Charles City girls place 12th at XC State Championships

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

FORT DODGE — You can run, but you can’t hide.

Especially when you’re running at the Cross Country State Championships.

“Most meets I’ve run at, there are spots along the course where you’re running all by yourself,” said Charles City freshman Lydia Staudt after she just finished competing in her first high school state meet, Saturday at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course within Kennedy Park.

“But out here, it’s a lot different. People are all over cheering you on,” Staudt said. “It really makes it exciting.”

Staudt finished in the Top 50 in the Class 3A girls race with a 49th-place 5K time of 20 minutes, 37 seconds — which was within range of her personal-best.

Last year, Comets Kiki Connell and Whitney Martin set still-standing PBs at the state meet with Connell — then a freshman — placing sixth and Martin earning a state medal with a 14th-place showing.

This year, Charles City didn’t have a medalist as Connell placed 26th (20:04) and Martin placed 71st (21:06).

As a team, the Comets — which placed third in 2016 and fifth last year — placed 12th with 241 team points, one spot ahead of Northeast Iowa Conference champion Decorah, and one spot below Solon, which also had 241 team points, but won the runner-after-five tiebreaker.

“We didn’t run our best race of the year,” said Charles City coach Amanda Rahmiller, who mentioned that Connell battled stomach issues throughout the race, “but we accomplished a lot of our goals this season.”

Rahmiller is confident that Charles City will continue its run of getting teams qualified to state. In four of the six years she has coached the program, the Comets have sent girls teams down four times — the third-place showing in 2016 was the team’s best.

“We have most of our state lineup coming back,” Rahmiller said of Connell, Staudt, Mackenzy Bilharz, Mindi Neve and Brianna Ross. “Plus we have all our alternates back.

“We should be solid next year.”

Martin and Mariah McKenzie, who were part of the past three state lineups, both ran their last cross country race for the Comets.

“And they contributed to the program immediately when they were freshmen,” Rahmiller said. “They’re going to be missed.”

Staudt believes she can improve on her first state performance in the likelihood of returning in the future.

“I’m going to train much harder in the summer,” she said. “I didn’t train as hard as I should have, but now I know what needs to be done.”

Glenwood freshman Janette Schraft spoiled Center Point-Urbana junior Adrianna Katcher’s quest to win the Class 3A girls race for the third year in a row. With a time of 18:22, Schraft bested runner-up Katcher by 8 seconds.

Dubuque Wahlert was the Class 3A girls team champion.

In the Class 3A boys race, Charles City had one representative — senior Mason Deeter, who placed 68th with a time of 17:40. Deeter also was an individual qualifier last year.

Cody Mertens of Mount Pleasant was the Class 3A boys champion with a time of 16:03.

Gilbert was the Class 3A team champion.

In the Class 1A girls race, Nashua-Plainfield sophomore Chloe Matthews placed in the Top 50 with a 49th-place time of 21:33.

North Butler junior Mady Klingenborg, a state track and field qualifier who went out for cross country for the first time this year, placed 68th with a time of 22:14.

Emma Lucas of Bedford was the dominant Class 1A girls champion as her time of 18:41 was 36 seconds faster than runner-up Peyton Pogge of Tri-Center.

As a team, Logan-Magnolia was just as dominate as its winning team total (66) was well ahead of runner-up Regina (128).

North Butler had two representatives in the Class 1A boys race — juniors Eric Brehmer and Colby Wilkerson, who ran the race together and finished together while placing 98th and 99th, respectfully.

Madrid won the Class 1A boys race with 63 team points.

In the Class 4A boys race, Dowling Catholic edged Dubuque Hempstead by 1 point (72-73) for the title.

Ankeny senior Tim Sindt, who was hampered with a heart disorder during the offseason, defended his Class 4A boys title with a first-place time of 15:36.

The Class 4A girls race was also a close one in top team standings as Southeast Polk edged Johnston 79-80.

Micah Poellet of Linn-Mar was the Class 4A girls champion with a time of 18:03.

Tipton won the Class 2A boys title; Reece Smith of Garner-Hayfield-Ventura was the Class 2A boys champ with a time of 16 minutes even.

Mid-Prairie junior Marie Hostetler won her second Class 2A individual title while leading her team to the team title.

State Cross Country Championships

Oct. 27

AT KENNEDY PARK, FORT DODGE

Class 3A Girls 5K Race

Team Results

1. Wahlert, Dubuque 56, 2. Dallas Center-Grimes 85, 3. Glenwood 171, 4. Ballard 173, 5. Bishop Heelan Catholic 180, 6. Pella 190, 7. Atlantic 210, 8. Harlan 216, 9. Grinnell 222, 10. North Polk 229, 11. Solon 241, 12. Charles City 241, 13. Decorah 245, 14. Norwalk 275, 15. Spencer 304.

Top 15 Medalists

1. Janet Schraft (G) 18:22, 2. Adrianna Katcher (Center Point-Urbana) 18:30, 3. Gabby Moran (W) 18:51, 4. Ainsley Erzen (Carlisle) 18:57, 5. Ellie Twedt (B) 19:00, 6. Taylor McCreedy (A) 19:00, 7. Aubrie Fisher (Iowa Falls-Alden) 19:10, 8. Megan Sterbenz (DCG) 19:16, 9. Bryce Gidel (Humboldt) 19:21, 10. Mary Blanchard (Gr) 19:25, 11. Amber Aesoph (BHC) 19:27, 12. Aunna Huseman (W) 19:34, 13. Megan Sievers (Carlisle) 19:36, 14. Emma Hoins (Waverly-Shell Rock) 19:38, 15. Alix Oliver (W) 19:40.

CHARLES CITY — 15. Kiki Connell 20:04, 29. Lydia Staudt 20:37, 44. Whitney Martin 21:06, 58. Mackenzy Bilharz 21:18, 95. Mindi Neve 22:20, 99. Mariah McKenzie 22:39, 101. Brianna Ross 22:53.

Class 3A Boys 5K Race

Team Results

1. Gilbert 64, 2. Clear Creek-Amana 80, 3. Marion 102, 4. Carlisle 128, 5. Pella 182, 6. Wahlert, Dubuque 188, 7. Dallas Center-Grimes 200, 8. Decorah 207, 9. Humboldt 241, 10. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 246, 11. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 255, 12. Grinnell 278, 13. Moc-Floyd Valley 283, 14. Glenwood 290, 15. Atlantic 350.

Top 15 Medalists

1. Cody Mertens (Mount Pleasant) 16:03, 2. Quinton Orr (H) 16:10, 3. Nate Mueller (Adm, Adel) 16:12, 4. Luke Post (Center Point-Urbana) 16:15, 5. Rees Tyler (G) 16:17, 6. Nathan Patel (G) 16:18, 7. Jack Sexton (CC-A) 16:21, 8. Harrison Vanderlinden (M) 16:22, 9. Josiah Wittenberg (P) 16:24, 10. Trey Engen (Algona) 16:31, 11. Cole Hemann (M) 16:32, 12. Brady Hogan (D) 16:38, 13. Gus Hayes (D) 16:42, 14. Sam Kepford (Waverly-Shell Rock) 16:43, 15. Bradley Ramsey (DCG) 16:44.

CHARLES CITY — 65. Mason Deeter 17:40.

Class 1A Girls 5K Race

Team Results

1. Logan-Magnolia 66, 2. Regina, Iowa City 128, 3. Hudson 142, 4. Kee 145, 5. Denver 153, 6. Starmont 175, 7. Pekin 178, 8. Earlham 213, 9. Marquette Catholic 241, 10. North Linn 247, 11. East Marshall 258, 12. Tri-Center 259, 13. Ridge View 268, 14. St. Edmond 273, 15. Acgc 291.

Top 15 Medalists

1. Emma Lucas (Bedford) 18:41, 2. Peyton Pogge (TC) 19:24, 3. Taylor Sporrer (LM) 19:34, 4. Courtney Sporrer (LM) 19:36, 5. Annalee Bartels (R) 19:49, 6. Jalyssa Blazek (Turkey Valley) 19:59, 7. Katie Brennan (K) 20:02, 8. Haley Meyer (K) 20:08, 9. Kate Crawford (Acgc) 20:11, 10. Grace Beck (D) 20:12, 11. Cheyenne Shaw (North Mahaska) 20:14, 12. Alexis Post (Riverside) 20:15, 13. Reagan Weinheimer (Nodaway Valley) 20:21, 14. Jenna Twait (H) 20:21, 15. Jasmine Mueller (Central) 20:22.

NASHUA-PLAINFIELD — 49. Chloe Matthews 21:33.

NORTH BUTLER — 58. Mady Klingenborg 21:54.

Class 1A Boys 5K Race

Team Results

1. Madrid 63, 2. Calamus-Wheatland 111, 3. South Hamilton 121, 4. Sibley-Ocheyedan 124, 5. Newman Catholic 165, 6. Earlham 172, 7. Maquoketa Valley 176, 8. Nodaway Valley 192, 9. St. Albert 227, 10. South Winneshiek 234, 11. Bclus 240, 12. Pekin 258, 13. Woodward Academy 277, 14. Denver 305, 15. Trinity Christian 315.

Top 15 Medalist

1. Sean McDermott (M) 16:16, 2. Joshua Baudler (NV) 16:19, 3. Will Roder (Gehlen Catholic) 16:19, 4. Noah Nelsen (Acgc) 16:37, 5. Louden Foster (West Central Valley) 16:42, 6. Caleb Silver (Bcluw) 16:45, 7. Grant Brouwer (SO) 16:45, 8. Jason Renze (M) 16:46, 9. Quinton Grove (SH) 16:47, 10. Carson Rygh (Lake Mills) 16:48, 11. Noah Jorgenson (Sidney) 16:49, 12. Buddy Darting (W) 16:49, 13. Brady Millikin (P) 16:50, 14. Eric Brannon (Siouxland Christian) 16:51, 15. Justin Ambrose (Boyer Valley) 16:53.

NORTH BUTLER — 98. Eric Brehmer 18:33, 99. Colby Wilkerson 18:34.