(Madrid) -- For the fourth consecutive year, the Madrid girls cross country team is headed to the Class 1A State Championships as a state qualifying meet champion. This time, the Tigers will have some company.

Madrid head coach Kelley Grothus will take both her girls and boys teams to Fort Dodge after an impressive showing at the Panorama State Qualifying Meet, where the girls cruised to the championship with 45 points and the boys secured a runner-up finish with 74.

"We were really happy with our state qualifying meet," Grothus said. "They pulled it all together as a team and overall ran phenomenally. We really had some people step up and fill in where we needed them."

The Tigers accomplished that on a challenging Panorama course that featured plenty of hills and unfamiliar terrain for much of the roster.

Grothus and her staff focused on individual race strategies, identifying competitors to run alongside, teammates who could help set the pace and areas where each athlete could improve.

The results were impressive, particularly on the girls side.

Madrid placed four runners among the top 11, led by runner-up Madelyn Grothus, who finished in 19:45.02.

Hannah Brandhorst placed seventh in 20:48.85, while Charis Peasley took 10th in 22:05.37 and Jordyn Adams followed in 11th with a time of 22:27.92.

The Tigers also received contributions from Claire McCarty in 25th, Adelyn White in 29th and Makayla Mullenbach in 51st.

The performance secured Madrid's fourth consecutive state qualifying meet championship and continued an impressive run of postseason success.

Three Madrid seniors will be making their fourth state meet appearances, having helped the Tigers win a state championship as freshmen, finish second as sophomores and place fifth last season.

"The team has a lot of experience," Grothus said. "They've been there, they know how to be successful, and they've been great leaders on the team explaining to the younger girls what it takes, how to race, how to scout out a course, and keeping everybody both calm and having fun at the same time."

That experience has Madrid thinking about another podium finish in Fort Dodge.

Grothus knows the Tigers will face strong competition from programs they haven't necessarily seen during the regular season, but she isn't interested in setting modest expectations.

"We'll be going for a top place, hopefully chasing a trophy out there," she said. "We don't want to go and just set our sights low. We want to set our sights high and do what we can do."

While the girls entered the season with plenty of experience, Madrid's boys have followed a different path to the state meet.

The Tigers feature a young roster with just one senior and have worked through injuries and inexperience throughout the fall.

But their improvement was evident at Panorama.

Hudson White led the way with a fourth-place finish in 17:41.29, while Jacob Brandhorst wasn't far behind in sixth at 17:49.88.

Kris Petersen gave Madrid a third runner among the top 15, placing 15th in 18:44.62.

Caleb Berberich finished 20th, Isaac Boes took 36th, Sean Udelhoven placed 55th and Aiden Titus finished 61st.

The collective effort was enough to secure second place with 74 points and send the Tigers to state.

"They have really come a long way throughout the course of this season," Grothus said. "We had some injury issues. They're generally a very young team, inexperienced, and we have really worked on filling in the gaps as coaches."

With only one senior on the roster, the coaching staff has emphasized teaching the younger runners how to prepare, compete and support one another.

Grothus was especially pleased with the team's pack running at the qualifier, noting that several athletes came close to personal-best performances despite the difficult course.

"They run great together," she said. "We had some more pack running where they could see each other up in the distance a little bit and relied on their teammates to run great races."

Madrid also had to navigate an unusual fall filled with weather-related disruptions.

The Tigers lost their home meet to cancellation and had another competition wiped out, although they were able to find a replacement meet.

Rather than allow the interruptions to derail their progress, Grothus and her staff adjusted practice schedules and emphasized preparation for a wide range of conditions.

"If we missed a meet due to heat or due to rain, then we just practiced through it," she said. "We just adapted as best we could."

Those adjustments proved valuable during a warmer-than-usual state qualifying meet.

"They've been training all year to be able to run in 35 degrees or 85 degrees," Grothus said. "They showed up and were able to do that despite it. It doesn't make it easy, but it made them tougher."

Now, both Madrid teams turn their attention to the Class 1A State Championships.

For the girls, the objective is another trophy to add to an already impressive stretch of postseason success.

For the boys, the opportunity represents a chance to measure their growth against the best Class 1A programs in Iowa.

Grothus noted that Madrid spends much of its regular season competing against larger schools, making the state meet a different experience from what the Tigers typically encounter.

"We don't run against a lot of the top teams that will be at state on the girls side," she said. "We're really looking into who they have on their team, maybe what they've done throughout the rest of the season and where we match up to them."

Check out the complete interview with Coach Grothus in audio file below.