April 20, 2024

McDermott first, Panther girls fifth at DC-G

By SCOTT VICKER
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Creston senior Cooper McDermott leads a pack of runners that includes junior teammate Ben Irr (right) early during Tuesday's Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational. McDermott won the boys race, while Irr finished 18th overall. (CNA photo)

DALLAS CENTER — Creston’s Cooper McDermott kicked off his senior season in a big way here Tuesday, as he cruised to a victory in the Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational.

Meanwhile, the Panther girls cross country team finished fifth in a loaded field with 147 points.

Teams did not have to designate whether runners were varsity or JV for the meet, as all runners ran together. The top five runners from each team comprised the team score, and medals were awarded after runners were sorted out into their respective grade levels.

Creston brought home two medals, as McDermott and junior Ben Irr each medaled.

McDermott settled into a pack of runners early, running with Class 4A 13th-ranked Michael Westphal of Urbandale, freshman Tyler Borneman of DC-G, Drake Henrichs of Urbandale and Carroll Kuemper’s Chandler Hagen.

Once the pack moved into the second half of the race, McDermott put a small gap on the others.

McDermott was never challenged in the final mile of the race, finishing in 17:26 with a 5-second cushion over Westphal.

“Those guys tried to stay in contact with him, but Cooper is experienced,” Creston head coach Pat Schlapia said. “He knows what he wants to do. He ran a nice, steady race. You could tell he’s had a good summer (mileage) base, because that third mile was just as steady as the first and second miles.”

It was a loaded field in the boys race, as well. Urbandale is ranked eighth in Class 4A, with Dallas Center-Grimes ranking third in 3A and Des Moines Christian 10th in 2A.

Irr placed 18th overall in 18:54, which was good enough for fifth place among the junior class.

“This is the Ben Irr we know,” Schlapia said. “You could see him running more confidently.”

Isaac Wignall finished 55th, followed by Trey Gift in 110th and Matthew Rouh in 133rd to round out Creston’s team scoring.

Five of the 10 Creston boys runners who competed Tuesday ran in their first high school cross country meet.

Girls fifth

The Creston girls team showed promise in its first time out running the new 5K race distance.

“This was going to be interesting,” Schlapia said. “This was the first 5K race for the girls ever. They all got a PR.”

Included in the field were Class 4A top-ranked Urbandale, Class 3A fourth-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes and 3A 15th-ranked Winterset.

The Panther girls weren’t intimidated by the 5K race distance, or the competition.

As a whole, Creston got out to a quick start, led by senior Jessica Beatty, who led the race through the first half mile.

“That first mile they were hanging right in there as a team,” Schlapia said. “The rest of the kids kind of followed Jessica’s lead.”

Beatty faded after the fast start, but battled to finish 17th as the top Panther placewinner in 22:38.

“She kind of faded back a bit, finishing 17th,” Schlapia said. “But in that type of competition, getting in the top 20, that’s a great race to start off with. She handled herself well.”

Runners two through five all finished within a pack, crossing the line within 41 seconds of each other. Rachel Shepherd finished 38th in 24:44, followed by sophomore rookie Kiersten Latham in 42nd place at 25:15.

Lexie Little ran 43rd in 25:17 and Madison Hance rounded out the team scoring with a 45th-place finish in 25:25.

“Rachel ran a solid second for us,” Schlapia said. “One of the nicest surprises was Kiersten Latham, a sophomore. Her first year out for cross country. She’s shown in each practice she’s been learning and gaining more confidence. Holy cow, she had quite an opener.”

Schlapia said the goal for that pack now will be to close the gap on Beatty, while maintaining that pack of runners.

Amber Castillo ran sixth for Creston in 59th place at 26:17, and Schlapia called it one of the best races of her career.

“I think one of the things they’re finding out going from 4K to 5K, it’s not going to be that big of a deal,” Schlapia said. “I think the girls who ran that handled it just fine.”

Creston’s team score of 147 points was one point better than sixth-place Norwalk, and only 16 points back of Carlisle for fourth place. Urbandale finished one point away from a perfect score with 16 points, followed by Dallas Center-Grimes (65) and Winterset (100).

Creston returns to action next Tuesday at Winterset in a grade-level meet. Races begin at 5:30 p.m.

DC-G Invitational

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Urbandale 16, 2. Dallas Center-Grimes 65, 3. Winterset 100, 4. Carlisle 131, 5. Creston 147, 6. Norwalk 148, 7. Bondurant-Farrar 210, 8. Saydel 214, 9. Carroll Kuemper 250, 10. Van Meter 304.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Trina Moreno, Urb, 19:34; 2. Mickey Cole, Urb, 20:01; 3. Julia Noah, Urb, 20:05; 4. Elyse Prescott, Urb, 20:05; 5. Lexi Smith, DCG, 20:26; 6. Carly Klavins, Urb, 20:29; 7. Neanagit Malow, Urb, 20:29; 8. Casey Middleswart, Urb, 20:48; 9. Avery Peterson, Urb, 21:44; 10. Sami Sterbenz, DCG, 21:50.

Creston — 17. Jessica Beatty, 22:38; 38. Rachel Shepherd, 24:44; 42. Kiersten Latham, 25:15; 43. Lexie Little, 25:17; 45. Madison Hance, 25:25; 59. Amber Castillo, 26:17; 61. Sophia Groumoutis, 26:22; 67. Ann Waigand, 26:54; 71. Angela Drey, 27:11; 74. Cora Green, 27:23; 76. Emma Berning, 27:43; 83. Danielle Castillo, 28:44; 92. Rachel Wignall, 29:44; 97. Jordan Moreland, 30:11; 119. Alyssa Trembly, 33:37.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Urbandale 50, 2. Dallas Center-Grimes 65, 3. Winterset 111, 4. Carlisle 119, 5. Des Moines Christian 144, 6. Carroll Kuemper 158, 7. Bondurant-Farrar 191, 8. Norwalk 199, 9. Creston 202, 10. Saydel 242, 11. Van Meter 330.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Cooper McDermott, Crest, 17:26; 2. Michael Westphal, Urb, 17:31; 3. Tyler Borneman, DCG, 17:35; 4. Drake Henrichs, Urb, 17:45; 5. Chandler Hagen, Kuemp, 17:46; 6. David Parker, Say, 17:50; 7. Griffin Clabaugh, Urb, 17:52; 8. JJ Orput, Carl, 18:10; 9. Curtis Harryman, Wint, 18:31; 10. Tyler Ketcham, DMC, 18:20.

Creston — 1. Cooper McDermott, 17:26; 18. Ben Irr, 18:54; 55. Isaac Wignall, 20:34; 110. Trey Gift, 22:28; 133. Matthew Rouh, 23:59; 148. Steven Stow, 25:15; 174. Travis Purdy, 27:21; 175. Elyice Stow, 27:33; 178. Lee Normandeau, 27:45; 199. Ben Bargstadt, 33:06.