Strong start propels O-M at home meet

ORIENT – Orient-Macksburg used strong starts to propel two individual top-10 finishes, while East Union had two runners of its own in the top-10 at Orient-Macksburg’s home meet at Lake Orient Monday afternoon.

The Class 1A No. 15 Earlham girls scored 41 points for first place. No News Advertiser area schools fielded a team on the girls’ side.

For the boys, Orient-Macksburg finished in fourth place with 122 points, while East Union took home fifth place with 150 points. Class 1A No. 2 Earlham finished in first with 15 points, having runners finish in first through sixth places. Diagonal had two varsity runners, not fielding a team.

Strong start for top-10

The Bulldogs’ lone girl runner, Christa Cass, found success to start the week after a ninth-place finish at Creston against stiff competition Tuesday and a fourth-place finish at Audubon Thursday.

Cass took home seventh place Monday. She ran a 23:25 on the Bulldogs’ home course. Monday, Orient-Macksburg head coach Grant Bohlke kept the message to his successful sophomore consistent, start strong.

“That’s been really key with her running with some of those girls that are up in the top five or six,” Bohlke said. “She’s ran with them before, so it was important to kind of stay up there, especially with the East Union girl (Gabby Valencia). Our key for her, was to run with (Valencia). She kind of got away from her at the end, but she ran a great race, got out to a very fast start and maintained throughout.”

Similar to Cass, Blake Thompson was coming off a strong week with the same “start strong” message. Monday, he finished in ninth place at 20:27.

“On the boys’ end, I’m very happy with Blake finishing in the top-10, that’s pretty cool for him. He was shooting for top-10, and he got it,” Bohlke said. “Again with him, starts are critical. He got out to a quick start and was able to maintain. We’ve been telling our kids, ‘if you get out to a good start, then you’re not worried about trying to pass a bunch of people at the end.”

Tyson Ross had a top-20 finish for the Bulldogs, taking 18th place with a time of 21:41. The Bulldogs had a gap between Ross and the next runner, Chance Kiddo, who finished in 28th place (23:44). Izzy Pierce (24:23) and Chase Walker (24:30) finished in 33rd and 34th places, respectively.

Continuing to build on the season and the success, Bohlke was glad the group was able to stay close to home and have more fans at the home meet to show support.

“It’s a good opportunity for our kids to run at home and for us not to have to travel and those things,” Bohlke said. “... Some people that probably don’t get to go to a cross country meet every day, got to expose them to the sport and get some kids hooked. It’s a good opportunity for us, and it’s good for our community. The people that put this on, they do such a good job.”

Eagles sluggish after long week

East Union, coming off two meets last week at Creston and AC/GC, had strong finishes but is a little sluggish coming a long week.

“I don’t know if we’re fully recovered from last week because last week was kind of a hard week for us,” East Union head coach Rich Bryson said. “Now, we have this week, the rest of the week, to get some quality work in and kind of get the legs rested up a little bit, get some energy back in our legs. Kids ran real good tonight, I have no complaints with that. I just want to be getting on a roll coming into the last couple weeks of the season.”

Valencia continued to lead the group, finishing in the sixth place with a 23:10. She has finished in the top-10 in every race this season.

Bryson said the girls ran well, despite Jillian Valencia having troubles breathing around the one-mile mark, and Ansley Waigand having issues with her shoes coming untied, taking them off around the two-mile mark.

Jillian Valencia finished in 25th place, running a 27:18. Hayden Waigand finished in 29th place (27:58), while Ansley Waigand took 31st place with a 28:17.

The top end of the boys found success for the Eagles. Jacob Driskill led the way, coming in 10th place with a 20:38. DJ Islas was close behind Driskill, finishing in 14th place (21:01).

“My focus right now – with the two meets we had last week and today being Monday, no real chance to see them through the weekend – is to make sure that we have fresh legs and get a good workout this week.”

Diagonal finishes middle of pack

Diagonal fielded two runners Monday, finishing near the middle of the pack for both runners.

Alex Baker finished in 35th place with a 24:41. Miah Ikenberry took 44th place, running a 28:12.

GIRLS TEAM SCORES

1. Earlham 41; 2. Exira-EHK 84; 3. West Central Valley 105; 4. Audubon 115.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Lily Dixon, Earlham, 21:07; 2. Rowen Chasey, West Central Valley, 21:39; 3. Grace Slater, Audubon, 22:03; 4. Noah Katie, Earlham, 22:26; 5. Taitlin Koch, West Central Valley, 22:28; 6. Gabby Valencia, East Union, 23:10; 7. Christa Cass, Orient-Macksburg, 23:25; 8. Camryn Paulsen, Exira-EHK, 23:36; 9. Mya South, CAM, 24:33; 10. Katelyn Nielsen, Audubon, 24:35.

East Union — 6. Gabby Valencia, 23:10; 25. Jillian Valencia, 27:18; 29. Hayden Waigand 27:58; 31. Ansley Waigand, 28:17. 42. Abbie Wuebker, 35:40; 44. Jaden Froit, 39:00.

Orient-Macksburg – 7. Christa Cass, 23:25.

BOYS TEAM SCORES

1. Earlham 15; 2. CAM 95; West Central Valley 112; Orient-Macksburg 122; East Union 150.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Leaders — 1. Zach Dixon, Earlham, 17:58; 2. Jayden Dickson, Earlham, 17:59; 3. Dominic Braet, Earlham, 18:24; 4. Riley Harger, Earlham, 18:39; 5. T.J. Harkins, Earlham, 19:07; 6. Jack Flickinger, Earlham, 19:34; 7. Ethan Follman, CAM, 19:54; 8. Cael Hazen, West Central Valley, 20:18; 9. Blake Thompson, Orient-Macksburg, 20:27; 10. Jacob Driskill, East Union, 20:38.

Orient-Macksburg — 9. Blake Thompson, 20:27; 18. Tyson Ross, 21:41; Chance Kiddo, 23:44; 33. Izzy Pierce, 24:23; 34. Chase Walker, 24:30.

East Union – 10. Jacob Driskill, 20:38; 14. DJ Islas, 21:01; 38. Derek Albretchsen, 25:20; 43. Peyton Long, 27:46; Hunter Swanson, 28:32; 50. Blake Wuebker, 30:53.

Diagonal – 35. Alex Baker, 24:41; 44. Miah Ikenberry, 28:12.