Weber, Zimmerman lead cross-country squads

CENTERVILLE ? Hannah Weber and Caleb Zimmerman were the top individual placers for Mt. Pleasant cross-country teams Tuesday at the Centerville Invitational.

Weber?s fourth-best time of 17:09 led the girls to a fourth place finish in the 11-team field. The Panthers had 128 points. The host school took the girls? team title with 90 points.

Zimmerman entered the chute at 18:27 for a 26th-best time in the boys? division. Mike Anderson?s Panthers finished in the middle of the pack ? eighth ? in the team standings. MPCHS tallied 206 points. Ft. Madison cruised to the title with 50 counters.

Girls? coach Jean Caboth said her team met its goal in the meet. ?Our goal was to improve from last year?s finish of eighth and try to get fifth, which we did by securing fourth place as a team. It was a tough meet because of the heat and the hill course. It was a new course layout so we can?t compare times to last year.?

Emma Ludwig was the second Panther runner finishing, earning 27th in a time of 18:26. Ludwig led a three-Panther convoy at the finish stripe. Natalie Ita and Cloe Haffarnan were 28th and 29th with respective times of 18:28 and 18:30. Remaining varsity runners included Maddie Lance, 40th, 19:10; Kaitlin Jones, 58th, 20:07; and Hannah Wickham, 63rd, 20:35.

Caboth said she is still seeking a tighter pack near Weber in the team?s meets. ?We are still needing to get our second through fourth pack closer to Hannah Weber and close the gap between fourth and fifth place.?

The Panther boys were running again without top runner Zach May, who is injured. Anderson said he was pleased with his top three runners. ?Caleb Zimmerman continues to lead us while Zach May is out. Kolby Raymond and Drew Perry stepped up for us as top three guys tonight also.?

Raymond, just a freshman, was 36th individually in 18:53 and Perry was two slots back with a time of 18:57.

Other varsity placers included Drake Martin, 52nd, 19:29; Nate Smith, 54th, 19:33; Tommy Thorne, 66th, 20:08; and Michael Schmitz, 71st, 20:18.

Caleb Johnson drew the coach?s praise for ?running a great race? as the senior seized the top spot individually in junior-varsity competition in a time of 19:15. Logan Murray of Mt. Pleasant was the individual winner in the middle-school race.

Other top finishers for the Panthers in the JV run were: Henry Pham, 15th, 20:15; Jack Bell, 29th, 21:14; Brach Prough, 32nd, 21:21; Brad Martin, 33rd, 21:26; and Dilan Zilliox, 34th, 21:27.

On the girls? side in jayvee competition, Grace Lutovsky was the top Panther, earning 27th in 21:15. She was followed by Amber Hainline, 34th, 21:50; Emily Johnson, 44th, 22:32; and Amber Strait, 23:25.

Jenna Ludwig?s 11:22 time, which ranked 13th overall, led the middle-school runners.

The Mt. Pleasant teams run at the North Linn Invitational in Twin Cedars Saturday. Caboth said her team is looking forward to the meet because the Panthers will compete against teams such as Solon that are in the regional meet.