• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ankeny Fanatic

Your Ankeny Sports Resource

  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • About
    • Support Us
  • News
    • Podcast
  • Forums
  • Hawks
    • Boys’ Basketball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Basketball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
  • Jaguars
    • Boys’ Basketball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Basketball
      • Roster
      • Schedule

Vicker wins 3rd straight race, leads Centennial boys to runner-up finish

September 16, 2020 by Dan Holm

Ankeny Centennial’s Gabriel Vicker pulls away from the field to win the Tom Karpen Invitational on Tuesday at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School. He posted a time of 16 minutes 52 seconds while leading the Jaguars to a second-place finish. (Photo by Dan Holm)

The temperatures were nearly ideal for the Tom Karpen Invitational cross country meet on Tuesday.

Ankeny Centennial’s Gabriel Vicker took advantage of the weather conditions to remain unbeaten on the season.

Vicker won his third consecutive race in 2020, pulling away from the field at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School to cover the 5k course in a time of 16 minutes 52 seconds.

“It really was (perfect),” said Vicker. “The idea was to hammer out the first mile and go from there. The weather was a lot better than last year, when it was like 90 degrees. It’s a huge improvement from last year.”

Vicker finished 28 seconds ahead of Council Bluffs Lewis Central freshman Ethan Eichhorn. He led the 11th-ranked Jaguars to a runner-up finish in the seven-team field.

“Over the summer coach (Chad Fickbohm) and I were talking,” Vicker said. “And he was like, ‘It’s your senior year. Why not give it your all?’ And as the team showed today, we came out and wanted to win this but it was after a really hard week of workouts and we’re looking forward to another hard one this week. So the team didn’t compete as we expected.”

No. 14 Norwalk claimed the team title with 37 points. Centennial finished with 42 points.

“All in all, we will learn a lot from this race as we continue to work toward our team goals,” said Fickbohm. “Norwalk is a tough team–their pack is hard to beat. But I think if we keep working together as we have in the past two races our team is going to be really good.”

Connor Cunningham placed third for the Jaguars. He was clocked in 17:25.

“I was happy with my race,” Cunningham said. “I wanted to go out and hang onto Gabe as long as possible. I felt like I stuck with that front pack well.”

Ankeny Centennial’s Connor Cunningham (right) runs in a pack with teammates Kade Christensen (left) and Nate Jones during the Tom Karpen Invitational on Tuesday. Cunningham went on to earn a third-place finish, while Christensen took ninth and Jones finished 17th. (Photo by Dan Holm)

Cunningham has been nearly as consistent as Vicker. He placed third and fourth in his previous two meets.

“It was a great race by Gabriel and Connor,” Fickbohm said. “They executed their race plans.”

Fellow seniors Kade Christensen and Nate Jones often run together with Cunningham. Christensen did for awhile on Tuesday before placing ninth in 17:43.

Jones finished 17th in 18:29.

“Kade made a move too early and paid for it in the last mile,” Fickbohm said. “Nate was off tonight, but we look for him to rebound at the next meet.”

Tyler Schermerhorn was Centennial’s fifth scoring runner. He took 12th in 18:00.

Cooper Majors placed 18th in 18:35. Ryan Bybee finished 20th in 18:36.

“Tyler had another good race,” Fickbohm said. “Cooper and Ryan ran a more consistent race.”

The Jaguars won’t run again until Sept. 24, when they’ll compete in the Indianola Invitational.

“We did really well at Marshalltown last week, beating Johnston for the first time in school history,” Cunningham said. “We didn’t do as well today–I think Norwalk got the best of us. But with a week and a half off, I think we’ll be ready to go next Thursday at Indianola.”

Filed Under: Boys' Cross Country, Jaguars Tagged With: Chad Fickbohm, Connor Cunningham, Featured, Gabriel Vicker

Primary Sidebar

Support Ankeny Fanatic

Recent Posts

  • Jaguars’ magical postseason run ends with semifinal loss to No. 1 Waukee
  • ‘Bradley was the perfect fit for me!’: Ankeny’s Scheib to play for Braves
  • PURPLE REIGN: Ankeny Fanatic’s predictions for the Class 5A semifinals
  • Ankeny Fanatic Podcast: Episode 127
  • ‘It was a tough one’: Centennial boys tumble to No. 3 Ames in substate final

Find Us on Facebook

Ankeny Fanatic

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017

Categories

  • Hawks
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
        • Roster
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Boys’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Swimming
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Bowling
      • Wrestling
  • Jaguars
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Wrestling
  • Top Sports Stories
    • Football
    • Volleyball
  • Baseball
  • Softball

© 2021 Ankeny Fanatic. All rights reserved.