Nodaway Valley runners face loaded week of competition

Competition and schedule-wise, last week was a busy one for Nodaway Valley cross country.

The Wolverines ran their first two-meet week of the season last week after traveling to Ballard Monday, Sept. 16, and then to Panora on Thursday, Sept. 19. Both meets gave the Wolverines a good look at some of the state’s best cross country teams with many ranked teams across more than one class.

At the Mike Carr Invitational hosted by Ballard in Huxley, the Wolverines ran against the toughest competition they have had this year to date. In the field were six ranked teams, including five from Class 3A and another from 2A. Ranked 3A teams at the meet were No. 3 Des Moines Christian, No. 8 ADM , No. 13 Bondurant Farrar, No. 14 Nevad, and No. 17 North Polk. The 2A ranked team was No. 11 Pella Christian.

Des Moines Christian won the meet with a team score of 31 while ADM was third with 74 points and Bondurant-Farrar third with 94 points. Nevada was fourth with 129 and North Polk fifth with 167 points.

Nodaway Valley placed 14th out of the 19 scoring teams at the meet. The Wolverines had one top-20 finisher in Gabe Winkelman’s 19th place finish in 18:20. Luke Kading placed 66th in 19:51 and Paul Kading was 83rd in 20:31. Other finishers were 100th, Cherubim Mercado in 21:29, 114th, Haden Colton in 22:03, and 128th, Dominic Breheny in 25:14.

Four days later, the Wolverines ran at the Panorama Invitational. At that meet, there were three ranked teams with two from Class 1A and another from Class 2A. Ranked 1A teams were No. 3 Ogden and No. 8 ACGC while 2A No. 18 Van Meter also was at the meet. Ogden won the meet with a team score of 66 while ACGC was second with 99. Kuemper Catholic, Carroll placed third with 104 points and Van Meter fourth with 107 points.

Nodaway Valley placed eighth out of 13 scoring teams at the meet. Gabe Winkelmann led with a 13th place finish in 18:58. Two others placed as top-40 finishers giving the Wolverines three top-40 finishers. Luke Kading placed 27th in 19:59 and Paul Kading placed 39th in 20:30. Other Wolverine finishers were Haden Colton 63rd in 22:11 and Dom Breheny 87th in 25:18.

The girls had a pair of runners at the Ballard meet. Senior Jazz Christensen placed 91st in 26:37 while sophomore Kaylee Van Horn placed 109th in 30:39. Des Moines Christian won the meet with a team score of 115 followed by Winterset in second with 115 and Van Meter third with 122 points. Winterset was second due to their fifth runner score placing behind DM Christian’s.

Thursday, the Wolverines saw top-ranked 2A team Van Meter at the meet and the top ranked team in Class 1A Earlham. Class 1A No. 11 AC/GC was also there as the top-3 teams were in that order. Van Meter won the meet with 42 points with Earlham the runner-up with 62, and AC/GC third with 90 points. Laura Streck from Van Meter won the race in 19:13 and teammate Emma McCoy was the runner-up in 20:35. Ava Campbell from AC/GC was third in 20:49.

Nodaway Valley was led by Jazz Christensen with a 49th place finish in 27:11 and Kaylee Van Horn with a 65th place finish in 30:42.

The Wolverines were to run at Creston on Sept. 24 on the campus of Southwestern Community College. The next meet for Nodaway Valley will be Monday, Sept. 30 at Lake Orient. The annual Nodaway Valley Invitational is scheduled for Oct. 7 at Greenfield Golf and Country Club.