Hitting their Stride

Comet boys cross country team peaking in time for postseason

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — There are running clubs, running apparel, running watches …

But running cultures?

“That’s what we’ve got here … a nice culture with this team,” Charles City boys cross country coach Ryan Rahmiller said. “I’ve had more talented teams, but this team is moving along in the right direction … getting things ready.”

What may be inferred from “getting things ready” is that a talented middle school group which is coming off a seventh-grade state championship and will be soon vying for an eighth-grade title is due to arrive in 2017.

“I’ve always stressed that cross country is a team sport,” Rahmiller said. “You need the right group of guys to make sure the kids coming in feel comfortable with the team. And we’ve got that here.”

It may be easy to talk about the future, so let’s talk about the … past.

Several Comet runners are chasing the past in regards to personal-best times. Charles City junior Gavin Connell almost caught his former self at the Wolverine Invitational held Tuesday at Fox Ridge Golf Course in Dike. Connell ran a season-best 5K time of 16 minutes and 55 seconds while placing eighth overall.

That was one second shy of his personal-best from last year.

“It happened around this time last year, so hopefully it will happen again,” Connell said of when he attained his last PB. “Last night (at Dike) I felt good the whole race. My legs didn’t tire at the end.”

Like several of his teammates, Connell had been battling an illness during recent previous meets.

“It’s nice to be feeling well again,” said Connell, whose goal is to reach 16:50.

That was the number Charles City senior Adam Stewart achieved during his underclass years with the Comets. Last season, Stewart was hampered with low iron and carotene in his blood and was unable to repeat as an all-Northeast Iowa Conference runner like he was his sophomore year when he helped the Comets take fifth at state.

“I’m getting there, but I’m not all the way back yet,” said Stewart, who placed 28th at the Wolverine Invitational with a time of 17:54, a season-best.

“This being my last year, I want to be all-conference again and get back down to state,” Stewart said.

Out of 17 full teams at the Wolverine Invite, the Comets placed third. Junior Mason Deeter was the next Charles City runner in after Connell and was several seconds away from placing in the top 20 with a season-best time of 17:40.

“I’ve run faster,” said Deeter, a former Colorado resident who moved to Charles City midway through last school year, “but I feel I’m getting a good groove again.”

With sophomore Nick Litterer shaving 35 seconds off his former personal-best (18:05) and junior John Perez running a season-best time of 18:56, for the first time all season the Comets’ top five runners all were under 19 minutes.

“This is where you want to be at this time of the season,” Rahmiller said.

Next up is the conference Meet, Tuesday in Oelwein.

“It’s going to be one of those old-fashioned Northeast Iowa Conference meets,” Rahmiller said. “Decorah is going to be the favorite. They have a great team. Historically, some of the best teams in the state go through there.”