Pekin girls fifth at Iowa City West

IOWA CITY ? The Pekin girls? cross country team held its own against some of the best runners in the state Tuesday at the Iowa City West Invite in Iowa City.

Running in a field of mainly Class 3A and 4A schools, the Panther girls totaled 183 points to finish fifth overall. Cedar Rapids Kennedy won the title with a final tally of 36, while Iowa City West was second (57) and Bettendorf finished third (76).

?It was a good experience for us to run with the 4A schools,? Pekin coach Davis Eidahl said. ?It?s a whole new world. We did well but can keep improving.?

Freshman Gwynne Wright was once again Pekin?s top runner, finishing the 4-kilometer course seventh in a time of 14:55. Senior Maleaha Earnest turned in a solid time of 15:52 for 22nd place, while freshmen Taylor Lock (45th, 16:36) and Sloan Reighard (47th, 16:43) also jammed into the top 50.

Payton Lock, a freshman, scored fifth for Pekin at 66th (17:23). Junior Samantha Wright (72nd, 17:55) as well as freshman Nikole Arendt (85th, 19:00) ran as alternates.

In the boys? race, freshman Austin Fariss finished 60th (18:16) to lead the Pekin boys to 284 points and a 13th-place team finish.

The host Trojans earned the team title with 42 points, Cedar Rapids Washington finished runner-up with 70 and Davenport Central was third at 119.

Pekin senior Chase Earnest was 75th in 18:53. Sophomore Avery Bennett (20:10) and junior Clayton Essary (20:12) finished back-to-back at 87th and 88th, respectively, and junior Christian Little completed the team score in 90th (20:53).

?We ran well but need to learn how to mentally run in a race,? Eidahl said of the boys? squad. ?We need to focus better.?

The Panthers will be back in Iowa City for the Bud Williams Invitational on Thursday.