Sexton takes crown at Columbus

Everything went as expected at Cedar Crest Golf Course on Monday afternoon.

Two of the top-ranked cross-country runners in the state of Iowa, Highland?s Keiffer Sexton and Columbus? Josh Keller, battled for the first two miles of the race, but after falling to Keller earlier in the season, Sexton found an extra gear late in the contest.

Sexton took the crown at Columbus? Mike Jay Invitational, and is looking to carry that momentum into Thursday?s conference meet, which will be held at the same location.

?It feels really nice,? Sexton said. ?Keller gave me a heck of a race today and he pushed my strategy skills to the limit. No one notices much in cross-country, but when you are racing somebody you are strategizing. My goal (at conference) is to get a faster time, and beat the kid who is getting second. I just want to go all out.?

Sexton ran a 16:18 to claim the meet title ahead of Keller, who took second with a 16:54.

The Columbus boys? team finished in a tie with Highland at the meet, and claimed the team title with the sixth-runner tiebreaker.

Adrian Santos finished second on the Columbus boys? team, taking 18th-place overall with a 19:05, while Armando Quiroz finished in 20th (19:18) for the Wildcats.

Marc Estrada finished in 26th (19:41), while Diego Sanchez took 28th (19:47) to round out the scoring. J.D. Lekwa took 29th (19:52) to finish sixth on the team, and provided the tiebreaking score, while Tucker Morrison (37th, 20:35) was the final varsity finisher.

??It was a great team effort,? Columbus head coach Steve Riley said. ?These boys have been working hard all year, and they deserved it. I just loved how we pushed each other the entire race.?

For Highland, junior Caleb Brase finished in sixth place with a 17:47, and was followed by junior Josh Brand who finished in 21st with a 19:19.

Jared Gringer ran a 19:27 for 23rd place in the meet, while Nic Rath had a 21:11 for a 43rd-place finish and James McPherson had a 46th-place finish with a 21:24 to round out the varsity runners.

On the girls? side of the meet, Columbus senior Ashley Canny took eighth at her home meet, running a 23:32, followed by Grace Chapman who took 11th with a 24:05.

Jenessa Carpenter (18th, 26:13), Andrea Rodriguez (19th, 26:17) and Melissa Maldonado (21st, 26:35) rounded out the varsity team, which finished third at the meet.

Highland?s Cheyann Adamson finished in 22nd at the meet with a 26:41, while Zoe Mahler finished in 23rd with a 26:45.

The next meet for both schools will be the conference meet held at Cedar Crest on Thursday.