Staudt sisters, Vais and Williams earn All-NEIC XC honors for Comets

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

DECORAH — Amid the rolling hills and limestone cliffs that adorn Appalachian-like Decorah, Oneota Golf and Country Club is a flat-stamped giant footprint.

And by way of much smaller footprints weighted by their state rank at Tuesday’s Northeast Iowa Conference Cross Country Meet, the plot — which was the site of the event — may have gotten even flatter.

In the 5K Boys Varsity race, five of the six teams competing were ranked in their respective classes by the most recent post from the Iowa Track and Field Coaches Association.

They include in Class 3A Waverly-Shell Rock (9th), Decorah (11th) and Charles City (20th); and in Class 2A Waukon (9th) and New Hampton (11th) — incidentally, NEIC-estranged Oelwein, which didn’t participate in the meet, is ranked 14th among Class 2A boys.

As expected, the Boys Varsity race was a close battle for the top spot between the Go-Hawks and the hosting Vikings.

With WSR senior Nick Kepford earning his fourth-straight All-NEIC finish with a first-place time of 17 minutes, 8.3 seconds followed by teammates Caleb Hoins (5th, 17:38.1) and Andrew Cummer (6th, 17:39.2), the Go-Hawks were able to edge the Vikings — led by senior runner-up Arlo Hayes (17:09.5) — by 8 team points (51 to 59).

Waukon, paced by the respective 7th- and 8th-place finishes of sophomore Wyatt Gulla (17:43.1) and Nathan O’Neill (17:46.3), placed third with 70 team points.

Charles City and New Hampton tied with 90 team points, but the Comets were awarded the fourth spot due to the Chickasaws not finishing a seventh runner.

Comet senior Jacob Vais earned his second All-NEIC medal of his career with a fourth-place time of 17:29.5. Vais’s previous All-NEIC performance was his sophomore year when he placed 11th at Wildwood Golf Course in Charles City.

It was a long way back for Vais, who has had to battle through injuries that have hampered his career — at last year’s NEIC meet, Vais was relegated to the junior varsity race where he finished outside of the Top 20.

Charles City’s other All-NEIC performer in the Boys Varsity race was Nick Williams (13th, 18:00.3), the only freshman to finish in the Top 15 to earn all-conference honors.

The next freshman in was Comet Xander Graeser, whose time of 18:14.8 placed him in the Top 20 (19th). Graeser boldly challenged Kepford and Company for the lead during the first mile before falling back.

Rounding out the seven placements for Charles City were sophomore Isaac Thompson (26th, 18:31.3), senior Malcolm Lopez (28th, 18:36.6), senior Clayton Rand (31st, 18:55.7) and senior Jared Johnson (33rd, 19:19.7).

In the Girls Varsity race, Comet senior Lydia Staudt earned her fourth All-NEIC medal in as many races with an eighth-place time of 21:07.20.

Lydia’s younger sister Lauren Staudt earned her first All-NEIC medals as the Comet sophomore ran for a 14th-place time of 21:44.8.

Waverly-Shell Rock sophomore Sydney Bochmann won the Girls Varsity race with a time of 20:21.80, more than 10 seconds ahead of Crestwood sophomore runner-up Kinze Shea, while helping the Go-Hawks win the team title with 54 points ahead of the Cadets (60), Decorah (67), New Hampton (100), Charles City (106 with lineup including junior Harper McInroy 23rd, 22:19 PR; junior Olivia Litterer 30th, 23:32.3; junior Natalie White 31st, 23:47.3; junior Claire Eckenrod 33rd, 24:03.7; and Cloey Usher 37th, 24:25.5) and Waukon (110).

Several of the participating schools, including Charles City, Decorah and Waverly-Shell Rock, will return to Oneota on Oct. 20 for the Class 3A State Qualifier.

Lydia Staudt will be vying for her third state meet berth.

Vais and Charles City’s upstart underclass will be looking to end a two-year state meet qualifier drought for the Comet boys program next Wednesday.

In the previous Boys Junior Varsity race, three Comets earned All-NEIC JV honors — sophomore Lukas Vance (9th, 18:49.25) and seniors Jermaine Dizon (12th, 19:28.82) and Griffin Franksain (14th, 19:36.23).

2021 Northeast Iowa Conference
Cross Country Meet

Oct. 12

AT ONEOTA GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB

Girls Varsity 5K

Team Results — 1. Waverly-Shell Rock (54), 2. Crestwood (60), 3. Decorah (67), 4. New Hampton (100), 5. Charles City (106), 6. Waukon (110).

Top 15 All-NEIC — 1. Sydney Bochmann (WSR) 20:21.8, 2. Kinze Shea (CW) 20:31.6, 3. Natalie Nosbisch (NH) 20:42.3, 4. Kendel Slavin (CW) 20:47.1, 5. Brenna Bodensteiner (WSR) 20:50.4, 6. Rebecca Anderson (D) 20:58.60, 7. Dani Losen (D) 21:01.5, 8. Lydia Staudt (CC) 21:07.2, 9. Emily Jackson (NH) 21:08.9, 10. Ramey Dahlquist (WSR) 21:11.2, 11. Annalise Skrade (D) 21:25.2, 12. Laney Peter (CW) 21:35.4, 13. Paige Hansmeier (W) 21:44.0, 14. Lauren Staudt (CC) 21:44.8, 15. Campbelle Kolbet (NH) 21:45.2.

Boys Varsity 5K

Team Results — 1. Waverly-Shell Rock (51), 2. Decorah (59), 3. Waukon (70), 4. Charles City (90), 5. New Hampton (90), 6. Crestwood (161).

Top 15 All-NEIC — 1. Nick Kepford (WSR) 17:08.3, 2. Arlo Hayes (D) 17:09.5, 3. Dylan Usher (NH) 17:14.10, 4. Jacob Vais (CC) 17:29.5, 5. Caleb Hoins (WSR) 17:38.1, 6. Andrew Cummer (WSR) 17:39.2, 7. Wyatt Gulla (W) 17:43.1, 8. Nathan O’Neill (W) 17:46.3, 9. PJ Anderson (NH) 17:46.7, 10. Logan Delaney (W) 17:51.1, 11. Ethan Govern (CW) 17:55.7, 12. Bennett Schutte (D) 17:58.30, 13. Nick Williams (CC) 18:00.3, 14. Larson Shockey (D) 18:01.3, 15. Cade Olson (D) 18:01.8.