 19:40; 51. Kathleen Marston 19:48; 52. Lily Gabel 19:51; 56. Yissel Lopez-Ruiz 20:52; 58. Lesli Cuatlacuatl 22:19.