Girls take gold in Red Oak

RED OAK — With a full roster for the first time this season, the Panther girls dominated the Paul Fish Cross Country Invitational Monday, placing all five scoring runners in the top-12 for a first-place finish.

“This meet was a huge deal for us,” Coach Maggie Arnold said. “When we went to Glenwood and saw our Hawkeye 10 results, this was a meet we had our eye on to win. We got Payton [Davis] back in the lineup which is a big deal. She’s a senior and brings a lot of talent and experience.”

Freshman Cora Smith and sophomore Reese Strunk continued to lead the Panthers, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Smith’s time of 22:57.49 and Strunk’s 23:17.99 are the two fastest Panther times recorded on the challenging Red Oak course. Strunk cut more than a minute off her time from last season.

In her first race back after injury, Davis ran a 24:48.33, finishing ninth overall and third for the Panthers.

Senior Karter Clayton and junior Maylee Riley came in together at 11th and 12th, respectively.

Clayton ran a 25:32.90, nearly two minutes faster than her time last year at this meet.

Riley finished just behind at 25:35.4.

“In the girls race, Maylee Riley was huge. She was the final scorer for us,” Arnold said. “There were two Clarinda girls right on her. She couldn’t relax at any point; she had to run hard. To get ahead of their number three and four was exactly what we needed her to do. She knew how important her place was and who was behind her. It was a breakout race for her coming off her best race of the year in Winterset.”

Voted the 2023 most improved runner, junior Abby Freeman kept that momentum as her 27:13.52 was more than three minutes faster than her time from last year.

With a total team score of 31, the Panthers averaged a 24:26.43, a time more than two minutes faster than their average last season. Clarinda placed second with 54 and Shenandoah was third with 59.

“There are still a couple more meets we want to compete for a title at for the girls team,” Arnold said. “Theres 11 teams at the Hawkeye 10, we should place in the top half. Now we know we are capable of finishing in the top half of the conference.”

Boys

In the boys race, freshman Wyatt Goodenberger led the Panthers with a seventh-place finish in 19:54.84.

“Wyatt had an awesome race,” Arnold said. “If you look at his times, he’s right up there at the top with some of our best runners. I thought his race was excellent.”

Junior Hector Suazo was around the 20th-place mark before making a push to finish 16th in 21:14.08, more than two minutes faster than last season.

Junior Kylen Parsons also had a two-minute time improvement from last year, running 22:03.72, finishing one place shy of a medal.

“This was Kylen Parsons’ breakout race of his career,” Arnold said. “He had really close mile splits and really ran great.”

In fourth for the Panthers was freshman Austin Jondle, running a 24:21.87 for 34th place. Freshman Colt Key rounded out scoring with a 25:36.56 for 42nd place. Senior Spencer Brown has been working on staying close to the fifth runner, a task he completed Monday, finishing only 20 seconds behind Key in 43rd place.

In the seven-team field, the boys finished fourth with 108 points. Red Oak took the win on their home course, scoring 30. Southwest Valley placed sixth.

“The Timberwolves continued to show the growth they have demonstrated early in the season with a number of great times,” Southwest Valley coach Jason Hults said. “Leading the way for the third-straight meet was senior Matthew Means with a 23rd place finish in 22:40.77, running 1:18 faster than last season and moving up 15 spots overall.”

Junior Ashton Boswell finished 25th in a time of 23:08.96, improving on last year’s effort by more than a minute. Junior Lucas James finished in 49th place in a time of 26:43.18, an improvement of three minutes.

Placing fourth and fifth for the Timberwolves were freshman Ben Waddell and junior Brody Sparks. Junior Eddy Quaid finished sixth for the team.

“All the boys ran well in the heat, with some very competitive finishes to battle for positions that helped the final team score,” Hults said. “I was very proud of the effort tonight and look forward to seeing the continued progress as the season moves on.”

Creston returns to action Thursday at Clarke while Southwest Valley competes at home Thursday.

RESULTS

Girls Team Scores

1. Creston - 31

2. Clarinda - 54

3. Shenandoah - 59

4. Riverside, Oakland - 93

5. Stanton - 129.

Boys Team Scores

1. Red Oak - 30

2. Shenandoah - 48

3. Clarinda - 71

4. Creston - 108

5. Fremont-Mills - 121

6. Southwest Valley - 169

7. Bedford - 170

Girls Varsity Individual

4. Cora Smith (Creston) - 22:57.49

5. Reese Strunk (Creston) - 23:17.99

9. Payton Davis (Creston) - 24:48.33

11. Karter Clayton (Creston) - 25:32.9

12. Maylee Riley (Creston) - 25:35.4

24. Abby Freeman (Creston) - 27:13.52

26. Karlie Kruse (Creston) - 27:19.45

Boys Varsity Individual

7. Wyatt Goodenberger (Creston) - 19:54.84

16. Hector Suazo (Creston) - 21:14.08

21. Kylen Parsons (Creston) - 22:03.72

23. Matthew Means (Southwest Valley) - 22:40.77

25. Ashton Boswell (Southwest Valley) - 23:08.96

34. Austin Jondle (Creston) - 24:21.87

42. Colt Key (Creston) - 25:36.56

43. Spencer Brown (Creston) - 25:56.65

49. James Lucas (Southwest Valley) - 26:43.18

52. Ben Waddell (Southwest Valley) - 27:20.99

56. Brody Sparks (Southwest Valley) - 28:30.72

57. Eddy Quaid (Southwest Valley) - 28:43.43

72. Johnathon Henry (Cresotn) - 35:21.36.