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WINTERSET — The area mascots of Panthers, Eagles, Bulldogs and Wolverines, were in attendance at Winterset’s cross country invitational on Tuesday.
The four high school races, held at Lakeview Country Club, started on the first hole, which is a 417 yard par-4.
The races were divided into a boys and girls ninth and tenth grade race as well as a boys and girls 11th and 12th grade race.
Doug Berg of Nodaway Valley was the highest placing area runner at the invitational, as the senior Wolverine finished sixth in the 11-12 race with a time of 18:01.11.
“It’s kind of like the state meet course,” head coach Darrell Burmeister said. “It’s nice to run against the 3A and 2A schools. Doug ran 18 flat which is not his best time, but it’s a tougher course than Redfield. He doesn’t like the heat.”
In the boys 9-10th grade race, Creston had three runners and were led by Owen Weis who medaled with a seventh place finish and a time of 20:58.01. Other Panthers in the 9-10 boys race were Gabe Hopkins who finished 32nd (22:35.99) and Jesh Villalpando who crossed the finish line 37th with a time of 23:23.22.
“I felt like the kids performed well,” head coach Maggie Arnold said. “They were very coachable during the race and competed hard.”
In the 9-10 girls race, Payton Davis was the lone Panther competing. Davis’ time of 29:24.58 placed her 44th.
The Panthers finished fifth in the 11-12 girls race. Senior Sydney Strunk finished 17th and her time was 25:58.13, she finished eighth out of the seniors in the 5K.
“Some highlights from the night include Strunk,” Arnold said. “She led our team for the evening.”
Autumn Stafford crossed the finish line 22nd with a time of 26:27.19. Emma Pantini and Tristen Rice crossed the line right next to each other in finishing position. Pantini ran a 26:56.59 and Rice ran a 27:18.70 for a 24th and 25th place finish respectively.
Senior Mallory Wilson finished 32nd and had a 5K time of 28:46.65. Fellow senior Aileen Villalpando finished 38th with a time of 32:01.81.
Area schools
The Nodaway Valley Wolverines finished fifth in the boys 11-12 race. After Berg, Broers was the next to cross the line in 14th.
“I think that’s the closest Malachi and Doug have been in their career,” Burmeister said.
Ben Piearson finished 36th, Tyler Cooper finished 40th and Jack Jensen finished 51st.
In the 11-12 girls race, three Wolverines ran. Lily Day finished 28th, Annika Nelson finished 30th and Hope Kading finished 36th.
Orient-Macksburg’s Bridget Bracy, the lone Bulldog runner on Tuesday, finished 12th in the 11-12 race and had a time of 24:19.58.
East Union had five runners in the 11-12 races, three girls and two boys.
Hayden Waigand finished 29th in the girls race with a time of 27:49.56. Abagail Wuebker was the next Eagle to soar across the line with a time of 34:44.87, good for 42nd. Neh Nkwenti finished 45th with a time of 39:30.68.
Junior Jacob Driskill finished 18th in the 11-12 race with a time of 19:01.48 for the Eagles, East Union’s Peyton Long finished 50th with a time of 24:45.39.
“It was a good meet, there was a lof ot big schools so good competition and it was warm,” Eagle head coach Erik Niggemeyer said. “I thought they gave a good effort and something for us to keep building on.”