Bontrager shines in Hillcrest meet

KALONA - The Cross-Country season is upon us, and Hillcrest Academy kicked off the year with their annual home meet on Tuesday night. Raven junior Leah Borntrager had the best night of any Union coverage area runner, picking up eighth place in the girls race.

In the girls race, Bontrager's eighth-place finish was the top mark of any runner who didn't go to Iowa City High School. The City High Little Hawks took the top seven spots, and Bontrager finished right behind them, crossing the tape in 22:54.37.

'I felt pretty good in the beginning,” said Bontrager. 'I was worried I went out a little too fast, but I was glad I kept up with those girls.”

Bontrager says having the City High girls ahead of her gave her a bit of a push. She also says it helped to be on her home course.

'It makes me feel super calm and relaxed and ready to run,” Bontrager said. 'I know the course, and we've run a lot of workouts in the woods, so it makes me feel pretty confident.”

The Washington girls had a nice outing as a team, placing all seven runners in the top 20. The Demons took second overall out of the three teams who had enough runners to score.

Hannah Rees led the Demon girls with a 10th-place finish of 24:23.98. Taylor Bartholomew took 12th, in 24:29.77. Grace Voss took 13th, in 24:55.95, to give the Demons three in the top 15.

Washington was third in the boys' team standing. Winfield-Mt. Union took fifth, and Highland was seventh.

Washington's Top-2 runners were Micah Reese and Elijah Morris. Rees took 10th, in 19:42.63, and Morris finished 11th, in 19:49.22.

W-MU's Dane Sweezer finished right behind the Washington duo. He took 12th place, in 19:56.08.

GIRLS STANDINGS: 1. City High 15; 2. Washington 61; 3. CR Jefferson 65

GIRLS TOP 15: Rowan Boulter (11), City High, 20:23.10; Lilly Reynolds (12), City High, 20:51.86; 3. Iris Wedemeyer (10), City High, 21:32.39; 4. Erin Anderson (10), City High, 22:05.51; 5. Jae Dancer (12), City High, 22:39.22; 6. Sydney Wilkes (10), City High, 22:40.31; 7. Avery Schultes (10), City High, 22:44.48; 8. Lea Bontrager (11), Hillcrest Academy, 22:54.37; 9. Katrina Truitt (12), CR Jefferson, 24:19.20; 10. Hannah Rees (12), Washington, 24:23.98. 11. Elizabeth Barraso (12), CR Jefferson, 24:25.63; 12. Taylor Bartholomew (09), 24:29.77; 13. Grace Voss (10), Washington; 24:55.95; 14. Madi Lundvall (10), Wapello, 24:58.11; 15. CR Jefferson (09), 25:22.92

BOYS STANDINGS: 1. CR Jefferson 19; 2. City High 52; 3. Washington 83; 4. Wapello 113; 5. Winfield-Mt. Union; 6. Lone Tree 146; 7. Highland 166.

BOYS TOP 15: 1. Lukas Lamparek (12), CR Jefferson, 17:41.42; 2. Gavin Hall (11), CR Jefferson, 17:51.24; 3. Bryson Grove (11), English Valleys, 17:57.96; 4. Xander Scaglione (12), CR Jefferson, 18:14.92; 5. Tristin Kauffman (12), Wapello, 18:45.48; 6. Juma Amisi (11), City High, 19:28.54; 7. Zach Egger (11), CR Jefferson, 19:30.14; 8. Sam Jahnke (12), CR Jefferson, 19:34:36; 9. Jonas Ackerman (10), City High, 19:39; 10. Micah Reese (09), Washington, 19:42.63; 11. Elijah Morris (10), Washington, 19:49.22; 12. Dane Sweezer (12), Winfield-Mt. Union, 19:56.08; 13. Matt Schaeckenbach (10), City High, 19:58.64; 14. Evan McElory (12), City High, 20:01.24; 15. Whit Jury (10), City High, 20:02.50.