Nodaway Valley boys run away with O-M title

ORIENT – The Nodaway Valley boys came out as the top team at the Orient-Macksburg cross country meet Tuesday, claiming both the team title and the individual title.

The Wolverines had a team score of 20, placing six in the top-10. Josh Baudler took the individual title with a time of 17:49.

Along with Baudler in the top-10 was Toby Bower (third, 18:51), Ben Breheny (fourth, 19:01), Tyler Breheny (fifth, 19:18), Doug Berg (seventh, 19:55) and Mason Menefee (10th, 20:37).

“We weren’t sure if Earlham was going to be here, but we knew the competition here wasn’t great, so we just wanted to run our hardest and run for each other,” said Baudler.

A warm day with winds pushing 20 miles per hour along Lake Orient, Baudler felt the wind had an affect on him and his teammates, but knew the group wasn’t the only ones that would be suffering from it once the clock started.

“We knew it was going to be hot today,” said Baudler. “The wind is obviously terrible, but I said just to keep running, it’s not just us that has to run through it, so run for each other.”

The win for the Nodaway Valley boys adds to NV’s resume with new rankings being released by the IATC today (Tuesday).

The Wolverines are currently No. 2 in Class 2A. Earlham holds the top position in the class. Josh Baudler holds the top position in Class 1A as an individual, with teammate Ben Breheny at No. 25 and Toby Bower at No. 29. All rankings are as of Monday night.

Creston boys take
second

The Creston boys were unable to keep up with the strong NV team, taking second with a team score of 71.

The leading time of Clayton Stafford put Creston in the top-10. Stafford placed sixth with a time of 19:39.

The separation between the top runner for the Panthers and the other scoring runners has been a focus point for Creston head coach Pat Schlapia over the last few weeks and he feels closing the pack and making it tighter is going in the right direction.

“I think so. Just like with the girls, the confidence is really big,” said Schlapia. “I thought with everyone at Southwest Valley, we gained confidence with that race and running at home was a great thing too. With this meet, this got them that confidence with three boys medaling in the top-15.

Aside from Stafford, Creston’s Jared Moreland and Hunter Fry medaled. Moreland placed 13th with a time of 21:19 and Fry took 14th with a time of 21:23.

Riley Wipperman was just outside the top-15, placing 17th with a time of 22:07.

“This was probably Jared’s best race of the season,” said Schlapia. “Hunter’s still trying to close the gap on Clayton, ... Levi (Hitz) and Riley were running near each other. This was probably our best team finish (at Orient-Macksburg) since 2013-14.”

Levi Hitz was just outside the top-20, running a 22:14 for 21st fastest as the final scoring runner for Creston. A confidence-boosting, all-around good day for the Panther boys, Schlapia knows there’s still room for improvement.

“There’s always room for improvement, but I felt the times were good, given the conditions,” said Schlapia.

EU, Diagonal, O-M hang with tough field

Strong performances from Nodaway Valley, Creston and Bedford bumped the East Union Eagles down to fourth place in the boys final standings.

EU scored 132 points with Cole Nelson acting as the leading runner. Nelson was 12th with a time of 20:58.

Damon Hayes was the next fastest for EU, running a 21:34 for 16th. A strong field of local runners was the competition for Rich Bryson’s Eagles and he aware of how good the field was.

“There was some strong programs here with Creston and Nodaway Valley,” said Bryson. “There’s some good teams here. ... I don’t think there’s the depth we saw at Southwestern where we saw a ton of teams and people everywhere, but there’s still quality runners and that’s what we needed to run against. If we’re going to improve we need to run against good runners.”

For Diagonal, the Maroons had a time from its lone runner, Skyler Stamps, of 27:25.

The Maroons did not register a team score.

“(I was) expecting Skyler to come out and run to the best of his ability,” said Diagonal head coach Matt Warren. “I think he did that, ... we’re going to try and get better each time and do our best.”

O-M’s leading boys time came off the legs of Blake Thompson with a time of 22:09. He placed 19th.

Tyson Ross wasn’t far off Thompson’s pace with a 22:58 for 23rd fastest.

Orient-Macksburg head coach Grant Bohlke felt the wind affected the times slightly.

“I think the times in general were a little bit slower because of that, but the thing with weather is that it’s the same for everyone so we can’t use it as an excuse,” said Bohlke. “It had an impact, but good, bad, right or wrong it doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to run the race and everyone that’s running has to deal with it.”

Team results – 1. Nodaway Valley 20; 2. Creston 71; 3. Bedford 87; 4. East Union 132; 5. CAM 143; 6. West Central Valley 147; 7. Orient-Macksburg 160.

Individual results – 1. Josh Baudler, Nodaway Valley, 17:49; 2. Louden Foster, West Central Valley, 18:01; 3. Toby Bower, Nodaway Valley, 18:51; 4. Ben Breheny, Nodaway Valley, 19:01; 5. Tyler Breheny, Nodaway Valley, 19:18; 6. Clayton Stafford, Creston, 19:39; 7. Doug Berg, Nodaway Valley, 19:55; 8. Owen Lucas, Bedford, 20:08; 9. Ethan Follman, CAM, 20:25; 10. Mason Menefee, Nodaway Valley, 20:37.

Nodaway Valley – 1. Josh Baudler, 17:49, 3. Toby Bower, 18:51; 4. Ben Breheny, 19:01; 5. Tyler Breheny, 19:18, 7. Doug Berg, Nodaway Valley, 19:55, 10. Mason Menefee, 20:37.

Creston – 6. Clayton Stafford, 19:39, 13. Jared Moreland, 21:19, 14. Hunter Fry, 21:23, 17. Riley Wipperman, 22:07, 21. Levi Hitz, 22:18, 29. Devin Baker, 25:01, 30. Isaac Shields, 25:09.

East Union – 12. Cole Nelson, 20:58, 16. Damon Hayes, 21:34, 25. D.J. Islas, 23:31, 39. Blake Wuebker, 26:24, 40. Peyton Hayes, 26:25.

Orient Macksburg – 19. Blake Thompson, 22:09, 23. Tyson Ross, O-M, 22:58, 37. Chase Walker, 26:15, 38. Chance Kiddoo, 26:19, 43. Xzander McVay, 27:53, 45. Vihn Nguyen, 36:38.

Diagonal – 42. Skyler Stamps 27:25.