Area schools shine at Fairfield cross-country meet

FAIRFIELD — Waterworks Park in Fairfield was chalk full of cross-country runners on Thursday, as the Trojans hosted their first home meet of the season.

The Union coverage area was well represented, and area teams picked up three of the four team championships up for grabs.

The Washington boys, Danville-New London boys and Pekin girls all scooped up a championship, and the Washington girls were two points away from making it a Union area sweep.

In the big school boys’ race, Washington nipped Clear Creek-Amana in a battle of ranked teams, scoring 40 points to CCA’s 41.

Washington’s Micah Rees dominated the boys event, cruising past the field with a final time of 16 minutes, 51.33 seconds. That was over 45 seconds faster than second place.

“Obviously it wasn't the best conditions,” said Rees. A little warm, but everybody had that challenge. I just went out there and did my thing.“

The Demon boys scooped up four Top-10 finishes. Drew Horak took seventh. Tyler Alderton was ninth, and Elijah Morris finished 10th.

The Mt. Pleasant boys finished fifth, with 151 points. Ben Carthey led the Panthers with a fourth-place finish, crossing the tape in 17:45.28.

“I was pretty proud,” said Carthey. “I think I got the guys I wanted to get, maybe not the time but I did get the guys.”

The Panthers' next runner down the list was Jude Dykstra, who finished 18th. No other Panthers finished Top-30.

Fairfield took seventh place in the big school boys standings, scoring 181 points. Riley Perkins was the top Trojan on the day, taking 17th place, in 19:02.18. Nate Konczal finished 21st.

Danville-New London dominated the small school class, scoring 26 points, which put them 21 ahead of second-place Chariton.

Rylan Martin won the small school race, crossing the line in 17:38.87. Carter Fesler crossed in second, at 18:01.78.

Winfield-Mount Union took third, thanks in part to a fourth-place overall finish by Kohlby Newsom. Van Buren County took fourth, and Highland was sixth.

Washington came just two points away from knocking off Clear Creek-Amana in the big school girls’ standings. The Demons finished with 52 points for second.

Freshman Iris Dahl continued her strong start to the season, crossing the finish line in 21:09.67 for third place. Teammate Quincy Griffis took eighth, in 21:47.30.

“My team and I have been working really hard to stay together,” Griffis said. “We just hope that we do good every time, because things can change, but we are really proud of ourselves.”

Washington had six runners in the Top-17. Alyvia Anderson took 12th. Lauren Horak was 15th. Abigail Kleese finished 16th, and Angeline Anderson was 17th.

Fairfield’s Carley Seeley took 18th place, crossing in 23:15.56. Teammate Caroline Van Pelt finished one spot behind Seeley, in 19th.

“Every cross-country race is tiring, but we were going in with the mindset of 'We've put in the work,’” said Seeley. “We've done 10 miles, so three miles should be nothing.”

The Trojans finished fifth as a team, scoring 137 points. Mt. Pleasant with sixth, with 201.

It was all Pekin in the small school girls’ race. The Panthers dominated the field, placing four runners in the Top-5 to win the meet by 40 points.

Freshman Chloe Glosser continued to impress, finishing first, in 21:17.53. Lauren Steigleder was second, with a time of 21:46.57. Brooke Miller (23:08.44) and Audrey Fariss (23:34.97) were fourth and fifth respectively.

All six of the top small school girls were from the Union coverage area. Danville-New London’s Alaina Gourley took third place, crossing in 22:22.23, and Cardinal’s Ava Ferrell was sixth, in 24:29.97.

In the team standings, Cardinal took third, with 71 points. Danville-New London was fourth, with 84. WMU took sixth, at 147.

BIG SCHOOL BOYS STANDINGS: 1. Washington 40; 2. Clear Creek-Amana 41; 3. Oskaloosa 116; 4. Burlington 142; 5. Mt. Pleasant 151; 6. Fort Madison 153; 7. Fairfield 181; 8. Ottumwa 363; 9. Keokuk 460

SMALL SCHOOL BOYS STANDINGS: 1. Danville-New London 26; 2. Chariton 47; 3. Winfield-Mount Union 63; 4. Van Buren County 127; 5. Wapello 176; 6. Highland 221

BIG SCHOOL GIRLS STANDINGS: 1. Clear Creek-Amana 50; 2. Washington 52; 3. Fort Madison 82; 4. Ottumwa 134; 5. Fairfield 137; 6. Mt. Pleasant 201; 7. Oskaloosa 201; 8. Burlington 207; 9. Keokuk 279

SMALL SCHOOL GIRLS STANDINGS: 1. Pekin 21; 2. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 61; 3. Cardinal 71; 4. Danville 84; 5. Chariton 132; 6. Winfield-Mount Union 147