No team titles, but many personal bests

WILLIAMSBURG — There weren’t any team titles, but Williamsburg cross-country coach Nick Nordheim felt really good about the performance of his runners Sept. 26, in Raider Invitational No. 2.

“It was a fantastic night at all levels,” said Nordheim. “We had so many personal and season bests. The kids really came out to compete hard in an absolutely stacked meet.

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“I'm so proud that they don't back down from anyone,” Nordheim said.

The Raider varsity girls, ranked 18th in Class 2A, finished fifth out of 19 teams with 142 points.

Class 3A No. 1 Pella won the meet with 24 points followed by 3A No. 3 Mount Vernon-Lisbon (72), 3A No, 6 Solon (84) and 2A No. 5 Tipton (104).

Edie Axmear set the pace for Williamsburg in the 5K race, placing 14th out of 101 runners in 20:48.

Zada Buchholtz finished 20th in 21:12, Ashlyn Hoffman was 28th in 21:38, Makenna Capper 39th in 22:10, Anya Rivera 45th in 22:50 and Reagan McMenomy 48th in 22:55.

All of their times were improvements from the first Raider Invitational back in August. McMenomy improved by 4 minutes, 48 seconds; Hoffman 2:44, Buchholtz 2:41, Rivera 2:06, Axmear 1:58 and Capper 1:55.

“Our girls took another big step forward,” Nordheim said. “We are getting back to being one of the top teams in the state again.

“It hasn't been easy, but you have to give the girls credit for sticking with it and continuing to work,” said Nordheim. “I'm so proud of them.

“Edie, Zada and Ashlyn are running really tough right now. Makenna is quietly becoming one of the best freshmen around, and Anya is getting more and more confident each time out.”

Williamsburg boys

Williamsburg’s varsity boys placed sixth in a highly competitive 15-team field that featured 10 schools ranked in the top 20.

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Like their girls, 3A No. 2 Pella was the boys’ team champion with 41 points. They were followed by 3A No. 5 Carlisle (80), 3A No. 4 Mount Vernon-Lisbon (113), 3A No. 15 South Tama (129), 3A No. 9 Solon (141) and 2A No. 15 Williamsburg (162).

Behind the Raiders were 2A No. 6 Vinton (173), 2A No. 14 Tipton (206), 1A No. 17 Danville (233) and 2A No. 17 Pella Christian (237).

All five of Williamsburg’s scoring runners finished in under 18 minutes. Nile Busch placed 26th out of 111 contestants in 17:28, Wes Hulseberg was 27th in 17:30, Calvin Seeman 34th in 17:48, Finn Brummel 38th in 17:56 and Tyler McMullin 42nd in 17:59.

“In our class at the upcoming state qualifying meet, having five guys in the 17s can do a lot of damage,” said coach Nordheim.

“We are looking strong and will continue to climb in the rankings. Finn and Tyler closing the gap on our top three runners is huge.”

The Raider junior high boys and girls both finished second to Solon in the team standings — the girls by a 38-24 score and the boys 82-37.

Williamsburg’s Channing Becker and Marcus Pirkl swept individual honors, Becker winning the 1.5 mile girls’ race in 8:53 and Pirkl the boys’ race in 8:27. Ella Kleinmeyer added a top five finish for the girls, placing fourth in 9:35.

“What more can you say about Channing?” asked Nordheim. “The junior high has run four different courses, and she has four course records.

“The rest of them aren't far behind either. The junior high teams are just fun to watch and they work so hard.”

English Valleys placed 11th and Iowa Valley 14th in the girls’ team standings with 290 and 404 points, respectively, and the Belle Plaine and HLV boys finished 14th and 15th with 419 and 427 points.

Top finishers for the English Valleys girls were Addison Achenbach, 30th in 21:51; Aubrey Achenbach, 35th in 22:03; and Kailor Lown, 57th in 23:36.

Hannah Ryan was the first IV girl to cross the finish, taking 70th in 24:53. Grace Ryan was 75th in 24:58 and Kathryn Gilard 82nd in 25:33.

Luke Eichhorn set the pace for the Belle Plaine boys, placing 38th in 17:56. HLV’s Payton Roth, Nolan Pirkl and Austin VanHamme ran 80, 81 and 83 in 20:03, 20:08 and 20:21.

English Valleys’ Gage Heyne, a two-time state qualifier, finished 19th individually in the varsity boys race in 17:14.

Wartburg

Williamsburg’s varsity girls and boys both placed 21st in last Saturday’s meet featuring teams from several different states at Wartburg College.

Axmear was the first Raider girl to cross the finish line, taking 49th in 21:21. Hulseberg led the Burg boys with an 83rd place finish in 17:26. Seeman and Busch also posted sub-18 minute times, and Charlie Koons set a personal 5K record in 18:49.

There were 354 girls competing and 419 boys.

“It was a tough day to run with the heat index pushing 90 degrees for all the races, but it was a great experience for our kids running against nearly 60 different schools,” said Nordheim.

“We were a little short-handed with band competition going on at the same time, but I thought our kids really stepped up and competed hard. It wasn't a day where times were going to be super fast, but we beat some really good teams.”

The boys finished ahead of both the ninth- and third-ranked teams in Class 2A — Denver and Mid-Prairie.

“Beating those two teams was awesome,” Nordheim said. “I don't think we were even at our best today, so that says a lot about where we're at as a team.

“Charlie really stepped up for us in the biggest race he's ever been in as a freshman. To have a personal best in that heat really says a lot about how great he ran. He could be big for us as the season winds down,” said Nordheim.