COLUMBUS, Iowa — All Zach Hougland had to do was walk back to his team’s camp after winning the Class 2A boys district race in Columbus, Iowa, last week. The Davis County senior was already across the finish line and headed back to camp when Mediapolis High runner Garrett Hinson collapsed in front of him just before crossing the finish line.

“The kid was going into the finish line and totally collapsed. I was just 150 feet away and saw no one was coming to help him,” said Davis County head cross-country coach Josh Husted. “Zach was walking back to our team camp and saw this was an emergency situation.”

Hougland could have just ignored it and taken his victory with him back to Bloomfield. Instead, Hougland chose to do the right thing, and he was to first person to come to aid of Hinson.

“He looked very dehydrated, he was holding his chest, so I yell, ‘Is anyone going to help him?’ And no one said anything and no one did anything so I just jumped in and started walking beside him and I gave him a push into the finish line,” Hougland said.

As a result, per Iowa High School Athletic Association guidelines, Hougland was disqualified for technically helping a runner finish the race. That, however, was not at the forefront of anyone’s mind after watching the heroically unselfish act of the Mustang senior.

“He just wanted to see if he could help the kid. The kid put his arms around Zach to help himself up and finished the race,” Husted said. “I got called into the field house and was informed that, since the kid finished the race, Zach was considered to have helped him.

“Zach knew it might hurt his finish, but he chose to do something heroic instead.”

Husted admittedly needed some time to process the news himself before informing his team, including Hougland, about the disqualification. Just minutes later, however, the Mustangs received the news that they would be headed to state as the third-place team in the district meet with 114 points. Davis County edged Northeast Goose Lake, one of three ranked teams in the meet, by a mere four points for the final state berth.

“Our next five boys were able to help us beat one of the top teams in the state,” Husted said. “Fortunately, Zach’s going to get another chance to run with us.”

While several runners and teams will now be preparing for the state cross-country meet over the next week, none of the athletes or coaches in attendance were focused on Fort Dodge. They instead were focused on the health of Hinson and the unselfishness of Hougland.

“I asked Zach if that situation occurred again, if he’d do the same thing. He told me without question he would,” Husted said. “Zach’s the type of kid that will go back after finishing a workout run and make sure our last guys on the course finish safely.”

Hinson knows how close close Hougland was to losing the opportunity to be a state champion.

“He risked his chances at state for helping, a pretty crazy thing for him to do. He’s a pretty good guy for doing that,” Hinson told KCCI. “That’s amazing.”

Jackson writes for The Ottumwa (Iowa) Courier.