Columbus Cross-Country Roundup

KEOTA - The Columbus boys cross-country team made it two meet victories in a row with a win at the Keota Cross-Country Invitational Tuesday.

Columbus edged North Mahaska 45-50 on the strength of six runners in the top 15. Junior Isaac Acosta was the top Wildcat, placing third in a time of 18 minutes, 59 seconds. Four teammates (Damian Vergara, Mason Hills-Carrier, Alex Rivas, Freddy Vergara) were within 54 seconds of his time. 'That's great pack running,” Columbus head coach Steve Riley said. 'Our depth is what won it.”

WACO's Jonah Egli was fourth in 19:09. Highland's Jacob Roling took 18th in 21:10. Keota's Ryan Larson ran 23:46 to place 34th.

Highland's Taylor Sublette took third in the girls race with a time of 23:45. WACO's Mckenzie Vraedenburg was 12th in 26:40. The top Columbus finisher was Kimberly Gonzalez, 16th in 27:09.

'The meet went very well even though the weather was a little bit rough,” Keota head coach Kevin Weeks said. 'I would like to thank all volunteers and anyone else involved. Our runners had a great chance to see what we could do as far as conditioning and time. We have a great foundation to build our season. It will be interesting to see how our times translate to a different course.”

TEAM SCORES

Boys: 1. Columbus 45. 2. North Mahaska 50, 3. Lone Tree 105, 4. Highland 131. No team score - English Valleys, BGM, HLV, Iowa Valley, Sigourney, WACO, Keota.

Girls: 1. BGM 29, 2. Iowa Valley 89, 3. English Valleys 90. No team score - Columbus, North Mahaska, Lone Tree, Highland, HLV, Iowa Valley, Sigourney, WACO, Keota.