MP girls cruise to conference crown

KEOKUK - It was pure dominance for the Mt. Pleasant girls' cross-country team on Thursday evening in Keokuk. The Panthers crushed the Southeast Conference championship meet, winning it by 45 points.

The Panthers scored 22 to take the top spot. Abby Ryon won her first ever SEC title individually, and all seven runners finished in the top 10.

Ryon finished the race in 19:25, beating Fairfield's Ashley Bloomquist by 18 seconds. Maggie Jennings had a great race as well, crossing in 21:18 for third place.

Kately Dennis of Ft. Madison was fourth, in 21:36, and the next five runners to cross were wearing Mt. Pleasant colors.

Cristina Carthey cracked the top five with a fifth-place 21:51. Claire Holtkamp was sixth, at 22:05. Monroe Swain finished seventh, in 22:12. Abby Blint was eighth, in 22:18, and Kendall Dascher finished ninth, at 22:20.

The Panther boys took the top two spots. Cody Mertens won his second-straight SEC title, crossing the line in 16:25 to win the meet by over a minute, and Dalton Moyle crossed in second, at 17:26.

Unfortunately for the Mt. Pleasant boys, Fairfield placed five runners in the top 13 to win the boys' meet with 41 points. The Panthers ended up second, with 51 points.

The third Mt. Pleasant runner across was Logan White, who finished 12th, in 18:31. Thad Brooks was 16th, at 18:55. Drake Snavely (19:12), Dakota Triska (19:17.11) and Nick McCormick (19:17.51) placed 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively.

The Panther girls took the top two spots in the girls' JV race. Aurora Vansickle had the top time in 24:05, and Jessi Andrew was second, in 24:25. Kelsey Notestein placed fifth, in 25:21, and Jenna Gilmore was sixth, in 25:23.

In the JV boys' race, Luke Ryon took second, in 19:54. Levi Mills was 11th, in 20:50. Heath Brooks took 12th, in 21:00.04. Nathan McWilliams was 13th, in 21:00.94. Garett Gray placed 14th, in 21:06. Reece Kempker was 17th, in 21:10, and Connor Axman finished 17th, in 21:25.74.

The top middle school runner for Mt. Pleasant was Kyler Stott, who took fifth in the boys' race in 8:51.18. Other middle school boys who ran were Ben Carthey (11th, 9:00); Owen Vansickel (21st, 9:29); Tyler Johnson (30th, 10:05); Will Roberson (32nd, 10:11); Nate Stroud (33rd, 10:16); Jakin Bunnell (38th, 10:40); Ben Maedor (39th, 10:41); and Drake Landau (10:44).

The top Panther in the middle school girls' race was Belle Meador, who finished 11th, in 10:27. Elsie Lange was 13th, in 10:32. Courtney Raub was 19th, in 10:55.

Other middle school girls who ran were Natalie McCormick (28th, 11:24); Addison Bentler (29th, 11:26); Josie Gilmore (11:31); Leslie Lopez (38th, 11:52); Peyton Hainline (39th, 11:53); and Brooklyn Snavely (49th, 13:07).

Full results for the varsity races can be found below.

BOYS TEAM STANDINGS

1. Fairfield, 41; 2. Mt. Pleasant, 51; 3. Ft. Madison, 57; 4. Washington, 74; 5. Keokuk, 155.

Mt. Pleasant - 1. Cody Mertens, 16:25; 2. Dalton Moyle, 17:26; 12. Logan White, 18:31; 16. Thad Brooks, 18:55; 20. Drake Snavely, 19:12; 21. Dakota Triska, 19:17.11; 22. Nick McCormick, 19:17.51.

Ft. Madison - 5. Dayne Cordray, 17:44; 10. Miguel Trejo, 18:26; 11. Hayden Wolfe, 18:28; 14. Anthony Barnes, 18:53; 17. Will Gager, 19:03; 25. Austin Miller, 19:32; 26. Owen Kruse, 19:39.

Washington- 3. Evan Horak 17:32, 6. Lance Sobaski 17:54, 18. Matt Collett 19:08, 23. Ben Loy 19:26, 24. Quinn Wubbena 19:29, 27. Gabe Zimmer 20:23, 28. Ben Schiefer 20:54

Keokuk - 29. Kaiden Stoneking, 21:17; 30. Zach Meyers, 22:12; 31. Layden Denning, 23:41; 32. Sullivan Campbell, 24:51; 33. Nacho Rodriguez, 25:16.

GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS

1. Mount Pleasant, 22; 2. Washington, 67; 3. Fairfield, 73; 4. Keokuk, 131. No team score - Ft. Madison.

Mt. Pleasant - 1. Abby Ryon, 19:25; 3. Maggie Jennings, 21:18; 5. Cristina Carthey, 21:51; 6. Claire Holtkamp, 22:05; 7. Monroe Swain, 22:12; 8. Abby Blint, 22:18; 9. Kendall Dasher, 22:20.

Washington - 10. Kelsey Pacha 22:21, 12. Claire Horak 22:43, 13. Molly Sparks 23:06, 14. Ashley Telleen 23:07, 18. Bailey Bryant 23:24, 19. Hannah Rees 23:37, 20. Abby Voss 23:44

Keokuk - 22. Hailey Finch, 25:20; 24. Destiny Bennett, 25:45; 27. Carryna Rivers, 28:17; 28. Emily Buckner, 28:51; 30. Bella Cruz, 30:12; 31. Brooklyn Finch, 34:42; 32. Emily Hauk, 46:14.

F.t Madison - 4. Katelyn Dennis, 21:36; 15. Ashlann Haas, 23:07; 17. Maddy McVey, 23:18; 25. Claire Hellman, 25:52.