Comets finally hit the ground running after two canceled XC meets

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

WEST UNION — Outdoor conditions have gone from sweltering to sweater … that is sweater wearing.

At least that was the predominant fashion statement among the mobile spectators at Thursday’s Bob Scott Memorial Cross Country Invitational hosted by North Fayette Valley.

After blistering heat indexes played a part in canceling the Early Bird Invitational and the Trent Smith Memorial Invitational in consecutive weeks — both were to be held at Wildwood Golf Course as the two events Charles City traditionally hosts at the start of the season — the Comets finally got to run in a meet.

The breezy cool conditions were ideal for long-distance running which provided a welcome opportunity for the participants, many of whom had been preparing for this season amid what may be the hottest summer on record in the Northern Hemisphere.

In the final race of the day — the Varsity Boys 5K — Charles City placed three runners in the top six including two-time individual state-qualifiers Nick Williams (2nd, 17 minutes, 10 seconds) and Xander Graeser (4th, 17:25); and senior Isaac Thompson (6th, 17:40), who was a team state-qualifier with the Comets in 2021.

But even with senior Carter Haberkorn (16th, 18:54) and senior Lukas Vance (23rd, 19:20) rounding out the Comets’ scoring with sophomore Jackson Kowalski getting nipped Vance by .04 of a second for the fifth scoring spot, Charles City finished 7 points behind team champion Oelwein (44-51), which was paced by junior Conall Sauser’s winning time of 16:57.

Hudson won the Varsity Girls 5K with 67 team points, 20 ahead of runner-up Waverly-Shell Rock.

Charles City placed 13th with senior Lauren Staudt being the first one back with a 36th-place time of 23:04.

Sumner-Fredericksburg senior Hillary Trainor was the girls winner with a first-place time of 18:36 — nearly 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Clare Wright of Jesup.

In the Junior High Girls 2-Mile, John Adams placed six runners in the top seven resulting in a first-place team total of 19 with Leah Dykstra leading the way with a first-place time of 12:52.

Charles City, which placed ninth, was led by McKinely Stowe and Kinley Roths, who placed 55th and 56th, respectively.

John Adams also won the subsequent Junior High Boys race. Hayden Benton, who ran for an incomplete Jesup team, paced the pack with a first-place time of 12:21.

Charles City placed eighth with eighth-grader Justice Armstrong placing in the top five with a time of 12:48.

Bob Scott Memorial Invitational

Sept. 7

AT NORTH FAYETTE VALLEY

Junior High Girls Results (2 Mile)

TEAM SCORING — 1. John Adams 19, 2. North Fayette Valley 73, 3. Waukon 109, 4. Jesup 109, 5. Central Elkader 142, 6. MFL Marmac 152, 7. Sumner-Fredericksburg 158, 8. Hudson 241, 9. Charles City 242, 10. Oelwein 248.

TOP 10 — 1. Leah Dykstra (JA) 12:52, 2. Miriam Downing (W) 12:53, 3. Ivy Ketelsen (JA) 13:27, 4. Callan Fitzgerald (JA) 13:39, 5. Piper Phillips (JA) 13:54.45, 6. Brynn Peterson (JA) 14:39, 7. Kate Boedecker (JA) 14:41.63, 8. Anabel Murray (NFV) 14:41.98, 9. Kennedy Copp (J) 14:44, 10. Rain Robertson (SF) 14:46.

CHARLES CITY TOP PLACERS — 55. McKinely Stowe 18:21, 56. Kinley Roths 18:22, 62. Karina Ibarra 19:09, 68. Ellie Mason 20:19, 70. Jersey Dizon 20:19.

Junior High Boys Results (2 Mile)

TEAM SCORING — 1. John Adams 34, 2. North Fayette Valley 63, 3. Oelwein 83, 4. Clayton Ridge 115, 5. Charles City 119, 6. Sumner-Fredericksburg 136, 7. Osage 155.

TOP 10 — 1. Hayden Benton (Jesup) 12:21, 2. Asher Ebert (Riceville) 12:41, 3. Evan Claycamp (CR) 12:42, 4. Keigan Flaherty (JA) 12:43, 5. Justice Armstrong (CC) 12:48, 6. Axsyl Lein (JA) 13:08, 7. Brody Grove (NFV) 13:15, 8. Jordan Rothlisberger (JA) 13:22, 9. Brady Rish (JA) 13:26, 10. Russel Chmelar (CR) 13:29.

CHARLES CITY TOP PLACERS — 5. Armstrong, 26. Benny Tracey 14:44, 41. Tommy Boss 15:54, 47. Samuel Northrop 16:29, 48. Carter Mack 16:30.

Girls Varsity (5K)

TEAM SCORING — 1. Hudson 67, 2. Waverly-Shell Rock 87, 3. Sumner-Fredericksburg 98, 4. North Fayette Valley 152, 5. Jesup 158, 6. Dike-New Hartford 175, 7. Waukon 192, 8. Osage 193, 9. MFL MarMac 206, 10. Oelwein 233, 11. Saint Ansgar 280, 12. Central Elkader 319, 13. Charles City 340, 14. Clayton Ridge Guttenberg 399.

TOP 10 — 1. Hillary Trainor (SF) 18:36, 2. Clare Wright (J) 19:14, 3. Mackenzie Wilson (J) 19:33, 4. Scarlett Byrnes (O) 19:49, 5. Sydney Bochmann (WSR) 20:32, 6. Izzy Houts (DNH) 20:43, 7. Mollie Hansen (H) 20:46, 8. Ashlynn Sauser (O) 20:54, 9. Desi Lang (H) 21:14, 10. Jaydin Dettman (CE) 21:18.

CHARLES CITY TOP PLACERS — 36. Lauren Staudt 23:04, 54. Maggie Boss 24:02, 108. Mackenzie Zweibohmer 27:14, 113. Paige Pickar 27:22, 128. Mayzie Bruening 27:59.

Boys Varsity (5K)

TEAM SCORING — 1. Oelwein 44, 2. Charles City 51, 3. Jesup 63, 4. Sumner-Fredericksburg 133, 5. Hudson 141, 6. Waverly-Shell Rock 174, 7. Dike-New Hartford 178, 8. Osage 222, 9. North Fayette Valley 233, 10. MFL MarMac 253, 11. Central Elkader 255, 12. Clayton Ridge Guttenberg 305.

TOP 10 — 1. Conall Sauser (O) 16:57, 2. Nick Williams (CC) 17:10, 3. Austin Soldwisch (WSR) 17:21, 4. Xander Graeser (CC) 17:25, 5. Caleb Schunk (O) 17:38, 6. Isaac Thompson (CC) 17:40, 7. Jacob Schellhorn (MFL) 17:41, 8. Nathan Pint (J) 17:43, 9. Karsten Nuehring (J) 17:44, 10. Benjamin Driscoll (O) 17:46.

CHARLES CITY TOP PLACERS — 2. Williams, 4. Graeser, 6. Thompson, 16. Carter Haberkorn 18:54, 23. Lukas Vance 19:20.