Panther boys, Abby Ryon on to state meet

BY ANDY KRUTSINGER

Mt. Pleasant News

PELLA ? For the Mt. Pleasant boys? cross-country team, a high finish at state has been the goal all year. Now they are where they need to be, with a team spot at next Saturday?s state cross-country race.

Thursday night?s state-qualifier in Pella was business as usual for the MP boys, but it was also a huge day for MP girls? top runner Abby Ryon, who punched her spot to her first state meet, as a freshman.

The MP boys, who are currently ranked third in Class 3A, topped sixth-ranked Pella by one point for second place, with 65 points. Second-ranked Grinnell won the meet, with 42 points.

The Panther girls finished seventh out of 13 teams, with 177 points. They were just three spots away from SEC-rival Ft. Madison, who placed fourth, with 95 points.

Logan Murray was once again the first runner to cross the tape in the boys? race. He won with a time of 16:15.1, winning the race by over nine seconds.

?I feel awesome,? said Murray after the race. ?I love this course (and it was) beautiful weather out there.?

Murray rolled his ankle a bit during the conference meet last week, but he says it was all good during the race.

?I?m thankful that coach (Anderson) is very smart and knows how to handle that kind of stuff because I?m not as good with that,? Murray said about his ankle. ?We?ve got the best coach in the state of Iowa, so it?s helpful.?

Not too far behind Murray was Cody Mertens, who placed sixth, in 16:41.3. Mertens? finish made it two MP runners, two Grinnell Runners and two Pella runners making up the top six.

?I was just thinking, ?stay relaxed and attack? and just had a lot of fun with it,? Mertens said. ?I just fed off the crowd and kept rolling.?

Kyle Vanderham came across the line in 14th place, at 17:04.5, giving Mt. Pleasant three runners in the top 15.

?It was a good race to be running in,? said Vanderham. ?I wasn?t sure (what place I was in). I was just hoping I was in that top 15.?

Ryan Hutchinson chimed in at 18th place, finishing at 17:20.5. Dalton Krum, who was celebrating his birthday on Thursday, rounded out the Panther scorers in a 26th-place 17:46.5.

Adam Bodenham was 30th, in 17:54.7, in his first race back from being sidelined with an illness and Jonathan Ita placed 35th, in 18:06.8.

Ryon stayed in the top 10 for the vast majority of the girls? race and finished up in ninth place, which was plenty enough to advance to state individually (top 15 advance). Her final time was just inside 20 minutes, at 19:55.9.

?I felt good and then my stomach started to turn a bit,? Ryon said. ?So I didn?t feel the best, but I stuck it through.?

Ryon said she was a little nervous to compete in her first state-qualifier but told herself to ?keep pushing? herself throughout the race.

?I tried to look at the girls and pace myself off of them,? she said. ?Coach (Caboth) is really helping me a lot with pre-meet type stuff, how to keep calm and not get the nerves.?

Taylor Murray was the next Panther to cross the line. She finished 32nd, in 21:53.9. Kelsey Notestein was close behind her, in 21:59.4, for 36th place. Claire Holtkamp was 45th, in 22:23.9, and Aurora Vansickel was 55th, in 23:03.2 to round out the scorers.

Kendall Dascher and Delaney McDowell were close behind Vansickle. Dascher was 58th, in 23:11.1, and McDowell was 59th, in 23:13.4.

The Panther qualifiers will next compete at the state meet in Ft. Dodge on Saturday, Oct. 29. The event is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., with the 3A runners going at approximately 12 p.m.

GIRLS? TEAM SCORES: 1. Pella, 56; 2. North Polk, 73; 3. Ballard, 89; 4. Ft. Madison, 95; 5. Oskaloosa, 117; 6. Grinnell, 142; 7. Mt. Pleasant, 177; 8. Norwalk, 181; 9. Knoxville, 295; 10. Nevada, 304; 11. Chariton, 340; 12. Bondurant-Farrar, 345; 13. Saydel, 406.

GIRLS? STATE QUALIFIERS: 1. Sierra Howardson (Ft. Madison), 19:19.9; 2. Brett Schneider (Ft. Madison), 19:38.2.; 3. Amelia Lesher (North Polk), 19:40; 4. Ellie Twedt (Ballard), 19:40.3; 5. Tess Roorda (Pella), 19:41.9; Mary Blanchard (Grinnell), 19:43.3; 7. Lauren Coon (Oskaloosa), 19:50.9; 8. Sienna DeJong (Oskaloosa), 19:52; 9. Abby Ryon (Mt. Pleasant), 19:55.9; 10. Sophie Blanchard (North Polk), 20:09.6; 11. Kelcey (Pella), 20:15.3; 12. Ciara Buchheit (Pella), 20:28.7; 13. Caroline McMartin (Pella), 20:30; 14. Nola Conner (Grinnell) 20:30.4; 15. Mikayla Kruse (Pella), 20:31.1.

BOYS? TEAM SCORES: 1. Grinnell, 42; 2. Mt. Pleasant, 65; 3. Pella, 66; 4. Oskaloosa, 133; 5. Bondurant-Farrar, 167; 6. North Polk, 179; 7. Ballard, 189; 8. Ft. Madison, 209; 9. Nevada, 236; 10. Saydel, 246; 11. Chariton, 303; 12. Knoxville, 350; 13. Norwalk, 352.

BOYS? STATE QUALIFIERS: 1. Logan Murray (Mt. Pleasant), 16:15.1; 2. Thomas Clower (Grinnell), 16:24.5; 3. Trenton O?Halloran (Grinnell), 16:29.7; 4. Blaise Winegardner (Pella), 16:32.4; 5. Nick Bernhagen (Pella), 16:37.4; 6. Cody Mertens (Mt. Pleasant), 16:41.3, 7. Noah Kohut-Jackson (Ballard), 16:50.5; 8. Lucas Chamberland (Grinnell), 16:52.1; 9. David Parker (Saydel), 17:02.2; 10. Drake VanBaale (Bondurant-Farrar), 17:02.2; 11. Carter Huyser (Oskaloosa), 17:03.2; 12. William Roberts (Grinnell), 17:03.9; 13. Malachi Hornbuckle (Nevada), 17:04.3, 14. Kyle Vanderham (Mt. Pleasant), 17:04.5; 15. Jacob Wilcox (North Polk), 17:05.9.