Williamsburg places third in both team races

WILLIAMSBURG — This won’t be the last time you hear the name Avery Fedler, and it’s not the first either.

The Mount Pleasant freshman made her 5K debut Tuesday, winning the varsity girls cross-country race at the Williamsburg Invitational in a time of 19 minutes, 7 seconds.

Fedler made her name on the national stage in junior high, running an unheard time for her age in the 800-meter. At the Brooks PR Track and Field Invitational in June, the Panthers freshman finished in 2:12.22.

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Tuesday’s debut win in hot conditions is just the beginning of what Fedler will accomplish.

The boys’ race also produced a name to watch in Class 3A. South Tama’s Barrett Jesina pulled away from the field in the second half, winning in 16:27.8.

The Trojans senior has his eyes on a podium finish this season at the state cross country meet.

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Class 2A No. 1 ranked Mid-Prairie won the girls title with an impressive low score of 29. 3A No. 5 Grinnell took the boys title with 45 points.

Williamsburg finished third in each race as a team.

Of area finishers, Williamsburg’s Channing Becker was the highlight, coming in fifth in the girls’ race in 19:59.4.

Becker is coming off her freshman season during which she qualified for state individually. She’s already seen improvement in her times over her first two meets last season.

A season under her belt is paying dividends.

“I’ve definitely grown in the mental aspect knowing I’ve done all this before,” Becker said. “I’m more confident knowing that I have a season under my belt.”

Becker also noted how a stronger team this season has helped pushed her in practice. The Raiders are ranked 13th this week in 3A.

One of those teammates, freshman Maddie Gorsh, finished 12th overall and was the Raiders’ second runner to finish.

“Maddie didn’t get to run a lot of mileage in the summer,“ Williamsburg coach Nick Nordheim said. ”She’s going to keep getting stronger, and you watch her, and she is just gutsy and competitive.“

Gorsh, along with others, such as state qualifier Edie Axmear, hope to continue to push each other to bring the team’s pack into sub-21-minute territory.

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Outside of Williamsburg, the top area finisher in the girls race was Montezuma’s Vivian Cook, who finished 44th.

On the boys’ side, another Williamsburg freshman stood out. Marcus Pirkl, coming off a strong junior high season, was the team’s top finisher in 18:05.4.

“He is more of a relentless worker then I’ve ever seen for someone at his age,” Nordheim said. “He’s playing football and running cross-country at the same time.”

That is a rare combination.

Pirkl’s last five days have included a junior varsity football game, a freshman game and two cross-country meets.

“We’re trying to manage it,” Nordheim said of his busy workload. “He works hard enough. It’s just about finding balance.”

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HLV-TC’s Allan Scott finished 45th, the top area finisher not from Williamsburg in the boys’ race.

It was also announced Tuesday that Williamsburg will be hosting a state qualifying meet in 3A this season.

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Other notable results

Williamsburg’s Harper Winegarden dropped the most impressive time of the evening in the junior high girls 1 1/2 mile race. Winegarden finished in 8:30 (a 5:40 mile pace). Her time, a school record, would have won the boys’ race.

GIRLS’ RESULTS

Team Scores

1. Mid-Prairie 29, 2. PCM 77, 3. Williamsburg 79, 4. Newton 78, 5. Oskaloosa 146, 6. Mount Pleasant 185, 7. Danville 204, 8. Benton Community 233, 9. Mediapolis 237, 10. Montezuma 268, 11. Belle Plaine 301, 12. Cedar Ridge Christian 309

Individual

Top 5 — 1. Avery Felder (Mount Pleasant), 19:07.0; 2. Brooklyn Stutzman (Mid-Prairie), 19:22.1; 3. Rachel Hostetler (Mid-Prairie), 19:31.2; 4. Kendal Landstrum (Mid-Prairie), 19:38.3; 5. Channing Becker (Williamsburg), 19:59.4

Williamsburg (79): 5. Channing Becker, 19:59.4; 12. Maddie Gorsh, 21:24.0; 15. Edie Axmear, 21:39.7; 23. Anya Rivera, 22:57.5; 26. Leighton Maas, 23:13.7; 29. Ella Kleinmeyer, 23:34.7; 31. Gracelyn Uhlmann, 23:56.5

Montezuma (268): 44. Vivian Cook, 25:21.0; 52. Sophia Semprini, 26:28.7; 57. Claire Erselius, 26:52.3; 58. Alexa Rose, 26:58.7; 65. Haileah Eichenberger, 28:14.9; 75. Aly Daniels, 30:9.7

Belle Plaine (301): 48. Elyse Jacbi, 25:46.7; 56. Cora Hemmingsen-Brinkman, 26:44.8; 63. Jesse Upton, 27:30.7; 79. Madeline Kaplan, 31:05.3; 80. Saku Tanaka, 31:39.0; 81. Elle Jacobi, 33:30.7

HLV-TC: 67. Paisley Allee, 28:47.5; 70. Layla Shilling, 29:33.0; 72. Raelene Hawkins, 29:52.5; 83. Megan Thys, 34:01.0

Iowa Valley: 68. Kathryn Kilgard, 28:51.9; 77. Emry Busch, 31:00.7

BOYS’ RESULTS

Team Scores

1. Grinnell 45, 2. PCM 108, 3. Williamsburg 109, 4. Newton 114, 5. Mediapolis 131, 6. Benton Community 134, 7. Oskaloosa 146. 8. Mid-Prairie 231. 9. Mount Pleasant 243, 10. South Tama 262, 11. Danville 278, 12. Montezuma 330, 13. Cedar Ridge Christian 378, 14. Belle Plaine 389

Individual

Top 5 — 1. Barrett Jesina (South Tama), 16:27.8; 2. Cadel Conner (Grinnell), 16:42.1; 3. Simon Wendel (Mediapolis), 16:49.0; 4. Cooper Lenz (Newton), 17:18.4; 5. Liam Crites (Grinnell), 17:36.1

Williamsburg (109): 12. Marcus Pirkl, 18:05.4; 20. Brevin Zirkel, 18:38.0; 21 Colin Reed, 18:40.0; 26. Finn Brummel, 19:24.7; 30. Charlie Koons, 19:34.2; 31. Hudson Nunnelley, 19:41.7

Montezuma (330): 46. Dayton Reif, 20:41.4; 52. Cade Lowry, 20:52.8; 73. Linkyn Bru, 22:52.1; 77. Luke Benson, 23:34.5; 93. Nicholas Damon, 27:49.7

Belle Plaine (389): 66. Devin Timm, 22:25.5; 79. Ryker Beal, 23:49.1; 82. Ian Davis, 24:19.8; 83. Hayden Neuhaus, 24:30.2; 95. Sawyer Neuhaus, 28:28.5

HLV-TC: 45. Allan Scott, 20:37.2; 74. Drew Thys, 22:54.1; 81. Lance Milton, 24:07.3; 89. Cash Hawkins, 27:04.2

Iowa Valley: 86. Derek Bral, 25:25.6; 87. Ayden Wagner, 26:26.2; 94. Patrick Peach, 28:24.3; 97. Ethan Busch, 34:57.3