Pekin’s cross country teams looking to rebuild in the new season

Pekin’s cross country season in underway, and they’re off to a strong start for having small numbers.

The girls’ team graduated five members from last year’s fifth-place state team. Returning from last year’s state team are juniors Audrey Fariss and Lauren Steigleder. Coach Davis Eidahl will make up the rest of this season’s team from seniors Brooke Miller and Taylor McCreedy; junior Lexi Swearingen; sophomores Renae Eubanks, Brooke Sylvester, Rowan Connelly, and Kylie Wise; and freshmen Chloe Glosser, Teagen Swearingen, and Audra Steigleder.

The Panther boys’ team will have a true rebuilding year in 2022. Zack Wise was the only graduating senior from last year’s team, but the team lost six other runners from last season due to various reasons. Ben Guise, J.T. Spray, Dylan Sobaski, Cole Millikin, Brady McWhirter, Brayden Wages, and Henry Eubanks will make up the Pekin team for the start of the season.

Pekin @ Wildwood

Pekin’s cross country teams ran at Wildwood in Ottumwa last Thursday, September 1. The Panthers took first in the high school girls’ race with 46 points, taking second was Ottumwa with 68, and Fairfield finished third with 85. In the boys’ high school race, Pekin finished seventh with 182 points, winning the event was Danville with 27. Pekin’s middle school girls’ team finished second with 36 points, 10 points behind the winning team of Sigourney. The middle school boys’ team picked up the win with 18 points, 21 points over second-place Van Buren.

Pekin freshman Chloe Glosser won the high school race in a time of 19:18, while Lauren Steigleder took third in 19:49. Also getting top 10 finishes for Pekin were Brooke Miller in sixth in 21:43 and Audrey Fariss in seventh in 21:57. Brooke Sylvester finished 35th in 24:05, while Lexi Swearingen was 42nd in 24:41. Also competing for Pekin were Renae Eubanks, who finished 43rd in 24:43 and Teagan Swearingen, who finished 69th in 27:44.

In the high school boys’ race, Brady McWhirter was the top runner for Pekin, taking sixth in a time of 17:02. Cole Millikin finished 34th in 19:34 and Ben Guise was 37th in 20:06. Dylan Sobaski took 74th in 23:14 and Brayden Wages finished 84th in 28:02.

Harper Guise was the top finisher for the Pekin middle school girls, finishing seventh in 11:34. Callie Deutschle finished tenth in 12:03. Brinley Phillips took 16th in 12:41 and Cambree Earnest was 18th in 13:09, while Alyssa Sylvester was 28th in 15:47.

Mason Dahlstrom led the team in the middle school boys’ race, taking first in 8:36. Pekin had five more runners in finishing in the top 10, with Lane Fariss finishing fifth in 9:31, Cody Silvers finishing seventh in 9:53, Sam Hall finishing eighth in 9:57, Brody Sobaski finishing ninth in 10:00, and Cael Silvers finishing tenth in 10:01. Hayden Miller had a 15th place finish in 10:30, Liam Guise was close behind taking 16th in 10:35, and Clayton Harvey was 22nd in 10:57.