Comets make adjustments in meet that honors former Charles City XC runners

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — The leaves have yet to turn at Wildwood Golf Course.

But even this time of the year the setting can change dramatically within a week.

“That’s why we like to schedule these two meets back to back,” Charles City head boys cross country coach Ryan Rahmiller said of the “Early Bird Invitational” held at Wildwood last week ahead of the annual “Trent Smith Invitational” held Thursday.

“There are little nuances from one week to the next that force our runners to make adjustments,” Rahmiller said.

Just like for last week’s meet, the weather was “ideal” … that is if you found yourself in the shade. It wasn’t that much warmer than last week, but the air was considerably heavier as even several spectators were drenched in sweat.

Charles City sophomore Xander Graeser was going for his third Trent Smith Invite win. He had won the Boys Junior High 2-Mile race as an eighth-grader before winning the Boys 9th-10th-Grade 5K last year.

Midway through this year’s 9th-10th boys race he was battling sophomore teammate Nick Williams for the lead. The Comet pair had the distinction of qualifying for state as individuals as freshman at the end of last season.

“But then that Mason City runner came out of nowhere,” Rahmiller said of sophomore Brandt Haakenstad, who won the race with a time of 17 minutes, 12.49 seconds. “(Haakenstad) ran a heck of a race, but I like the way Nick (Williams) responded after he took the lead.”

Williams, who shattered a personal-record in the Early Bird Invite the week before, placed second with a time of 17:32.99 — in range of the PR he set last week. Graeser was third (17:43.30).

“Nick ran a smart race, and Xander responded well, too,” Rahmiller said.

The invitational consists of six races: two middle school 2-mile races (boys and girls), and four high school 5K races (9th-10th boys and girls, 11th-12th boys and girls).

No official team score was kept.

Medals were awarded to the Top 10 finishers in each race.

Charles City senior Harper McInroy medaled in the Girls 11th-12th 5K with a sixth-place time of 22:37.96 — more than 25 second better than the PR she set last week while being the top Comet girls finisher.

Comet junior Lauren Staudt finished outside the Top 10 with an 11th-place time of 23:33.43.

Charles City’s other Top 10 medalist was junior Isaac Thompson, who placed eighth with a time of 18:16.42 in the Boys 11th-12th 5K.

“And Isaac ran a very smart race,” Rahmiller said. “What I liked today was the way they were talking to each other after the races … discussing the things they did differently from last week and about adjustments they plan to make for their next race.”

Overall winners included Sophie Glaser of New Hampton in the Girls Junior High 2M (13:17.49), Erza Almelien of North Butler in the Boys Junior High 2M (13:51.84), Nashua-Plainfield sophomore Kadence Huck, who helped the Huskies win their first Girls Track and Field Class 1A State Championship as a freshman last spring, in the Girls 9th-10th 5K (20:47.66), South Winneshiek senior Billie Wagner in the Girls 11th-12th 5K (19:45.66), and Northwood-Kensett senior Treycen Rollene in the the Boys 11th-12th 5K (17:09.54).

Rollene, who bested runner-up and North Butler two-time state cross country qualifier Owen Almelien by more than 37 seconds, may have found his calling by accident … or by injury.

Rollene played varsity football for the Vikings until a shoulder injury coupled with a false-positive COVID test result delaying corrective surgery nixed his senior FB season. So instead, Rollene went out for cross country. And with his smooth and efficient running style you associated with topnotch marathon runners, Rollene seems to be a natural as he’s won both of the only two varsity XC races of his prep career this young season.

The invitational is in memory of Trent Smith, a three-time conference XC champion and state medalist for the Comets before dying in a traffic accident in 2016.

The invite also honors former Comet runner TJ Houdek, who also died in a traffic accident that year; and Logan Luft, a budding multisport athlete for Charles City Middle School who died short of his freshman year due to a recreational vehicle accident on July 4, 2017.

The high school races are held in memory of Houdek; the middle school races are held in memory of Luft.

2022 Trent Smith Cross Country Invitational

Sept. 1

AT WILDWOOD GOLF COURSE

Top 10 Medalists

Girls Junior High 2-Mile — 1. Sophie Glaser (New Hampton) 13:17.49, 2. Leah Dykstra (John Adams) 13:50.53, 3. Piper Phillips (John Adams) 13:51.84, 4. Paizlee Carter (John Adams) 14:07.37, 5. Peyton Bobolz (John Adams) 14:17.91, 6. Addison Voelker (North Butler) 14:27.78, 7. Miriam Downing (Waukon) 14:34.08, 8. Bella Stika (Turkey Valley) 14:52.93, 9. Hazel Nieman (Turkey Valley) 15:06.48, 10. Makenna Kurth (Waukon) 15:15.04.

Boys Junior High 2-Mile — 1. Erza Almelien (North Butler) 11:58.56, 2. Liam Huang (Decorah) 12:18.57, 3. Spencer Christensen (Decorah) 12:46.87, 4. Oak Pasche (Decorah) 12:48.75, 5. Ayeden Lein (John Adams) 12:49.06, 6. Kyan Oftendahl (Decorah) 12:50.40, 7. Connor Stumme (New Hampton) 12:52.23, 8. Hugo Busta (Turkey Valley) 12:52.92, 9. Sawyer Breitsprecher (Waukon) 12:54.83, 10. Hugh Conway (South Winneshiek) 12:57.07.

Girls 9th/10th Grade 5K — 1. Kadence Huck (Nashua-Plainfield) 20:47.66, 2. Janae Hansen (Mason City) 21:53.49, 3. Savannah Davis (Mason City) 22:09.23, 4. Elise Dykstra (Mason City) 22:39.74, 5. Karissa Wenthold (South Winneshiek) 22:51.79, 6. Lila Powers (Saint Ansgar) 23:50.59, 7. Claire Zweibohmer (Riceville) 24:34.72, 8. Maddi Jansen (South Winneshiek) 25:02.83, 9. Izzy Kuboushek (South Winneshiek) 25:31.64, 10. Tessa Phillips (South Winneshiek) 25:33.46.

Boys 9th/10th Grade 5K — 1. Brandt Haakenstad (Mason City) 17:12.45, 2. Nick Williams (Charles City) 17:32.99, 3. Xander Graeser (Charles City) 17:43.30, 4. Isaac Reisinger (Waukon) 18:17.59, 5. Caleb Helgerson (Waukon) 19:11.99, 6. Colton O’Neill (Waukon) 19:22.70, 7. Brady Wickering (Mason City) 19:27.75, 8. Jase Hansen (Nashua-Plainfield) 19:27.89, 9. Trager Pecha (North Butler) 19:30.05, 10. Ethan Gibbs (Waukon) 19:47.72.

Girls 11th/12th Grade 5K — 1. Billie Wagner (South Winneshiek) 19:45.66, 2. Audra Mulholland (Mason City) 20:30.67, 3. Olivia Schissel (Mason City) 21:42.58, 4. Mia Kurth (Waukon) 22:14.63, 5. Josie Tieskoetter (South Winneshiek) 22:43.61, 6. Harper McInroy (Charles City) 22:37.96, 7. Cameron Johnson (Waukon) 22:49.02, 8. Megan Hageman (South Winneshiek) 22:51.31, 9. Anna Dietzenback (South Winneshiek) 23:11.35, 10. Ella Willey (South Winneshiek) 23:19.44.

Boy 11th/12th Grade 5K — 1. Treycen Rollene (Northwood-Kensett) 17:09.54, 2. Owen Almelien (North Butler) 17:46.68, 3. Nathan O’Neill (Waukon) 17:50.72, 4. Ra’Shaun Wynter (Mason City) 18:04.63, 5. Wyatt Gulla (Waukon) 18:06.54, 6. Jess Cornick (Mason City) 18:13.78, 7. Skyler Dugan (Waukon) 18:16.02, 8. Isaac Thompson (Charles City) 18:16.42, 9. Connor Cahoon (Waukon) 18:20.10, 10. Josh Keenan (Waukon) 18:25.59.