Smith, Strunk all-conference again

SHENANDOAH — For the second year in a row, two Creston girls placed in the top 20 at the Hawkeye 10 meet, earning all-conference honors.

Sophomore Cora Smith and junior Reese Strunk finished 12th and 17th at the 2024 conference meet in Carroll. They both posted improvements in this year’s meet.

Smith came in eighth Thursday in Shenandoah at the H10 Championships. She ran 20:29.94. Strunk improved to 21:16.25, a 14th-place finish. The time is an improvement from her mark of 21:59.59 on this course in August.

Harlan won the meet with 53 points. Glenwood took silver with 65. With only four runners, the Panthers were unable to score in the team race.

Seniors Abby Freeman and Grace Keeler placed 51st and 55th, respectively. Freeman ran 25:33.71, an improvement of more than 43 seconds from her time on this course in August. Keeler ran a 25:29.94.

Wednesday the girls head to Pella for the state-qualifying meet. They will face the No. 1 ranked 3A team, Pella, as well as No. 9 Boone, No. 13 ADM and No. 19 Xavier, Cedar Rapids.

Strunk was a state qualifier last year. The top 15 runners qualify from each state-qualifying meet.