Becker Top 10 in debut

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Williamsburg cross-country teams finished below the middle of the pack in their opening events Saturday morning at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational.

In the varsity races, both divisions ran together but were scored separately.

The girls placed fifth out of nine teams and the boys placed seventh out of ten teams.

The top individual performance came on the girls’ side from freshman Channing Becker, who placed ninth, with a time of 20:46.

Edie Axmear followed with a top 15 performance, running 21:33.

“Channing and Edie led us really well,” Williamsburg head coach Nick Nordheim said.

“I was especially impressed with Lillyona [Abernathy] and Maelyn [Parsons]. They really stepped up and ran strong for us.”

The top finisher on the guys’ side was Collin Reed who finished 16th in a time of 17:57.

Coming next for the Raiders was Hayes Arwine and Nile Busch, who finished 24th and 25th.

“I've seen a different guy in training than we ever have before with him. He'll keep getting better and better,” Nordheim said of Reed.

Reed also tied his personal best in just the first meet of the year, Nordheim said.

The junior varsity squads, which featured a lot of younger runners, also competed for the Raiders.

“I thought all of our freshmen did a nice job jumping in there for the first time, Nordheim said.

”They weren't afraid to compete hard, and they will obviously be a big part of what we will do this year.”

The first meet can sometimes be about getting the race rust out of the legs and ready for the rest of the season.

“It was a good start after a long summer of training,” Nordheim said.

“I actually thought maybe our times would be a bit better based on our training, but sometimes you gotta get that first meet under your belt and then you figure things out a bit.”

The season has just begun for the Raiders and Nordheim said he’s excited to see how the team develops throughout the rest of the season.

“We have a long way to go and a lot of work to do. I'm excited about how this team works so I think we'll be really strong in a few weeks.”

Team Scores

GIRLS ORANGE DIVISION

1. Pella 15, 2. CCA 95, 3. Marion 108, 4. Monticello 116, 5. Williamsburg 124, 6. Fort Madison 127, 7. C.R. Xavier 141, 8. Cascade 177, 9. Central Lee 247

BOYS ORANGE DIVISION

1. Pella 27, 2. CCA 81, 3. Fort Madison 85, 4. Monticello 134, 5. C.R. Xavier 140, 6. Marion 144, 7. Williamsburg 153, 8. Cascade 218, 9. West Liberty 260, 10. Central Lee