Panthers see H-10 preview at Trojan Invite

ATLANTIC — Thursday’s Trojan Invitational here at Atlantic Golf and Country Club gave the Creston cross country teams one final tuneup before next Thursday’s Hawkeye 10 Conference Meet on the same course.

It also provided the Panthers with a preview of next week’s Hawkeye 10 Conference Meet, as all but two conference schools competed Thursday. In addition, seven of the other 12 schools competing in the Oct. 22 Class 3A State Qualifying Meet in Glenwood competed at Thursday’s meet (see related story on page 2S about the State Qualifying Meet assignments).

“This gives us a real good idea of where we’re sitting individually and team-wise coming into Hawkeye 10 next week,” Creston head coach Pat Schlapia said. “We’ve got out work cut out for us. In both the boys and girls, out of the conference schools, we finished seventh. We want to and expect to do much better than that.”

The Creston girls team, running without one of its consistent top-five scorers Lexie Little, finished 11th overall out of 20 scoring teams with 341 points. The Panther boys team finished 13th overall out of 23 scoring teams with 371 points.

“That top spot at conference is going to be quite the dogfight,” Schlapia said. “Shenandoah and Denison tied, with Shenandoah winning on the tiebreaker. Glenwood and Harlan will be right in there on it. I think Harlan is going to be the clear favorite for the boys.”

Coming off Monday’s meet at Nodaway Valley, the Panthers completed a week that saw the team run on two of its most challenging courses of the year in a span of four days.

Senior Cooper McDermott, seeking his third Hawkeye 10 Conference individual title next week, finished second overall in 17:17.11 behind Lewis Central junior Brenden O’Brien in 17:14.12.

Running in a pack of four through the first mile of the race, McDermott broke away at the 2K mark, opening up about a 4-second gap.

He held that lead until about the 2.5-mile mark, when O’Brien closed the gap and surged ahead, holding McDermott off down the final stretch.

“Cooper ran a fantastic race,” Schlapia said. “We talked afterward, took a lot of mental notes. For conference on Thursday, what would we do different? Not letting that kid be able to make that jump like that, fight him off.”

Lenox senior Jacob Bolinger medaled with his 15th-place finish in 17:53.87.

Creston’s only other medalist for the night was senior Jessica Beatty in the varsity girls race, finishing 23rd in 21:57.92. Ben Irr just missed a top-25 medal in the varsity boys race, finishing 27th in 18:14.60.

“Our kids experienced a big-time meet with this one, when you consider we had 23 teams scored, but 28 schools represented,” Schlapia said. “The sheer numbers of that in one class tend to be overwhelming at times. This gives us a chance to be mentally and physically prepared for the conference meet.”

The Panthers are now idle until next Thursday’s Hawkeye 10 Conference Meet back at Atlantic Golf and Country Club. Races begin at 4:30 p.m.

“As a team overall, we need to be prepared and focused mentally to go out with this type of competition,” Schlapia said. “I know we’re capable of it. After the Nodaway Valley meet and this meet, we know what hills are about. That’s what makes it a challenge. We’re going to meet that challenge head on.”

TROJAN INVITATIONAL

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Dallas Center-Grimes 51, 2. Shenandoah 124, 3. Denison-Schleswig 124, 4. Glenwood 131, 5. Harlan 140, 6. Atlantic 152, 7. Lewis Central 163, 8. Winterset 174, 9. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 228, 10. Missouri Valley 316, 11. Creston 341, 12. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 362, 13. ADM 373, 14. Griswold 386, 15. Exira/EHK 401, 16. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 406, 17. Logan-Magnolia 478, 18. Riverside 493, 19. Red Oak 496, 20. Clarinda 539.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Lexi Smith, DCG, 19:56.40; 2. Tiffany Williams, Atl, 20:09.09; 3. Kye Madsen, LC, 20:19.71; 4. Ellie Mendlik, Den, 20:35.96; 5. Sami Sterbenz, DCG, 20:37.15; 6. Kaitlyn Murano, DCG, 20:42.00; 7. Raegen Andersen, Den, 20:50.44; 8. Aubrey McIntyre, Glen, 20:54.93; 9. Claire Jones, CBAL, 21:06.74; 10. Claire Campbell, Shen, 21:09.65.

Creston — 23. Jessica Beatty, 21:57.92; 69. Rachel Shepherd, 23:44.78; 82. Madison Hance, 24:04.34; 94. Sophia Groumoutis, 24:29.81; 95. Amber Castillo, 24:32.74; 98. Kiersten Latham, 24:42.96; 110. Danielle Castillo, 25:20.37.

Lenox — 81. Rebekah Kroese, 24:03.96; 150. Daisy Valenzuela, 30:35.06; 151. Daisy Valenzuela, 30:35.77.

Creston JV — 33. Ann Waigand, 25:20.14; 60. Cora Green, 26:39.77; 65. Emma Berning, 27:01.80; 66. Rachel Wignall, 27:16.45; 84. Angela Drey, 28:13.26; 91. Jordan Moreland, 28:35.23; 97. Sydney Suiter, 29:04.95; 118. Alyssa Trembly, 32:28.51.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Dallas Center-Grimes 54, 2. Winterset 86, 3. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 108, 4. Harlan 152, 5. Atlantic 245, 6. Boyer Valley 256, 7. Lewis Central 271, 8. Glenwood 284, 9. Denison-Schleswig 289, 10. Shenandoah 308, 11. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 315, 12. Tri-Center 319, 13. Creston 371, 14. Riverside 373, 15. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 377, 16. Red Oak 396, 17. Council Bluffs St. Albert 454, 18. Logan-Magnolia 463, 19. Missouri Valley 474, 20. ADM 491, 21. Exira/EHK 532, 22. Clarinda 539, 23. Griswold 577.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Brenden O’Brien, LC, 17:14.12; 2. Cooper McDermott, Creston, 17:17.11; 3. Jon Dahlheimer, CBTJ, 17:21.92; 4. Evan Wilson, E/EHK, 17:23.06; 5. Alex Thompson, DCG, 17:25.50; 6. McGwire Midkiff, CBTJ, 17:26.33; 7. Jerry Jorgenson, Trey, 17:33.92; 8. Curtis Harryman, Wint, 17:40.38; 9. Michael Sciranko, Har, 17:44.09; 10. Andrew Dick, Wint, 17:46.43.

Creston — 2. Cooper McDermott, 17:17.11; 27. Ben Irr, 18:14.60; 104. Isaac Wignall, 20:19.28; 120. Matthew Rouh, 20:52.00; 127. Dylan Linch, 21:12.65; 144. Trey Gift, 22:00.87; 150. Steven Stow, 22:49.25.

Lenox — 15. Jacob Bolinger, 17:53.87; 158. Will Green, 25:38.84.

Creston JV — 186. Lee Normandeau, 24:54.85; 193. Travis Purdy, 25:05.34; 196. Ben Bargstadt, 25:17.19; 201. Elyice Stow, 25:34.18.