McDermott repeats as Panther Invite champion

Creston junior Cooper McDermott set a new personal best and became the first Creston boy to repeat as champion of the home Panther Invitational since 2006, as he ran away with the Class A title in the final mile here Tuesday.

McDermott was the top overall finisher in the boys race, crossing the line in a new PR of 16:15.

Teammate Jay Wolfe finished fourth, also in a new PR time of 16:53.

McDermott spent the majority of the race chasing after Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson’s Eldon Warner, who took the race out in a blistering pace, coming through the first mile in about 5:04.

But McDermott and Wolfe didn’t panic with the hot pace early.

“I wasn’t really expecting them to go out that hard, but you kind of figure they would, going straight downhill right off the bat,” Wolfe said. “It kind of changed the race, because I was holding Cooper back, because I knew he could catch them in the second mile if he didn’t go out as fast.”

“I talked to Jay before the race and we wanted to kind of hold it back that first mile, because we always go out too fast,” McDermott said. “After the ball fields, we started reeling kids in.”

Little by little, McDermott reeled Warner in, until he finally caught up to him going up the hill by the eighth green at Crestmoor Golf Club.

“I just knew I had to keep pushing,” McDermott said. “I knew he was going to keep a good pace. It was actually going up that hill on eight. We were kind of with each other going back down, and then I got around him.”

McDermott increased his lead going up the final hill and into the final 400 meter straightaway into the finish chute, securing a 9-second victory over Warner.

Senior Brant Hudson finished 32nd for the Panthers, dropping his time to 19:07. Ben Irr was 39th in 19:18 and Nick Walsh rounded out the scoring in 41st with a new PR of 19:20.

“That pack running is fine, but we need to move that pack up,” Schlapia said about Hudson, Irr and Walsh. “Even though we want our three through seven places to be better, we still turned in some good times with this. You can’t argue with the stopwatch.”

Isaac Wignall was 55th and Kyle Jennett finished 57th for the Panthers.

The Creston boys finished fifth out of 10 teams with 117 points. Winterset won with 66 points.

Mostek second

Panther senior Maria Mostek finished her final race on the home course in second, running 16:06 to finish behind Atlantic’s Tiffany Williams in 15:54.

Mostek found herself in a three-person race with Williams and Winterset’s Layken Gurwell. Those three runners separated from the pack early in the race, setting a quick pace.

“Last year, I noticed I’d try to make up my distance at the end, so this year I’ve been working on getting out, pushing the pace and staying ahead,” Mostek said. “I think it helped, just because Tiffany was pushing it.”

Williams gapped Mostek and Gurwell after the first mile, but the two chasers continued to battle each other for second place.

Gurwell had put a slight gap on Mostek going into the final climb up the Crestmoor driving range, but Mostek overtook her on the ascent and pulled away.

“Coach made us work on that hill yesterday at practice,” she said. “He just kept yelling. I was just like, ‘just do it for coach.’”

“She attacked it perfectly going up that hill,” Schlapia said. “She made a statement going up that hill. At this meet, that hill was very special for us.”

The rest of the Panther girls cut down on the gap after Mostek. Madison Hance finished 14th in 17:57, followed by Jessica Beatty in 17th and Lexie Little in 18th, as the three runners were separated by just three seconds.

Raegen Smith just missed medaling, finishing 26th to round out the team scoring with her time of 18:11.

Maddie Skarda ran 18:55 for 45th and Angela Drey ran 19:21 for 56th.

The Panther girls finished second in the Class A team standings with 77 points, behind Winterset’s 37. Atlantic finished third with 97 points, after previously beating Creston at the Greene County meet.

“That’s one of our better team finishes in the girls at our home meet in a long time,” Schlapia said. “That was nice for our girls, after a very nice start, to sustain that and finish strong.”

JV

The Panthers had four junior varsity medalists, as Rachel Shepherd (seventh), Jordan Moreland (eighth) and Savannah Hartman (15th) medaled in the JV girls race, while Cody Wagner (13th) medaled in the JV boys race.

“With both varsity and JV, seeing them compete as well as they both did, I was very proud of each and every one of them,” Schlapia said. “I just want to thank all the people who came out to support the team. Special thanks to Crestmoor and SWCC and to all of the volunteers.”

Creston’s seniors and their parents were honored in a parents’ night ceremony during the meet. Seniors on the Panther team are Jenna Hayes, Savannah Hartman, Mostek, Skarda, Smith, Jennett, Elijah Johnson, Tyler Helm, Hudson and Wolfe.

The Panthers return to action on Monday at Orient-Macksburg, with races beginning at 4:30 p.m.

PANTHER INVITATIONAL

CLASS A

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Winterset 37, 2. Creston 77, 3. Atlantic 97, 4. Shenandoah-Essex 112, 5. Glenwood 112, 6. Red Oak 115, 7. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 196, 8. Kuemper Catholic 219, 9. Des Moines Lincoln 229, 10. Clarinda 271, 11. Clarke 274.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Tiffany Williams, Atl, 15:54; 2. Maria Mostek, Creston, 16:06; 3. Layken Gurwell, Wint, 16:11; 4. Kate Walker, RO, 16:59; 5. Dominique Fleming, Wint, 17:04; 6. Riley Kaufman, Wint, 17:15; 7. Sydney Kaufman, Wint, 17:16; 8. Erica Munsinger, Shen, 17:33; 9. Cassie Warner, CBTJ, 17:44; 10. Audrey Klein, Lincoln, 17:44.

Creston — 2. Maria Mostek, 16:06; 14. Madison Hance, 17:57; 17. Jessica Beatty, 17:59; 18. Lexie Little, 18:00; 26. Raegen Smith, 18:11; 45. Maddie Skarda, 18:55; 56. Angela Drey, 19:21.

Creston JV — 7. Rachel Shepherd, 19:14; 8. Jordan Moreland, 19:16; 15. Savannah Hartman, 19:28; 21. Madison Callahan, 29:42; 22. Sophia Groumoutis, 19:44; 23. Cora Green, 19:49; 26. Amber Castillo, 19:53; 29. Jenna Hayes, 20:00; 32. Danielle Castillo, 20:17; 44. Ann Waigand, 21:20; 47. Caitlin Clayton, 21:39; 50. Sydney Suiter, 21:50; 61. Alyssa Trembly, 22:56.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Winterset 66, 2. Shenandoah 88, 3. Kuemper Catholic 96, 4. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson 99, 5. Creston 117, 6. Red Oak 121, 7. Atlantic 149, 8. Des Moines Lincoln 179, 9. Clarinda 238, 10. Clarke 278.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Cooper McDermott, Creston, 16:15; 2. Eldon Warner, CBTJ, 16:24; 3. Tanner Wood, Lincoln, 16:36; 4. Jay Wolfe, Creston, 16:53; 5. Joe Blake, Shen, 17:24; 6. Gabe Esser, Wint, 17:29; 7. Chandler Hagen, KC, 17:31; 8. Austin Feller, Shen, 17:37; 9. Curtis Harryman, Wint, 17:41; 10. Josh Sunberg, RO, 17:44.

Creston — 1. Cooper McDermott, 16:15; 4. Jay Wolfe, 16:53; 32. Brant Hudson, 19:07; 39. Ben Irr, 19:18; 41. Nick Walsh, 19:20; 55. Isaac Wignall, 20:11; 57. Kyle Jennett, 20:19.

Creston JV — 13. Cody Wagner, 20:01; 36. Trey Gift, 21:16; 43. Cade Vicker, 21:34; 44. Dylan Linch, 21:39; 52. Tyler Helm, 21:52; 64. Patrick Normandeau, 22:44; 77. Kendrick Davis, 23:17; 82. Travis Purdy, 23:33; 109. Elijah Johnson, 28:08.