September 19, 2024

NV cross country runners face tough competition in Winterset

By Ryan Stonebrkaer
Nodaway Valley senior Jazz Christensen runs in a meet recently at Winterset.

Nodaway Valley senior Jazz Christensen runs in a meet recently at Winterset. (Dan Dickinson)

The Nodaway Valley Wolverine cross country teams made the short trip to Winterset last Tuesday for their only meet of the week. The Wolverine boys placed fifth there out of 10 scoring teams while the Wolverine girls kept improving.

Nodaway Valley’s Gabe Winkelmann was the top Wolverine finisher. Winkelmann just missed out on a top-10 finish, placing 12th in 18:12. Luke and Paul Kading were next, in 22nd and 27th place respectively, finishing in 19:12 and 19:27. Other NV finishers were Cherubim Mercado 35th in 19:54, Haden Colton 45th in 20:56, and Dominic Breheny 63rd in 24:58.

Nodaway Valley's Dominic Breheny takes on the rest of the pack in Winterset's home cross country meet last week.

Nodaway Valley's Dominic Breheny takes on the rest of the pack in Winterset's home cross country meet last week. (Dan Dickinson)

On the boys side, two state-ranked teams were in the top-4 of team finishers ahead of Nodaway Valley. Class 3A No. 13 Bondurant-Farrar won the meet with a team score of 33 points. The Bluejays had the top overall winner in Nyle Davis in a time of 16:54, the runner-up, Luka Hulse in 17:01, and the third-place finisher, Brady Sanger in 17:03 to help win the meet. Winterset was second in the team scoring with 64 points and Van Meter was third with 101 points. Class 1A No. 19 Martensdale-St. Mary’s placed fourth with 138 points.

On the girls side, the Wolverines had three runners at the meet. The top NV finish was from senior Jazz Christensen with a 44th place finish in 25:26. Kaylee Van Horn was next with a 47th place finish in 25:49.

The top-ranked team in Class 2A girls, Van Meter, won the meet with a team score of 49 points. Van Meter had the overall champion in Laura Streck, who won the race in 18:43. Van Meter also had the fourth-best finisher in the race. Class 3A No. 14 Winterset pulled off a mild upset, placing second in the team race with 64 points. That is because the third-place team was Class 3A No. 3 Ballard, who placed third with 66 team points. Class 1A No. 3 Martensdale-St. Mary’s placed fourth with 88 points.

Nodaway Valley ran at the Ballard Invitational Monday and was scheduled to run a meet at Panorama Thursday.