Three top-3 finishes in Red Oak

RED OAK — It was a great afternoon for the Creston Panthers Monday at the Paul Fish Invitational in Red Oak.

Injuries saw the girls unable to compete in the team race, but sophomore Cora Smith and junior Reese Strunk placed first and second in the individual race, respectively.

In the boys race, junior Wyatt Goodenberger placed third overall, leading the Panthers to a second-place finish behind host Red Oak.

Boys

Even missing star freshman Ryder Baird due to illness, the Panthers placed three in the top 10 and four in the top 20.

Goodenberger cut about 90 seconds off his course time from 2024. He finished behind two Red Oak runners, Emmanuel Grass and Hayden Heitbrink, who placed first and second, respectively.

First-year runners Matthew Warner and Merrick Wieland stepped up in Baird’s absence. Warner placed fifth in 19:46.8 while Wieland took ninth in 20:34.75.

Creston’s Austin Jondle ran a 21:50.65, taking more than two minutes off his course time from a year ago.

Senior Hector Suazo made his 2025 debut Monday, running 22:22.22 to place 21st and score as Creston’s fifth runner.

Johnathon Henry has made huge strides this year, stepping up as a varsity runner. He finished 33rd Monday in 24:14.28, a time more than 10 minutes faster than his 2024 course time.

Aiden Craig rounded out the team, running 31:47.52.

Girls

Smith and Strunk posted the fastest times on the challenging, hilly Red Oak course by any Creston girls.

Smith began in first and held the position for the entirety of the race, posting a time of 21:49.87. The time improved on her 2024 course time by more than a minute.

Strunk also improved by more than a minute, finishing in 22:16.9. Strunk settled in a pack of three running behind Smith for the beginning of the race, making her move into second around the halfway point of the race. She built up nearly a minute lead on third place by the time she crossed the finish.

With senior Maylee Riley out with injury, senior Abby Freeman has filled in the third-runner spot for the Panthers.

Freeman finished 12th, earning a medal for the second year in a row at this invite. She ran 26:45.65, about 30 seconds faster than her course time from 2024.

Grace Keeler was the final finisher for the girls, placing 20th in 27:54.90. This is the second year in a row that every girl runner has medaled at this meet.

The Panthers competed Thursday in the I-35 Invite at East Lake Park in Osceola. They return to action Tuesday at home where they will honor senior runners.

Southwest Valley

The Timberwolves competed Monday in Red Oak where the boys finished sixth.

Leading the pack was Anis Akhdar who medaled with a 17th-place finish in a time of 21:51.12.

He is the first runner from Southwest Valley to medal this season.

The Timberwolves will be one of 19 teams competing next week in the Panther Invitational at Southwestern Community College. Other area schools competing include Diagonal, East Union, Lenox, Mount Ayr and Nodaway Valley.