Both Trojan cross country teams take sixth at IMS

KALONA ? The Trojan harriers laced up their race-day shoes one final time before the postseason at the IMS Invite Monday.

The Fairfield boys scored 190 points to take sixth place out of 12 teams. Vinton-Shellsburg was the runaway winner with 42 points, followed by Solon at 63.

The top two runners, again, were juniors Brandon Taglauer and Randy Andermann. This time, Taglauer edged Andermann by three seconds to finish 26th (19:00); Andermann was 28th (19:03).

The surprise race of the day was Niko Carlson, however, who took the Trojans? rotating No. 3 spot for the first time. Carlson finished just 14 seconds behind Andermann to finish 35th (19:17).

?Niko ran right with our top guys the whole race,? said Fairfield head coach Jerrod Belzer. ?He?s a tough competitor and has done a great job helping us out the last few meets.?

Also scoring for the Trojans were Jonah Marks (46th, 19:48) and Darrin Dimmitt (55th, 20:21). Logan Swanson and Trevor Starnes rounded out varsity to claim 60th and 65th, respectively.

In the girls? race, Jessica Lamb finished seventh overall to lead the Trojans, but a two-minute gap between Lamb and the rest of the Trojan girls resulted in a sixth-place finish as a team. Solon beat the 11-team field with just 27 points, and Williamsburg was second with 62.

?Jess had a tough meet the last time she faced the Williamsburg girls, but she went in with a lot of confidence and ran really well,? said Belzer.

Also for the girls, Hannah Sobaski checked in at 40th (18:21), while Tracy Andermann was 47th (18:44). Serena Ward was three seconds behind Andermann, and Sage Richmond was six seconds behind Ward. Danielle Garrison (61st, 19:55) and Kaitlyn Daugherty (71st, 20:44) also ran for the Fairfield girls.

Belzer said he was impressed by the individual performances as the runners set their sights on the postseason.

?There were a lot of great teams and individuals there, and we showed that we weren?t intimidated,? Belzer said. ?The kids continued to make great improvements at each meet, and I fully expect that to carry on into our conference and district meets.

Fairfield has more than one week off before the Oct. 13 Southeast Conference Meet, hosted by the Trojans at Waterworks Park.

Final Team Scores ? Boys

1. Vinton-Shellsburg 42, 2. Solon 63, 3. Mid Prairie 77, 4. Williamsburg 175, 5. Clear Creek Amana 182, 6. Fairfield 190, 7. West Liberty 192, 8. Wapello 199, 9. Washington 257, 10. Lone Tree 261, 11. HLV 319, 12. Danville-New London 335

Fairfield Individual Results

26. Brandon Taglauer (19:00), 28. Randy Andermann (19:03), 35. Niko Carlson (19:17), 46. Jonah Marks (19:48), 55. Darrin Dimmitt (20:21), 60. Logan Swanson (20:40), 65. Trevor Starnes (21:01)

JV ? 10. Makena Dettman (20:31), 14. Matt Carr (20:56), 16. Andrew Kessel (21:05), 40. Adam Mueller (22:55), 50. Matt McCan (24:45), 54. Gannon Haile (25:09), 55. Jesse McCabe (25:11)

Final Team Scores ? Girls

1. Solon 27, 2. Williamsburg 62, 3. Wapello 113, 4. Clear Creek Amana 119, 5. Lone Tree 184, 6. Fairfield 193, 7. Mid Prairie 201, 8. Vinton Shellsburg 204, 9. Washington 211, 10. North Mahaska 212, 11. Danville-New London 372

Fairfield Individual Results

7. Jessica Lamb (16:13), 40. Hannah Sobaski (18:21), 47. Tracy Andermann (18:44), 49. Serena Ward (18:47), 50. Sage Richmond (18:53), 61. Danielle Garrison (19:55), 71. Kaitlyn Daugherty (20:44)