Connell, Comet girls get first meet win of the XC season

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

MASON CITY — You can tell by the way the ears hang down from the corn stalks lining the cross country course at North Iowa Area Community College that harvest time is near.

Safe to say, it’s about on schedule when compared to past seasons.

But heading into fall, there are some things that are a little ahead of calendar. One is Charles City sophomore Kiki Connell.

With an unofficial 5K time of 20 minutes, 10 seconds, Connell finished well ahead of runner-up and Waverly-Shell Rock senior Anna Hoins to win the varsity girls race during Tuesday’s Mason City Invitational.

For Connell, it was her first overall victory of the season, though she has placed sixth at the Luther College All-American Invitational and fifth at the Rich Engel Cross Country Classic — both races are among the most competitive in the state.

On Tuesday, Connell not only outpaced the field, but herself from last year.

“I feel I’m well ahead of schedule,” Connell said after the race. “I dropped 30 seconds from last year’s race, and I’m not even hurting.”

Not only was it Connell’s first win of the season, it was the Comet girls’ first team victory. With senior Whitney Martin placing fourth, junior Mackenzy Bilharz placing sixth, freshman Lydia Staudt placing eighth and senior Mariah Mckenzie placing ninth, the Comets placed all five of their scoring runners in the Top 10 for a first-place total of 28 points.

The hosting Mohawks placed second in an invite that also included teams from Saint Ansgar and Waverly-Shell Rock.

In the boys varsity race, Charles City senior returning state qualifier Mason Deeter placed sixth with an unofficial time of 18:20.

Waverly-Shell Rock senior Sam Kepford was the boys overall champion as he helped the Go-Hawks take team honors over runner-up Mason City.