Eight Panthers end careers

GLENWOOD — The 2022 cross country season came to a close for Creston on Wednesday at the Class 3A State Qualifying Meet, and eight senior varsity runners ended their careers for the Panthers.

Six of the seven runners for the Creston girls on Wednesday were seniors, leaving only sophomore Payton Davis as a returnee for next season. Those Panther senior girls running in a field of 78 participants Wednesday and their placings were Autumn Stafford (45th), Emma Pantini (50th), Riley DeGonia (55th), Sydney Strunk (63rd), Tristen Rice (65th) and Mallory Wilson (70th).

Davis was 53rd place for Creston as the third Panther runner behind Stafford and Pantini.

The top three teams and top 15 individuals from each race advanced to next week’s state meet in Fort Dodge. There will be no Creston runners at state this year for the first time since 2009, but head coach Maggie Arnold said it was anything but a disappointing day.

“Our goal was to come in here and try to run better than we did at this course in last year’s Hawkeye Ten meet, since it’s about the same time of year,” Arnold said. “I felt pretty good about the girls race today, they were ready to run. It’s not hard to get seniors ready for their last state qualifying meet.”

Team placings

Creston took ninth place in the girls standings with 256 points, finishing ahead of Perry and Saydel.

Likewise, Arnold said the Creston boys performed well in taking 11th place, ahead of Saydel in the team standings with 305 points.

“We were hoping to also catch Perry, but they had a runner finish 18th and it’s hard to compete with a team that has their number one in the top 20 and we just don’t have that this year,” Arnold said. “I thought our boys team looked pretty awesome tonight. Their performance showed they left everything out there on the course.”

The two senior boys competing for Creston Wednesday were Riley Wipperman and Carson Smith. Wipperman again led the Panthers in 51st place in a time of 18:48.80.

Wipperman was pushed by freshman Owen Weis, as the two ran side-by-side with less than a mile to go. Wipperman ended up finishing just more than two seconds ahead of Weis, who took 53rd in 18:51.39.

“I thought all of our boys were a little fast at the first mile mark, and that showed in the last two miles of Riley’s race,” Arnold said. “He had to grit it out to get that time (18:48.80) today. Owen has had a great start to his cross country career. We’re excited to see what he can do next year.”

Wipperman acknowledged that his start in the 3.1-mile race was a little rapid for his usual pace.

“When I heard my mile time at 5:15 it was a little fast because I usually want to be around 5:35,” Wipperman said. “I think that took its toll on the back half of the race. I saw (Owen) coming up on me and it just helps having a teammate push you a little.”

Stafford, meanwhile, has recently moved into the number one spot on the team on the girls side with steady improvement.

“Autumn is our fall season girl,” Arnold said. “In the heat she does not perform at her best, but each year she moves up by the end of the season. She’s had a really good last three meets for us.”

“They switched me to the front at the start in the last two races,” Stafford said. “Usually I’m in the second row at the starting box. I think that’s helped me get out a little bit faster.”

Glenwood dominates

The Glenwood boys team placed seven runners in the top 15 in dominating the team race with 30 points. Bryant Keller led the Rams in second place in a time of 15:39.73. Lewis Central’s Ethan Eichhorn was the boys individual winner in 15:36.90 to help the Titans to their first state team qualification in 20 years. The Titans were second and ADM took the third and final team qualifying spot.

ADM scored 49 points to win the girls team race. Glenwood was second with 64 and Harlan edged Atlantic for the third state qualifying spot, 76-80. ADM’s Geneva Timmerman was the girls individual winner in 17:59.60.

3A State Qualifying Meet

Girls team scores

(3 teams to state)

1. ADM 49; 2. Glenwood 64; 3. Harlan 76; 4. Atlantic 80; 5. Denison-Schleswig 145; 6. Lewis Central 178; 7. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 207; 8. Kuemper Catholic 213; 9. Creston 256; 10. Perry 285; 11. Saydel 317.

Individual results

State qualifiers — 1. Geneva Timmerman, ADM, 17:59.60; 2. Lindsey Sonderman, Harlan, 18:56.73; 3. Ava Rush, Atlantic, 19:18.11; 4. Lola Mendlik, Denison-Schleswig, 29:20.29; 5. Haley James, ADM, 19:21.14; 6. Claire Pellett, Atlantic, 19:27.10; 7. Madelyn Berglund, Glenwood, 19:31.89; 8. Marie Dea, Kuemper Catholic, 19:44.24; 9. Breckyn Petersen, Glenwood, 19:44.41; 10. Hannah Desmarais, ADM, 20:04.08; 11. Brylee Schechinger, Harlan, 20:05.46; 12. Belle Berg, Atlantic, 20:12.42; 13. Lauren Hughes, Glenwood, 20:21.83; 14. Jenna Gessert, Harlan, 20:25.37; 15. Mackealin Sutton, ADM, 20:39.81.

Creston — 45. Autumn Stafford, 23:01.51; 50. Emma Pantini, 23:26.24; 53. Payton Davis, 23:41.95; 55. Riley DeGonia, 24:14.64; 63. Sydney Strunk, 24:32.01; 65. Tristen Rice, 24:44.57; 70. Mallory Wilson, 25:35.34.

Boys team scores

(3 teams to state)

1. Glenwood 30; 2. Lewis Central 83; 3. ADM 91; 4. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 129; 5. Denison-Schleswig 148; 6. Kuemper Catholic 158; 7. Atlantic 164; 8. Harlan 177; 9. Clarke 235; 10. Perry 281; 11. Creston 305; 12. Saydel 346.

Individual results

State qualifiers — 1. Ethan Eichhorn, Lewis Central, 15:36.90; 2. Bryant Keller, Glenwood, 15:39.73; 3. Andrew Smith, Glenwood, 16:15.18; 4. Liam Hays, Glenwood, 16:27.10; 5. Kade Diercks, Lewis Central, 16:29.83; 6. Torin Timmerman, ADM, 16:35.26; 7. Richard Gonzalez, Denison-Schleswig, 16:35.30; 8. Ryan North, Kuemper Catholic, 16:45.82; 9. Kevin Coots, Glenwood, 16:49.84; 10. Evan Janzen, SB-L, 16:54.60; 11. Jacob Greving, 16:55.28; 12. Preston Slayman, Glenwood, 16:56.33; 13. Dillon Anderson, Glenwood, 16:59.09; 14. Devon Fields, Atlantic, 16:59.56; 15. Jackson Griffin, Glenwood, 17:00.55.

Creston — 51. Riley Wipperman, 18:48.80; 53. Owen Weis, 18:51.39; 62. Carson Smith, 19:13.04; 68. Anthony Eblen, 19:35.50; 71. Christian Ahrens, 20:06.09; 73. Gabe Hopkins, 20:11.48; 76. Jesh Villalpando, 21:11.45.