Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Area teams fill state XC list
Pekin, Columbus, VBC to battle in 1A boys’ field, Mid-Prairie girls back in
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
OTTUMWA — It’s been long assumed that a handful of Union area boys 1A cross-country teams would be meeting up on the big stage at Fort Dodge, but the 20th-ranked Pekin Panthers weren’t necessarily the first team to come to mind.
Pekin, which hosted its Class 1A state qualifier in Ottumwa, was not supposed to get to the state meet as a team, but that’s exactly what they did.
“They came ready to run,” said Pekin head coach Davis Eidahl. “They came prepared, they were focused. It was tough for them, but they kept going.”
Pekin pulled an upset over Southeast Iowa Super Conference champion WACO, nipping the Warriors with 69 points to WACO’s 77.
With WACO hurting from injuries, including one to fourth-ranked Jude Dykstra, Pekin had its opening, and the Panther runners did everything they could to take full advantage.
The Panthers finished second to Louisa-Muscatine in the team race, earning the second spot through, and Cole Millikin raced to the front, winning the individual race in 16:47.850.
“It felt good to run on a course that I’ve known my entire running career,” said Millikin. “It’s like a senior night type thing!”
Pekin’s Lane Fariss and Mason Dahlstrom ran up front for most of the race and would have taken a Top-10 individual qualifying spot anyway. Fariss finished fifth, and Dahlstrom took sixth.
The next two scorers were huge for the Panthers. Landon Fariss finished 28th, and Brody Sobaski took 31st. Also qualifying, but not scoring, were Clayton Harvey in 36th, and Hayden Miller in 78th.
Despite not making it in the team race, WACO still did get one runner through on the boys’ side. Locken Henderson qualified with a fourth-place finish, running 17:21.507.
On the girls’ side, five individuals from the Union area qualified out of Pekin’s site, including third-ranked Chloe Glosser, who dominated the race, winning in 18:46.403.
“This is a course I’ve ran many times, so I was confident was that,” Glosser said. “This is always just a bypass meet, just to get to state, and then we can worry about that when it comes.”
WACO’s Josie Dykstra and Hillcrest Academy’s Marie Yoder battled near the very front all race long and took fourth and second. Dysktra finished in 20:21.747, and Yoder crossed in 20:23.377.
“I think I’ve definitely improved mentally from freshman year,” said Yoder. “And just training every summer and in the offseason, and working really hard.”
WACO and Hillcrest each had two qualifiers. Siena Stanerson was seventh for the Ravens, while Macie Carter took ninth to qualify for WACO.
“I definitely didn’t go out as fast as I would have liked to,” said Stanerson. “I had to keep moving up, and to keep proving myself throughout the race.”
At North Linn, it was Columbus that represented the Union area on the boys’ side, winning the team race with 38 points to put the Wildcats through.
The Wildcats used their depth, as they’ve done all season. Victor Tovar led the way, taking fifth place, in 17:58.6, and Cade Storm was just over one second behind him in sixth.
Kevin Villa and Ryan Villa took eighth and ninth overall. Drake Marin finished 10th, putting all six Columbus scorers in the Top-10.
Joining Pekin and Columbus in the state team race will be Van Buren County, which took second place by over 50 points, scoring 42 at Central Decatur. The Warriors finished 16 spots behind first-place Earlham, and 53 ahead of third-place Central Decatur.
VBC’s Lincoln Bainbridge took second at the qualifier, crossing the tape in 16:48.90. Landry Loeffler and Gavin Noll gave the Warriors a fifth and sixth place finish to put three in the Top-6.
Leo Jirak finished 16th for the Warriors. Reid Kite took 19th.Jaren Troxel finished 24th, and Sawyer Spiker finished 25th.
Van Buren County was the only area team that had both the boys and girls teams qualify. The Warriors scored 48 points in the girls’ race, falling just five behind first-place Earlham.
Kayley Snowgren’s sixth-place finish helped the Warriors finish in the Top-2 as a team. Rylee Phillips and Rory Phillips took 10th and 11th respectively.
Gabby Titus and Adalyn Snowgren were the next two VBC scorers, taking 15th and 16th. Emma Coffin finished 28th.
Other than the team qualifiers, Columbus did get one individual qualifier through at North Linn. Iris Garza will be running at state after finishing fourth, in 20:38.1.
Finally, the defending Class 2A state girls champion couldn’t pull off a win at Regina, but did qualify easily. Mid-Prairie scored 47 points, three back from team winner West Marshal State Center.
Brooklyn Stutzman crossed the tape in 19:18.8 to lead the way, winning the race individually. Tessa Brokaw finished eighth. Rachel Hostetler was ninth. Rebekah Wallington took 16th. Hannah Rodgers was 19th. Kyrie Poll took 21st, and Nikkari Poll finished 40th.
And finally, Mid-Prairie’s Max Swartzentruber navigated a tough boys race to earn a spot individually in Class 2A. Swartzentruber finished the race in 17:13.5, finishing in ninth place.
All Class 2A runners will compete on Friday in Fort Dodge, just before the 3A race. The Class 1A field will finish things off on Saturday, after the 4A runners are dispersed.
