Area runners dominate at Lake Icaria

CORNING – A meet that fielded over 20 teams at Southwest Valley’s meet at Lake Icaria Thursday, News Advertiser area runners had a stellar day, placing six individual runners as medalists and one second-place team finish.

On the girls’ side, Winterset took the top spot with 32 points while Creston finished second, recording 51 points. Southwest Valley finished in fifth with 125 points and East Union rounded out scoring teams in sixth place with 140 points. Individually, area runners swept the top three spots.

Creston’s Braelyn Baker dominated the field, taking first place by 1:04. Baker’s 20:40.6 broke the course record she set in 2019 (22:06.0) by over 1:20.

The Panthers’ Paige Davis took third, running a 21:55.1. The third-place finish knocked off 1:57 from her time in 2019. Morgan Buxton was the final medalist for the Panthers, taking 14th (24:07.9). Zoe Ralston took 17th with a 24:36.2.

Baker took a lead early in the race, extending midway as the pack entered the trees and never let up, making a push up the final hill with a significant lead before Lenox’s McKinna Hogan entered her turn up the final hill.

“Basically, (Baker) ran her race,” Creston head coach Pat Schlapia said. “She was very determined with that, very solid with that. Running 20:40 on that course, that’s nothing to sneeze at when you improve by 1:20. ... Paige has been wanting to cut the gap on her. Paige ran a fantastic race, finishing third, and she’s getting that time down closer to Braelyn.”

Hogan took second (21:44). East Union’s Gabby Valencia had another strong outing, taking eighth place with a 22:56.5.

Hogan, a major part of a three-man Lenox team, has improved her time in each race and is on a quest to return to state after struggling through injuries last season.

“It really helps going against these bigger schools,” Lenox head coach Curtis Fisher. “It ups her competitiveness; she wants to perform well. She’s knocked 20 seconds off every single meet so far. This is a tough, tough meet for her to have. I didn’t think that she would be there time-wise, but she surpassed it. She continues to blow my mind, just the way that she works.”

Hosting the meet on an extremely vertical course, Southwest Valley head coach Jason Hults told the Timberolve girls to worry about competition that they’ll see this season rather than schools above their class, like Winterset.

Southwest Valley’s Aubrey Boswell just missed out on a medal, taking 19th place (24:40.4). Halle Pearson (25:20.2) and Sydney Davies (25:56.1) were the next up for the Timberwolves, placing 24th and 27th.

“Overall, our girls team went out and ran really well,” Hults said. “We had some really good times. ... We had three conference schools here, and our goal was to go out there and see how we competed against them. We beat East Union in team score, so that’s a real positive for us as we look down the road in conference.”

Valencia has continued to improve for East Union, making progress through the first meets of the season.

Running against strong competition from larger schools, and placing eighth on one of the toughest courses in the area, East Union head coach Rich Bryson said Valencia is starting to get back to where she was mentally a season ago.

“She’s still a little nervous because she didn’t feel like she got to train like anybody did this summer and everything,” Bryson said. “So, the confidence, I think, is coming back. She’s becoming more confident in herself. ... She’s running really well, she’s getting stronger.”

Despite a sixth-place finish, Bryson is confident in what is happening with experience from the older portion of his group along with the inexperienced.

Bryson said freshmen Hayden Waigand and Jillian Valencia are competing with their older sisters, Gabby Valencia and Ansley Waigand, and have done a good job “adapting to the high school pace, the intensity and the distance.”

Ansley Waigand took 37th place with a 28:20.7 while Hayden Waigand finished in 42nd place (29:19.4). Jillian Valencia ran a 27:33.9 for 33rd place.

Stafford cracks top five

The boys side saw top competition from a handful of ranked runners with Creston’s Clayton Stafford as the only area runner to medal.

Creston, Southwest Valley, Lenox nor Diagonal fielded runners to qualify for a team finish. East Union, the only area team to field a team, finished in seventh place with 178 points.

Winterset took first place with 45 points. Class 2A No. 9 Central Decatur scored 57 points while Red Oak and West Nodaway tied for third with 87 points.

Creston’s Clayton Stafford was the top area finisher, coming in fourth place, running a 17:37. Riley Wipperman (20:44), Anthony Eblen (21:00) and Carson Smith (22:23) were the final three Panther runners, not filling a team due to a hip and leg issue to Gavin Evans, Schlapia said.

For the Timberwolves, Blake Venteicher retained his top spot on the boys side. He finished in 37th place, running a 21:31.4. Ethan James and Deacon Ganfield grabbed 62nd and 65th place, running 26:54.4 and 28:25.8.

Facing stiff competition, Hults was pleased with Venteicher’s performance, building on success from last season rather than a lackluster performance at Red Oak early this week.

“(Venteicher) didn’t have a very good race Monday because he wasn’t feeling well. But, to come out and put up a solid time here on this course, that’s really going to give him a huge confidence boost moving into Creston next Week,” Hults said on Venteicher’s bounce-back race.

Venteicher's finish was 20 seconds from a personal record he set at the end of last season. Hults said the strong performance should give him the confidence he’ll need to continue to grow this year.

East Union’s Jacob Driskill was the top finisher for the Eagles. Driskill ran a 20:34.8 en route to a 28th-place finish. Driskill, combined with 36th place DJ Islas (21:27.5) and 39th place Damon Hayes (21:45.0), have been a strong core trio for East Union.

Bryson said he told the boys group there were multiple big schools at the meet and not to base their times against larger schools like Creston or Red Oak since the Eagles won’t face them in district or conference competition.

Diagonal’s small group had four runners compete well, continuing to improve as a group.

“We ran the best times of the year,” Diagonal head coach Matt Warren said. “We’re just kind of getting in better shape as we go. We’re down to four guys now, so we’re not competing as a team, we’re just competing with ourselves to keep improving.”

Carter Lumbard nabbed 41st place with a 21:46.6. Alex Baker took 55th place (23:51.5) while Garrett Stephens finished 60th with a 25:20.

Warren said the team is limited due to “knee soreness,” so he’s shutting down runners “to be on the safe side.”

Looking at the future, Warren is positive things will continue to improve after running the difficult course early in the season.

“When you get to the meets in the coming weeks, they’re going to hopefully feel easy compared to this one,” Warren said. “Hopefully, that gets our confidence to push ourselves.”

Lenox ran one boy, Mizael Gomez. He finished in 29th place with a 20:35.4.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Winterset 32; 2. Creston 51; 3. Central Decatur 84; 4. Red Oak 103; 5. Southwest Valley 125; 6. East Union 140.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Braelyn Baker, Creston, 20:40.6; 2. McKinna Hogan, Lenox, 21:44; 3. Paige Davis, Creston, 21:55.1; 4. Alexa McCunn, Red Oak, 22:11.6; 5. Darci Wiseman, Winterset, 22:27.3; 6. Sami Craven, Winterset, 22:37.3; 7. Micah Yeager, Winterset, 22:44.7; 8. Gabby Valencia, East Union 22:56.5; 9. Dyllan Kaufman, Winterset, 23:09.0; 10. Morgan Sutton, Winterset, 23:10.4.

Creston — 1. Braelyn Baker, 20:40.6; 3. Paige Davis, 21:55.1; Morgan Buxton, 24:07; 17. Zoe Ralston 24:36.2; 20. Carly Green 24:53.7; 21. Autumn Stafford, 24:57.7; 26. Angelina Chuong, 25:48.9.

East Union – 8. Gabby Valencia, 22:56.5; 33. Jillian Valencia, 27:33.9; 37. Ansley Waigand, 28:20.7; 42. Hayden Waigand, 29:19.4.

Southwest Valley – 19. Aubrey Boswell, 24:40.4; 24. Halle Pearson, 25:20.2; 27. Sydney Davies, 25:56.1; 35. Sydney Westlake, 27:45.4; 39. Kya Newton, 28:49.9; 51. Julia Means, 40:27.6.

Lenox – 2. McKinna Hogan, 21:44; Trinity Shimer, 31:26.1.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Winterset 45; 2. Central Decatur 57; T3. Red Oak 87; T3. West Nodaway 87; 5. Riverside 100; 6. East Mills 164; 7. East Union 178; 8. Essex 209.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Will Gillis, Central Decatur, 16:51.6; 2. Tyler Blay, West Nodaway, 17:08.7; 3. Baylor Bergren, Red Oak, 17:26.9; 4. Clayton Stafford, Creston, 17:37.8; 5. Mason Back, Winterset, 18:09. 6; Kash Kiburz, Winterset, 18:11.9; 7. Tyson McDole, Central Deactur, 18:35.1; 8. Duke Ingraham, West Nodaway, 18:45.7; 9. Riley Blay, West Nodaway, 18:49; 10. Ben Schroder, Riverside, 19:03.4.

Creston — 4. Clayton Stafford, 17:37.8; Riley Wipperman, 20:44; 33. Anthony Eblen, 20:59; 47. Carson Smith, 22:24.

East Union – 28. Jacob Driksill, 20:34.8; 36. DJ Islas, 21:27.5.; 39. Damon Hayes, 21:45; 58. Peyton Long, 24:48.2; 64. Derek Albretchensen, 28:06.3; 68. Blake Wuebker, 29:06.6.

Southwest Valley – 37. Blake Venteicher, 21:31.4; 62. Ethan James, 26:54.4; 65. Deacon Ganfield, 28:25.8.

Diagonal – 41. Carter Lumbard, 21:46.6; 55. Alex Baker, 23:51.5; 60. Garrett Stephens, 25:20; 67. Miah Ikenberry, 28:46.3.

Lenox – 29. Mizael Gomez, 20:35.4.