Williamsburg takes team titles

OSKALOOSA — The junior high girls and junior varsity boys captured cross-country team titles for Williamsburg Sept. 12 in the Oskaloosa Invitational.

Led by Channing Becker, the junior high girls held off Pella for the championship, 36-42.

Becker won the two mile race in a new school record of 9 minutes, 55 seconds. She was joined in the top 10 by Ella Kleinmeyer, fifth in 11:01, and Aubree Wilde, ninth in 11:15. Leighton Maas and Tenley Sanchez finished 11th and 13th, respectively, in 11:17 and 11:33.

A one-two-three finish by Charlie Koons, Crew Klinger and Nolan Kent led the junior varsity boys past Pella Christian, 27-45.

Kruse ran the 5K race in 19:29, Klinger in 19:33 and Kent in 19:56. Brevin Zirkel placed sixth in 20:12, and Ian Wilde came in 16th in 21:12.

“The JV boys really ran tough,” said Williamsburg Coach Nick Nordheim.

“They are competing for spots, and that will only push them to be better. Charlie took a chance and it pulled the rest of the pack with him. It was a great race for a freshman.”

The Raider varsity girls and boys were both runners-up. The 2A 15th-ranked girls finished second to No. 3 Albia, 83-38, and the 12th-ranked boys finished behind No. 4 Chariton, 62-44.

Edie Axmear once again set the pace for the girls, placing eighth in 22:01. Ashlynn Hoffman was 13th in 22:44, Makenna Capper 16th in 22:57, Zada Buchholtz 18th in 23:19 and Anya Riverea 28th in 23:44.

The boys had three top 10 finishers. Nile Busch was fifth in 17:48, Calvin Seeman ninth in 17:59 and Wes Hulseberg 10th in 18:08. Finn Brummel and Tyler McMullin placed 19th and 21st in 18:22 and 18:30.

“Our guys showed we can hang with Chariton,” said coach Nordheim “We kind of lost it in the last mile, but we were right there in the hunt with them.”

Williamsburg’s junior high boys and junior varsity girls both finished third.

The Raiders’ Marcus Pirkl won the junior high boys’ race in 9:08, setting a new school record. Naomi Sitas and Kaitlyn Snow had top 10 finishes for the girls — Sitas sixth in 27:09 and Snow ninth in 27:49.

“I thought we ran really well overall,” said Nordhekm. “Coming off three meets in eight days, I thought we competed hard on tired legs in all the races.

“Obviously, Channing and Marcus were great setting new school records.”

Solon Invite

Individual championships by Becker and Pirkl at the junior high level highlighted Williamsburg’s performances in last Monday’s Solon Invitational.

Becker was the junior high girls winner in 12:21, and Pirkl was the boys winner in 11:29.

The Raider varsity boys scored 107 points to finish fourth behind 3A No. 4 Mount Vernon-Lisbon (43), 3A No. 9 Solon (61) and 2A No. 19 Tipton (102).

Only 15 seconds separated Williamsburg’s top three. Seeman placed 11th in 17:24, Busch 15th in 17:35 and Hulseberg 16th in 17:39.

Axmear finished a team-best 13th in 21:02 for the varsity gjrls. Hayes Arwine and Klinger had top 10 finishes for the JV boys, and Kleinmeyer and Maas placed in the top 10 for the JV girls.