Pekin boys, girls hit the ground running at Lake Keomah

OSKALOOSA ? The Pekin girls? cross-country team showed exactly why it is the top-ranked team in all of Class 1A while the boys? team showed why hopes are high for 2010 with its heap of returning runners.

The Panthers won the girls? division of the Lake Keomah Invite with an impressive score of 25, and the boys came up just two points short of doing the same with a final tally of 47. The Panthers were second behind Albia?s score of 45. Pekin hosted the event at Lake Keomah State Park in Oskaloosa.

Senior Kaitlin Spilman led the girls team that took the top three place and put all five runners in the top ten en route to the team title by 19 points over second-place Albia. Spilman was first in 16:45, Brenna Conger came in second in 17:15 and Celsey Conger was third in 17:42. Freshman Samantha Wright ran her first-ever high-school race in ninth-place (18:17) edging 2009 varsity mainstay Maleaha Earnest, who finished 10th (18:36).

?It?s a tough course, but everyone competed and it was a good first meet,? said Pekin head coach Davis Eidahl. ?I saw a lot of things to improve and work on, which makes the kids work even harder.?

The Panthers had a whopping 22 girls run in the race as they began their pursuit of the Class 1A state title.

As expected, Phillip Laux was the leader of the boys? squad with a runner-up finish in 17:44. Eddyville-Blakesburg?s Chris Welch edged Laux at the finish line to win the individual title by two seconds.

Familiar faces Colton Dunning (7th, 19:25), Derek Tonks (9th, 20:09) and Aaron King (12th, 20:30) filled out the Pekin lineup followed by sophomore Jon Martin (18th, 21:08) to complete the team score.

With the strong start under its belt, Pekin will have a quick turnaround and head to the Fairfield Invite Thursday evening.