SEISC runs at Cedarcrest

COLUMBUS JUNCTION -- Something happened at Cedarcrest Golf Course on a beautiful Thursday in 60 degree weather that hasn't happened since 2007.

Pekin High School did not win the girls team title in the 16-school Southeast Iowa Super Conference cross-country meet. Pekin, ranked eighth in Class 1A, did win the boys meet.

Pekin's girls, ranked seventh, finished second behind Danville-New London, ranked 11th in 2A. Highland was fifth, Iowa Mennonite School was eighth and Columbus was 10th.

Iowa Mennonite School was sixth in the boys team standings with Columbus seventh and WACO 11th. Highland did not have a team score.

Madison Thomann was an all-conference performer for Highland with a seventh-place finish.

'She is very competitive so I know she wanted to place higher,” Highland coach Allison Strobel said. 'She ran a good race and finished strong. She has progressed well this season and all of our kids have. A lot of our kids had a season-best time so it's good they are peaking at the right time of year.”

IMS had a runner place 10th in each race, qualifying them for all-conference honors.

'Brian (Nchoe) had no idea how well he did,” IMS coach Martin Gingerich said. Nchoe is an exchange student from Narok, Kenya. 'I explained to him the top 15 finishers were all-conference. I pointed out a guy that was running a little better than Brian's times and told him stick with him. He ended up beating that guy. I knew Leah (Bontrager) had a good chance to make it and she ran her best race ever. She would look at me each time she passed me and ask what place she was in.”

Columbus was led by all-conference freshman Isaac Acosta, who finished 13th in the 99-runner field in 18 minutes, 53.1 seconds.

'I was so happy about how our varsity boys performed,” Columbus coach Steve Riley said. 'They ran with a lot of heart on their home course tonight, and I and the rest of our community are very proud of them.”

Senior Anna Hamilton was the top Wildcat girl, finishing 29th in 23:47.4.

'Our girls ran strong,” Riley said. 'That was Anna's best race. She keeps getting better.”

WACO's Jonah Egli just missed all-conference honors, placing 19th.

The course is one of the toughest runners see during the season with many hills and elevation changes.

One uphill corner is especially tough because when a runner tops it, they see they are only halfway up the hill, not at the top.

'My proudest moment of the day was when a jayvee runner ran the whole race for the first time this season,” Strobel said. 'It's the best. I also had Kylie Wood run, who is on the volleyball team. I really appreciate the volleyball coach letting her run because she is good.”

BOYS team results: 1. Pekin 45, 2. Danville-New London 59, 3. Wapello 91, 4. Van Buren 151, 5. Holy Trinity 158, 6. Iowa Mennonite 177, 7. Columbus 187, 8. Lone Tree 202, 9. Winfield-Mount Union 207, 10. West Burlington Notre Dame 215, 11. WACO 287, 12. Central Lee 292, 13. Louisa-Muscatine 321, 14. Cardinal 365. No team score – Mediapolis, Highland.

Iowa Mennonite – 10. Brian Nchoe 18:36.4, 27. John Hughes 19:42.6, 36. Jacob Boller 20:04.2, 41. Noah Miller 20:26.7, 63. Aaron Herschberger 21:42.2

Columbus – 13. Isaac Acosta 18:53, 29. Hunter Humiston 19:43, 35. Garrett Palmer 19:52, 55. Freddy Vergara 21:08, 63. Mason Hills-Carrier 21:30

WACO – 19. Jonah Egli 19:14.5, 61. Tanner Conwell 21:38.4, 65. Larz Smith 21:46.9, 68. Taylor Sutton 22:30.9, 74. Joe Edeker 22:53.7

Highland – 38. Jacob Roling 20:14.1, 76. Noah Oriano 22:52.0, 85. Luke Vanschoyk 23:36.0

GIRLS team results: 1. Danville-New London 38, 2. Pekin 55, 3. Van Buren 115, 4. Mediapolis 118, 5. Highland 133, 6. Wapello 165, 7. Central Lee 174, 8. Iowa Mennonite 178, 9. Cardinal 187, 10. Columbus 241.

Highland – 7. Madison Thomann 21:34.7, 19. Taylor Sublette 22:58.5, 31. Fiona Mahler 24:26.7, 34. Alli Brand 24:51.9, 42. Kylie Wood 26:38.0

Iowa Mennonite – 10. Leah Bontrager 22:16.2, 24. Sarena Gerber 23:33.8, 32. Esther Hughes 24:32.6, 51. Julia Boller 28:16.0, 61. Ainsley Shaw 38:34.7

Columbus – 29. Anna Hamilton 23:47, 53. Juvixsa Valdez 26:57, 66. Esther Lian 30:31, 67. Gloria Montiel 31:01, 69. Julie Sosa 31:39.

WACO – 40. Grace Conwell 25:14.3, 64. Makenzie Shelman 28:49, 68. Caitlyn Sells 31:30