October 21, 2024

Fourth-place Hawkeye 10 finish for Creston girls

By CHEYENNE ROCHE
The Panthers varsity girls cross country team after placing fourth in the H10 meet. From left, Maylee Riley, Reese Strunk, Karter Clayton, Payton Davis, Cora Smith, Karlie Kruse and Abby Freeman.

The Panthers varsity girls cross country team after placing fourth in the H10 meet. From left, Maylee Riley, Reese Strunk, Karter Clayton, Payton Davis, Cora Smith, Karlie Kruse and Abby Freeman. (Contributed photos by TERRY FREEMAN)

CARROLL — The Creston girls cross country team put their best foot forward Thursday at the Hawkeye 10 meet in Carroll, six of the seven varsity runners setting new personal best times.

In a tight race for first, Glenwood edged out Harlan by 1 point for the title. Lewis Central was 10 points back from first.

In the fourth spot were the Panthers who averaged a time of 21:56.82.

All-Conference

Freshman Cora Smith, sophomore Reese Strunk and senior Payton Davis have led the Panthers this season and it was no different Thursday.

The three lead runners earned all-conference medals with their performances.

Smith finished 12th, the second freshman to cross the line. Her time of 20:44.71 is a new personal best by more than 30 seconds.

Strunk came in at 17th, running 21:15.44. Her previous best time was 21:54.

Davis, who missed the beginning of the season as she recovered from injury, ran a 21:23.91 to take 19th.

Stepping Up

Junior Maylee Riley and senior Karter Clayton were the final scorers for the Panthers, both running PRs.

Denison-Schleswig, who finished fifth, had their first two runners in before our first runner. Riley was able to edge out the Monarchs’ third runner by 10 seconds to help the team score.

Riley posted the biggest improvement, running 22:46.8 to finish 32nd. Her previous best time was 24:08. The jump in time saved the Panthers more than 10 team points.

Though Clayton’s PR was smaller, her 23:33 was still nearly a 30-second improvement. She placed 41st. Clayton finished four places above Denison’s fourth-place runner.

Running in sixth and seventh were freshman Karlie Kruse and junior Abby Freeman.

Though these positions don’t score, finishing above other teams’ top-five runners helps to raise their team scores.

Kruse ran a 24:15, a 1:05 improvement from her previous best. She placed 48th, coming in front of the Monarchs’ final scorer.

Freeman ran a 15-second PR, placing 62nd in 25:21.62.

The Panthers return to action Wednesday at the Iowa State cross country course for the state qualifying meet, hosted by Gilbert.

Full results available here.

TEAM SCORES

1. Glenwood - 57

2. Harlan - 58

3. Lewis Central - 67

4. Creston - 121

5. Denison-Schleswig - 146

6. Atlantic - 161

7. Clarinda - 180

8. Shenandoah - 208

9. Kuemper Catholic - 216

10. St. Albert - 217

Cheyenne Roche

CHEYENNE ROCHE

Originally from Wisconsin, Cheyenne has a journalism and political science degree from UW-Eau Claire and a passion for reading and learning. She lives in Creston with her husband and their two little dogs.