:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/OKWARCCOURWVJ7JGOVBAOWAMFI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/FB3FXNVBLBY6ODVOF5HSDVQ6LI.jpg)
WINTERSET — Both the Creston boys and girls cross country teams finished runner-up to host Winterset here Thursday at the rescheduled Winterset Invitational.
The meet had been postponed earlier this season because of weather.
The Panthers also saw individual success, as Cooper McDermott and Jay Wolfe decimated the field in finishing one and two in the boys race, and Maria Mostek took second place in the girls race.
McDermott and Wolfe broke away from the rest of the field within the first half mile of the race and never looked back.
“We knew there was no doubt those guys had a chance to go one-two in it,” head coach Pat Schlapia said. “Holy cow, they did that from the get-go. I didn’t see anybody close to them at all. They dominated the race.”
McDermott took first, running 16:49, while Wolfe crossed the line in 17:04.
“That course, Cooper getting under 17 minutes and Jay right there, that is an outstanding race by both boys,” Schlapia said. “They saw the state rankings came out and I don’t think those two are getting the respect they deserve out of the state rankings.”
In the girls race, Mostek ran in a three-person pack that included Winterset’s Layken Gurwell and Domonique Fleming during the early part of the race.
It eventually strung out, with Gurwell taking the lead, followed by Mostek and then Fleming. It stayed that way throughout the remainder of the race, but Mostek was closing in on Gurwell at the end.
Mostek crossed in second place, running 15:42.
“You look at that last 800, Maria was closing on Gurwell,” Schlapia said. “With this being our fourth race, I would say this is her strongest race of the season. I thought she ran very strong all the way through. One of her goals was getting under 16 minutes and she blew that out of the water.”
Pack running
After Mostek, there was a 1:40 gap to the second Panther runner, Madison Hance. But, runners two through five were all packed together within 20 seconds of each other.
Hance ran 17:24, followed by Lexie Little in 17:33, Jessica Beatty in 17:43 and Raegen Smith in 17:44.
At Monday’s Ballard meet, Little had run fifth for the Panthers and Smith was running JV.
“That was nice to see our two through five bunch,” Schlapia said. “That’s one thing that is very promising to see there, with those girls as a pack. Now if we could just get that pack to move closer to Maria, cut that time down. That’s very promising.”
The meet was run with all girls running in one race, with the first seven to cross the line counting as varsity. Schlapia said six of the 16 girls who counted as JV ran under 19 minutes.
Boys
For the Panther boys, senior Brant Hudson scored third for the Panthers in 19:22 and junior Nick Walsh cut more time off in scoring fourth in 19:53.
“Nick and Brant were both under 20,” Schlapia said. “Nick Walsh looked a lot better today. Here he has been number four for us in these early meets, but I felt this was one of his better races. He looked a lot smoother.”
Sophomore Ben Irr made his return to the Panther lineup after being held out with a leg injury. He rounded out the team scoring, running 20:34.
“He’s an important part of our team,” Schlapia said. “His leg is still bothering him some. But that was good to have him back running for us. We wanted to make sure he got a chance to run a meet before our home meet on Tuesday.”
Kyle Jennett ran 20:44 to finish sixth for the Panthers, while Isaac Wignall rounded out the varsity, running 20:46.
Official placings and times were not available at press time.
The Panthers return to action Tuesday in the only home meet of the season. “Crowd the Course” kicks off at 4 p.m. with the middle school girls race, followed by middle school boys.
The senior parents’ night presentation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., followed by the Creston little kids race, then JV boys, varsity girls, varsity boys and JV girls.
The meet is run on the Southwestern Community College campus and also on Crestmoor Golf Club.
WINTERSET INVITATIONAL
(Official results not available at press time)
GIRLS RESULTS
Creston — Maria Mostek, 15:42; Madison Hance, 17:24; Lexie Little, 17:33; Jessica Beatty, 17:43; Raegen Smith, 17:44; Maddie Skarda, 18:15; Angela Drey, 18:20.
Creston JV — Rachel Shepherd, 18:23; Savannah Hartman, 18:53; Cora Green, 18:53; Danielle Castillo, 18:54; Madison Callahan, 18:55; Jordan Moreland, 18:58; Sophia Groumoutis, 19:06; Micah McCutchan, 19:25; Amber Castillo, 19:45; Jenna Hayes, 20:04; Ann Waigand, 20:11; Sydney Suiter, 21:00; Caitlyn McIlravy, 21:26; Caitlyn Clayton, 21:55; Alyssa Trembly, 22:12.
BOYS RESULTS
Creston — Cooper McDermott, 16:49; Jay Wolfe, 17:04; Brant Hudson, 19:22; Nick Walsh, 19:53; Ben Irr, 20:34; Kyle Jennett, 20:44; Isaac Wignall, 19:53.
Creston JV — Dylan Linch, 21:01; Cody Wagner, 21:23; Cade Vicker, 22:26; Trey Gift, 22:47; Tyler Helm, 23:02; Patrick Normandeau, 23:16; Travis Purdy, 23:37.