HLV boys win conference meet

SEARSBORO — The HLV boys accomplished one of their preseason goals: win the school’s first South Iowa Cedar League championship in boys cross-country.

Running through the native prairie grass of the Big Springs Shooting Complex outside of Searsboro Oct. 10, the Warriors finished with all five scorers coming in under 20 minutes on the 5k course.

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“As coaches it has been so rewarding to see our athletes grow and accomplish the goals that we set early on in the season,” said Warrior Head Coach Matt Vavroch.

Three HLV runners finished within 15 seconds of each, other placing eighth, ninth and 10th overall.

Peyton Roth crossed the finish line in 18:38, followed closely by Brody Sternhagen in 18:45 and Nolan Pirkl in 18:53. Austin VanHamme was the next Warrior in, with a time of 19:24, just three seconds ahead of teammate Drew Thys’ 19:27.

Ethan Licht finished in 22:16.

“Going into the conference meet our runners knew what they would need to do in order to come away with a title,” said Vavroch. “Our athletes showed up ready to compete and ran their best meet of the season.

“It has been incredibly helpful to be led by our seniors, Nolan, Brody, Austin and Ethan. Peyton has a drive to compete and the iron will to constantly improve,” said Vavroch.

“Our only freshman, Drew, has been working hard and growing as an athlete all season long. “

“It has been amazing to see this group of guys push each other at practice, at meets and outside of practice,” Assistant HLV Coach Nicole Schnebbe said.

“It has been their mentality to show up and work hard every single practice, whether it’s 6 a.m. on a Saturday or 4:30 p.m. on a Friday. They put in the work and have made every mile and every repeat count,” Schnebbe said.

The team scores had HLV 10 points better than second place North Mahaska, 44 to 54. Lynnville-Sully was third (58), Montezuma fourth (91) and Belle Plaine fifth (97).

Medalist Heyne

English Valleys entered only two runners, not enough to count for the team tally, but championships were still possible. That’s where Gage Heyne entered the picture, capturing medalist honors.

Heyne ran a blistering 16:31 to lead the field around the course and cross the finish 48 seconds ahead of the number two runner, North Mahaska’s Brayden Veiseth.

The Bears’ Jonathyn Downing completed the course in 21:45.

“Gage continues to amaze and surpass his goals,” said English Valleys Coach Luke Caster. “He ran a great race at the conference meet and set a new [personal record].”

Even bigger than winning an individual title may be what Heyne had to overcome just to enter this, or any, race.

“His accomplishments this season are mind-boggling, considering the struggles he has had to overcome,” said Caster. “This season didn't begin as we would have hoped.

“Gage wasn't able to run for the first half of the season because of a heart condition. He had a procedure done about four weeks ago to correct the abnormality with his heart, and he has bounced back so well,” Caster said.

“He is an athlete who works hard every day and knows what he has to do to be the best he can be.”

Other runners

Lucas Eichorn paced the Belle Plaine squad, sprinting to a third-place finish in a time of 17:35 and helping the Plainsmen to its fifth place finish.

Belle Plaine’s other competitors included Maddox Purk (19:18), Hunter Henry (20:33), Phillip Drahos (22:36), Harry Singh (23:04), Ian Davis (23:19 and Sawyer Neuhaus (27:07).

Iowa Valley entered two competitors. Derek Bral finished in 28:04 and Elijah Pritchard in 29:27.

The state qualifying meets are Thursday, Oct. 19. HLV, Belle Plaine and Iowa Valley head to Eldora. English Valleys travels to Iowa City. All meets start at 4 p.m.