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Rees repeats, Fedler flies
Washington senior, Mt. Pleasant freshman take home SEC cross-country titles
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT - Thursday evening’s Southeast Conference cross-country meet saw one champion close out his SEC career at the top, while another made her mark in her first year competing.
Washington senior Andrew Rees and Mt. Pleasant freshman Avery Fedler rolled to individual titles in the race, held at Mt. Pleasant Community High School. It was Rees’ second-straight title, and Fedler’s debut against the full conference field.
Rees, who’s older brother Micah won the individual title in both 2022 and 2023, made it four-straight championships for the family. He out-lasted rival Riley Tripp of Ft. Madison, finishing in 16 minutes, 39.7 seconds, while Tripp finished in 16:54.8.
“It feels really good,” said Rees. “It was a great race.”
Rees says though he won the race by 15 seconds, it was a struggle dealing with tired legs and breathing as he pushed to the finish line.
“It’s hard just running ahead,” said Rees, who was a heavy favorite after a competitive race last season. “Honestly, last year I think it felt better, just because I wasn’t used to it.”
Rees led the Demons to a second-place finish in the team standings, just 17 points behind the title-winning Bloodhounds.
Sawyer Tschantz and Ethan Hotchkiss were 10th and 11th for Washington. Parker Tschantz was 16th. Xavi Recendez finished 18th. Teag Miller was 20th, and Fletcher Brower finished 21st.
Mt. Pleasant’s Silas Hulett took ninth, leading the Panthers to a third-place finish. Payton Wilson was 23rd. Jeremiah Aguma took 27th. Max Heater was 37th. Clark Peterson took 42nd. Anthony Krzyzanowski was 43rd. Oliver Rynders took 49th. Lucas Heard was 59th, and Khanon Killer was 63rd.
The Fairfield boys took fifth place. The Top Trojan was Brice Boatright, who took 15th. Clae Cass was 22nd. Elijah Hamilton took 26th. Jordan and John Miller were 28th and 29th.Arron Wellnitz finished 36th. Andrew Myers was 39th. Aiden Holthus finished 40th. Sam Nelson was 47th. Sawyer McCready was 50th. Kohda Higdon finished 61st, and Quimby Scotton was 65th.
On the girls’ side, Panther freshman Avery Fedler continued her fantastic run at the top this fall by finishing in 18:42.3, which beat two-time SEC champoin Avery Rump by nearly 24 seconds. Defending champion Iris Dahl of Washington was out due to injury.
Much like in the regular season, Fedler and Rump ran side-by-side for much of the race, but the young Panther star took it to the next level in the final mile.
“I felt pretty good,” said Fedler. “I did a good job of what my dad and I have been talking about, and just attacking with every step, so I’m happy with it.”
The Panthers didn’t have enough runners to score in the team race, but Fedler and sophomore teammate Quintrie Lee showed out, putting two Mt. Pleasant runners in the Top-3, as Lee took third place, in 20:15.
“There are so many great athletes in our conference, and it’s so great to be able to race against all of them,” said Fedler. “Having Quintrie and getting to work alongside her, and getting to have conversations with her that I don’t get to have with everybody, is really special.”
Mt. Pleasant did have a third runner in the Top-20, as Nelle Peterson took 19th. Summer Winget finished 34th, but Mt. Pleasant needed one more healthy runner to get points in the team race.
Washington did score as a team, and the Demons scored well, putting up 50 points for second. Emma Horak and Kora Miller finished fourth and fifth, and Angeline Anderson took eighth, giving the Demons three runners in the Top-8.
Ellie Van Der Molen took 22nd overall. Zully Aranda Terrones finished 23rd. Allie Wulf was 25th. Isobel Murphy and Kenzie Thomas took 32nd and 33rd, and Denisse Gonzalez Urena took 38th.
Fairfield took fourth in the girls’ race. The top Trojan was Alex Jo Steward, who finished 12th.
Caroline Van Pelt took 16th. Anna McAvan was 15th. Naomi Stiemsma finished 20th. Bailey Belzer was 24th, and Kensley Fligg finished 30th.
BOYS’ TEAM STANDINGS
1. Ft. Madison 27
2. Washington 44
3. Mt. Pleasant 103
4. Burlington 112
5. Fairfield 116
6. Keokuk 125
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS: 1. Andrew Rees (12), Washington 16:39.7; 2. Riley Tripp (12), Ft. Madison; 3. Hunter Wiegand (11), Ft. Madison 17:02.4. Nolan Guzman (12), Ft. Madison 17:10.0; 5. Mason McLey (12), 17:11.5; 6. Jack Shepherd (9), Washington 17:25.0. 7. Sam Higbie (9), Keokuk; 17:25.6; 8. Aaron Morehead (12), Burlington 17:26.5; 9. Silas Hulett (11), Mt. Pleasant 17:42.8; 10. Sawyer Tschantz (12), Washington 17:48.6.
GIRLS’ TEAM STANDINGS
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS: 1. Avery Fedler (9), Mt. Pleasant 18:42.3; 2. Avery Rump (12), Ft. Madison 19:06.0; 3. Quintrie Lee (10), 20:15.0; 4. Emma Horak (11), Washington 21:27.6; 5. Kora Miller (9), Washington 21:38.3; 6. Mara Smith (12), Ft. Madison 21:47.5; 7. Jordyn Marshall (10), Ft. Madison 21:50.3; 8. Angeline Anderson (12), Washington; 9. Ellie Hellman (11), Ft. Madison 21:59.5; 10. Olivia Cochenour (9), Keokuk 22:24.0
