Panthers measure up in Atlantic

ATLANTIC – Creston and Nodaway Valley took to Atlantic Nishina Hills Golf Course Thursday night in cross country action against strong “state-level” competition.

A loaded field had several ranked teams in Class 3A: No. 7 Glenwood girls, No. 8 Harlan girls, No. 10 ADM girls, No. 10 LeMars boys and the No. 15 Atlantic boys. In Class 1A, the No. 10 Nodaway Valley boys were present, adding another ranked team to the packed field.

The Class 3A No. 11 ADM boys were present, but brought only the JV team.

“There’s twelve individuals in both girls and boys that were ranked,” said Creston head coach Pat Schlapia on the field Thursday. “... It was loaded. This gave an idea of both Hawkeye 10 and state-qualifying [competition]. ... With the schools that were there, ... it was always loaded and all four classes were represented.”

In the girls race, Class 3A No. 5 Geneva Timmerman of ADM was the leader with a time of 19:30.80. In the boys race, Class 3A No. 15 Craig Alan Becker of Atlantic was the winner in 16:36.70

Class 3A No. 12 Braelyn Baker was the leading runner for the Creston girls, placing third with a time of 20:28.90. Baker’s time was 10 seconds behind second-place Peyton Pogge of Tri-Center. Nearly overtaking Pogge, the Class 1A champion in 2019, is a good sign for Baker as the Panthers near the final two weeks of the season.

“Braelyn was closing on her [at the end], even though it was still 10 seconds, she was closing on her,” said Schlapia. “One thing that was helping Braelyn was the girl from Sergant-Bluff (Sophia Karras) and Paulson from Underwood. They looked like they were trying to make a move on her. That kind of kept (Braelyn) going.”

Not far behind Baker was teammate Paige Davis, who placed 14th in a time of 21:22.10. Riley DeGonia was 40th, clocking a time of 22:47.0.

“Paige Davis ran a pretty good race (Thursday),” said Schlapia. “Braelyn and Paige both medaled. (Davis) ran strong, and this is where she kinda needs to be stepping it up if she wants to meet her goals coming up. ... Riley DeGonia, this was her second straight meet where she’s been three for us. ... We still have that fluctuation in the girls, and are striving for more consistency on the gaps. ... We’re going to need to work on closing that.”

Behind DeGoina was Morgan Buxton (65th, 24:10.60), Molly Sickels (90th, 25:27.40), Autumn Stafford (93th, 25:48.20) and Angelina Chuong (106th, 26:34.80).

Leading for the Creston boys was 17th-place Clayton Stafford at 18:04.30. After falling just short of a state-qualifying berth last season, Schlapia hopes Stafford’s projection going forward will be better than the one he had a year ago.

Davis, who made the state meet last season, also sits on the cusp of being a top-15 qualifier. Schlapia feels its doable for them to jump the hurdle and clinch a state berth.

“It’s doable. ... We’ve had it in years past, not just with Paige and Clayton, kids sitting in that same spot, this isn’t our first time,” said Schlapia. “... It’s doable. This Atlantic meet is a good measuring stick for us, finishing in the teens, that gives some hope. A lot of things can happen, and things do happen – both good and bad, and we want to make it on the good side. Nothing is guaranteed.”

Rounding out the Creston boys were Riley Wipperman, who placed 95th at 20:20.40. Anthony Eblen was in 101st at 20:28.10 and Carson Smith was 133rd in 23:18.90.

Schlapia said it was nice to see some other strong teams, espcially ones ranked, calling it “welcome competiton” for the Panthers.

“This kind of gives us a little preview for the Hawkeye 10 [Conference meet] next week at Denison,” said Schlapia. “We’re going to see some of these schools again for state-qualifying.”

The Panthers will take a day off before getting a bike workout in, and will then turn attention to the Hawkeye 10 meet Thursday in Denison.

Runnin’ Wolverines

The Nodaway Valley Wolverines placed eighth as a group in the boys race. The No. 10 boys scored 221 points.

In the girls race, the Wolverines scored 331 points for 12th place.

NV had two boys finish in the top-10. Class 1A No. 26 Toby Bower and Class 1A No. 29 Doug Berg were ninth and 10th, respectively, with respective times of 17:43.80 and 17:44.90. Ben Breheny also had a modest finish, placing 33rd at 18:32.70.

Class 1A No. 16Sophia Broers was the leader for the NV girls, placing 18th at 21:29.50. Lily Day was 66th at 24:12.80 and Annika Nelson was 87th, clocking a time of 25:14.80.

Broers, Bower and Berg each medaled.

Results

Girls teams – 1. Glenwood 64, 2. Harlan 101, 3. ADM 123, 4. Winterset 126, 5. Atlantic 134, 6. Sergant-Bluff Luton 162, 7. Creston 196, 8. Lewis Central 246, 9. ASHTW 271, 10. Tri-Center 297, 11. CB Abraham Lincoln 327, 12. Nodaway Valley 331, 13. Shenandoah 334, 14. LeMars 352, 15. Underwood 364, 16. Red Oak 392, 17. Denison 413, 18. Treynor 432.

Boys teams – 1. LeMars 63, 2. Atlantic 111, 3. Glenwood 116, 4. Lewis Central 148, 5. Winterset 169, 6. Sergant-Bluff Luton 206, 7. Harlan 210, 8. Nodaway Valley 221, 9. Clarinda 288, 10. Underwood 288, 11. Shenandoah 308, 12. ADM 340, 13. Red Oak 343, 14. Tri-Center 351, 15. St. Albert 361, 16. Denison 365, 17. Abraham Lincoln 375 375, 18. Riverside 408, 19. Treynor 482.

Top-10 girls – 1. Geneva Timmerman, ADM, 19:30.80; 2. Peyton Pogge, Tri-Center, 20:18.20; 3. Braelyn Baker, Creston, 20:28.90; 4. Sophia Karras, Sergant-Bluff Luton, 20;35.50; 5. Georgia Paulson, Underwood, 20:37.40; 6. Taylor McCreedy, Atlantic, 20:39.20; 7. Kaia Bieker, Harlan, 20:48.60; 8. Emma Hughes, Glenwood, 20:53.00; 9. Mayson Hartley, Clarinda, 20:55.20; 10. Brecken VanBaale, Harlan, 21:02.50.

Top-10 boys – 1. Craig Alan Becker, Atlantic, 16:36.70; 2. Trey Gross, Harlan, 16:42.90; 3. Ethan Eichhorn, Lewis Central, 16:56.40; 4. Andrew Smith, Glenwood, 17:20.50; 5. Baylor Bergren, Red Oak, 17:27.50; 6. Ethan Hulinsky, LeMars, 17:38.50; 7. Carlos Rodriguez, Sergant-Bluff Luton, 17:39.50; 8. Kaden Wingert, LeMars, 17:42.60; 9. Toby Bower, Nodaway Valley, 17:43.80; 10. Doug Berg, Nodaway Valley, 17:44.90.

Creston girls – 3. Braelyn Baker, 20:28.90; 14. Paige Davis, 21:22.10; 40. Riley DeGonia, 22:47.00; 65. Morgan Buxton, 24:10.60; 90. Molly Sickels, 25:27.40; 93. Autumn Stafford 25.48.20; 106. Angelina Chuong, 26:34.80.

Nodaway Valley girls – 18. Sophia Broers, 21:29.50; 66. Lily Day, 24:12.80; 87. Annika Nelson, 25:14.80; 89. Erin Ford, 25:23.00; 100. Hope Kading, 26:19.20.

Creston boys – 17. Clayton Stafford, 18:04.30; 95. Riley Wipperman, 20:20.40; 101. Anthony Eblen, 20:28.10; 133. Carson Smith, 23:18.90.

Nodaway Valley boys – 9. Toby Bower, 17:43.80; 10. Doug Berg, 17:44.90; 33. Ben Breheny, 18;32.70; 82. Malachi Broers, 20:01.90; 90. Gavin Shoemaker, 20:09.60; 117. Jaxon Christensen, 21:18.90; 127. Jevin Christensen, 22:25.20.