Senior Panthers race at home for the final time

It was an overcast but rainless race Tuesday during Creston’s Panther Invitational at Southwestern Community College.

The team took the opportunity to honor their four senior runners -— Abby Freeman, Maylee Riley, Grace Keeler and Hector Suazo, in front of the home crowd.

GIRLS

With 67 total finishers, the Panthers were able to place two in the top 10, including a new best time from sophomore Cora Smith.

Smith placed fourth, just one second behind Earlham senior Amanda Smith.

Cora ran 19:59.9, a new all-time best. The only two Panther alumni to have run the home course faster are Braelyn and Brielle Baker. Cora’s course mark is fourth all time for Creston runners. Iowa began the 5K (3.1 mile) distance for girls in 2015.

Junior Reese Strunk came in at 20:58.9, finishing sixth overall. Her time was almost 30 seconds faster than her previous course best.

Martensdale St. Mary’s had the top two placers in Karson Oberender (19:01.9) and Maclaine German (19:16.9) and took first as a team with a score of 33. Earlham placed second with 39.

While Creston, Lenox, Mount Ayr and Nodaway Valley had runners, they did not have enough to score as a team. The Panthers ran four runners.

Senior Abby Freeman finished 28th overall, running 24:39.6. This is her third year of cross country, and her times have continued to come down through the years.

“This year’s growth mainly comes because I actually did summer miles,” Freeman said. “I think it was the athletic enchancement (class) that’s really improved it because we actually actually prioritized lifting and running and not having to pick one.”

Her time Tuesday cuts more than two minutes off her course-best mark. Her fastest career time is 24:23.07, ran at West Central Valley on Sept. 4. She has four races left to set a new best.

Freeman’s favorite course is Glenwood.

Senior Grace Keeler ran a race on the home course for the first time Tuesday, placing 40th in 25:53.2. The time is her first under 26 minutes, marking a personal best for the first-year runner. Keeler was on the team as a junior but was sidelined due to injury.

“I love this team,” Keeler said. “The girls are awesome and it’s just an amazing team.”

Keeler’s favorite course is West Central Valley.

Senior Maylee Riley began cross country as a junior after falling in love with distance running during her sophomore track and field season.

She hasn’t been on the course this year because of a heart issue, but she’s still been actively involved with the team.

“It’s been a really good experience,” Riley said. “I love to talk to everyone, walk the start of the meets with them.”

Riley’s favorite course is Kuemper’s course at the Carroll Municipal Golf Course.

Freshman Addy Junker of Lenox led the Tigers with a ninth-place finish in 21:56.5. Mount Ayr was led by senior Addison Doolittle who finished 13th in 22:21.1. Leading Nodaway Valley was freshman Abby Nelson, running 22:35.6 to finish 16th.

BOYS

The Panthers finished fourth as a team, scoring 95 points. Red Oak won the meet with three runners in the top 10 and all five scorers in the top 20.

Nodaway Valley edged out the Panthers, who are still missing freshman Ryder Baird due to illness, scoring 88 points for third place. Southwest Valley finished ninth.

Junior Wyatt Goodenberger put together another strong race for the Panthers, finishing fourth in 17:07.7. The time is 1:38 faster than his previous course best set in 2024. It is also the seventh-fastest time on the course by a Panthers runner. His time is topped only by marks from Cooper McDermott, Scott Vicker, Matt Lanning and Jay Wolfe, all of whom were state meet qualifiers in their time.

Freshman Matthew Warner finished under 18 minutes with a time of 17:58.7 to snag 10th place overall. The time was just shy of his personal best mark of 17:55.43, ran at Glenwood in August.

Sophomore Merrick Wieland crossed next for the Panthers, running 18:30.5 to finish 21st overall. The time is a personal best, but is on par with his next fastest times of 18:32, 18:33 and 18:35.

The lone senior on the boys team, Hector Suazo, finished fourth for the Panthers, running 19:20 to place 28th out of the 113 finishers.

The time was 1:24 faster than his previous course best, set in 2024 and is a new all-time personal best for him. This is Suazo’s third season of cross country, and he’s taken a few lessons away from his time in the sport.

“Even if it sucks, keep pushing and you’ll get through it,” Suazo said. “Try new things, and even if you don’t like it, maybe it will work out in the end.”

Suazo’s favorite course is Glenwood.

All four seniors agreed, their favorite cross country memory is the annual homecoming run.

Austin Jondle was the final scorer for the Panthers, running 20:15.4 to place 42nd overall. It was a course PR of more than a minute for the sophomore runner.

Junior Johnathon Henry, who ran 31:05.9 at this race a season ago, finished in 21:31.6 Tuesday, placing 61st. He jumped 40 places in his improvement from last year.

Finally, rounding out the varsity lineup was junior Aiden Craig, a first-year runner who finished 103rd in a time of 28:22.

Leading the Nodaway Valley Wolverines was sophomore Gabe Winkelmann. He ran 17:35.6, placing sixth overall.

Mount Ayr was led by senior Braylon Greenwell whose time of 18:39.4 placed him 22nd overall. The Raiders did not have enough runners to score in the team race.

Junior Brock Driskell was the lead runner for the East Union Eagles, running 18:54.9 to place 25th overall. The other two runners for East Union were Cyler Wuebker (21:06.3) who finished 55th and Vincen SchulzeWischeler (27:27.4) who placed 101st.

Diagonal was led by freshman Fred Malone who ran 19:31.2, placing 31st.

Senior Anis Akhdar ran 20:05.2 to lead Southwest Valley, earning 37th place.

COMING UP

Thursday, the Panthers ran the homecoming game ball from the Trojan Bowl in Atlantic, delivering it into the hands of the football captains.

Creston returns to action Tuesday in Osceola at the Clarke Invitational.