Pekin girls 9th, D-NL’s Bonnesen 5th at state cross-country

FORT DODGE — While Danielle Hostetler and the Mid-Prairie girls once again stole the show in Friday’s state cross-country action, the Union coverage area saw plenty of successes across the board.

The Class 1A girls race was the first one to go on Friday morning, and that meant it was go time for Pekin, which was the area’s only Class 1A team qualifier. The Panthers had a nice outing, scoring 245 points for ninth place.

Pekin didn’t have anybody crack the Top-30, but depth helped the Panthers lock up a Top-10 team spot. Freshman Chloe Glosser led the way for Pekin, finishing in 20 minutes, 28.86 seconds for 31st place.

Lauren Steigleder was 48th place. Audrey Fariss took 94th. Brooke Miller was 96th. Lexi Swearingen placed 130th to round out the scoring five, and Brooke Sylvester and Renae Eubanks crossed in 134th and 142nd.

The top area finisher in the race wasn’t a Pekin runner, however. Danville-New London’s Alaina Gourley, another freshman, knotched a Top-25 finish with a 24th-place 20:14.87.

“I actually felt really good,” Gourley said after the race. “I just kind of got settled into a pace.”

Gourley’s teammate, Kamryn Sherwood, had a nice outing as well. She took 85th, in 21:47.12.

“I felt OK,” Sherwood said. “My stomach was a little uneasy, and it was a really fast start, which was a little intimidating, but overall, it was a really good feeling to be here.”

The Class 1A race nearly had an are Top-15, as Brady McWhirter took 16th place. He crossed the line in 16:50.40.

Winfield-Mount Union’s Kohlby Newsom and Columbus’ Damian Vergara were neck-and-neck as usual, and both finished inside the Top-50. Newsom took 43rd, in 17:36.16, and Vergara was 49th, in 17:39.20.

“We go back and forth all year,” Newsom said. “We really push each other, so it's good to have him out there as my competition.”

After Hostetler’s triumph in the Class 2A girls’ race, the Danville-New London and Mid-Prairie boys got to show their stuff in the 2A boys’ competition. Both finished just outside the Top-10.

Danville-New London finished 11th as a team, scoring 245. Mid-Prairie was 13th, with 279.

The top D-NL runner was A.J. Bonnesen, who impressed with a fifth-place finish, crossing the tape in 16:29.37.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they had just three runners finish in the Top-100. Rylan Martin was the second D-NL runner across, finishing 40th. Jackson Shacklett was 75th.

Cauy Garrett and Talen Whaley finished 102nd and 104th respectively for D-NL. Shinn Isaac was 109th, and Carter Fesler took 113th.

Mid-Prairie’s Emmett Swartzentruber knotched a Top-20 finish, placing 20th in 17:05.64. Preston Yutzy was 41st, in 17:27.51, and Blake Creed took 84th, crossing in 18:18.60.

Jesse Stultz finished 110th for the Golden Hawks. Daniel Rodgers took 114th. Nathan Wallington finished 115th, and Jordan Stock finished 123rd.

Van Buren County freshman Lincoln Bainbridge represented well in his first ever state meet. He finished 60th, in 17:49.86.