Friday was a memorable day for the Ankeny girls’ cross country team.
It wasn’t too bad for Ankeny Centennial, either.
The 10th-ranked Hawkettes raced to a sixth-place finish in the Class 4A state meet at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. It was the second-best performance in school history, surpassed only by a fifth-place finish in 1988.
“We’re ecstatic about it,” said Ankeny coach Eric Klingensmith, whose team finished with 166 points. “It was something we were kind of going for. We wanted to be in the top 10 at least, and top six was icing on the cake.”
No. 9 Centennial, meanwhile, finished 10th with 188 points. Only 32 points separated the Jaguars from fourth-place Johnston.
“We had the second-lowest point total in school history,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill, whose team was third a year ago with 141 points. “It was just one of those days, and we talked about this. On a given day with this field of teams, third through 10th could be (a difference) of 30 points. And it was pretty close to that. It was just a real tight day.”
No. 2 Dubuque Hempstead won the Class 4A crown with 108 points, ending Johnston’s two-year reign at the top. No. 1 Pleasant Valley took second with 132 points, followed by No. 6 Ames with 141.
Valley sophomore Addison Dorenkamp pulled away from the field to capture the individual title in 17:55. She finished 20 seconds ahead of senior teammate Camryn Ensley.
Centennial junior Rondi Quass earned a spot on the awards podium for the second straight year. She placed eighth in 18:44 after finishing 14th last season.
“I’m so pumped with that. It’s better than I thought I would do,” said Quass. “I made a fun deal with my mom that if I got eighth (or better) I would get Boba (a bubble tea) after the meet.”
Quass improved her time by 10 seconds from last year’s meet despite less than ideal conditions. The meet was held on a windy morning over a soggy course.
“The wind was brutal that last 1,000 (yards),” Quass said. “But I think Cog set me up with a good race plan, and I was able to tough it out when it broke other girls down.”
Cogdill agreed that the wind was a huge factor.
“The pre-meet favorite from Pleasant Valley (Grace Boleyn) got 40th place. She was supposed to win it,” he said. “Those windy, tough, cold, chilly days and the big state-meet atmosphere can kind of do that to kids. But Rondi was able to meet her A+ goal. She wanted to finish eighth, and that was the specific number that she set. I don’t know how she came up with it, but she was terrific today.”
Quass was joined on the awards podium by Ankeny freshman Drew Beason. Beason led the Hawkettes with an 11th-place finish, posting a time of 19 minutes.
“I think that was the hardest race I’ve ever been in,” Beason said. “My socks are wet from all the puddles.”
Another Ankeny freshman, Alli Macke, placed 18th in 19:18. She ran in a pack that chased Dorenkamp for most of the race before struggling down the stretch.
“I felt fine the first two miles but by the last mile I just fell apart,” Macke said. “I’m pretty disappointed, but the only thing to do next is to bounce back for track season!”
Klingensmith said Macke has battled a stomach issue for much of the season.
“It just got to her today at the very end of the race,” he said. “But she still clawed her way to the end and didn’t give up. She gave 100 percent effort today, and that’s all we could ask for.”
Lauren Jackson placed 43rd for the Hawkettes in 19:57. Savannah Gage took 61st in 20:19, Talia Dosh was 67th in 20:24, Sophia Graber placed 77th in 20:35, and Paige Beason finished 78th in 20:36.
Ankeny posted an average time of 19:47 with a spread of just 1:24 among its top five runners.
“That’s something we talked about,” Klingensmith said of the team effort. “Just seeing where we were at (during the race), and trying to get as many girls as we could into the top 50. That’s what they did. They ran hard, they ran tough, and they ran with a lot of heart today.”
Centennial’s Anika Mohrhauser placed 39th in a time of 19:49. Bella Hodges took 48th in 20:05, Anja Peck was 51st in 20:07, Tillie Smith placed 80th in 20:37, Julia Flick was 87th in 20:46, and Kendall Jorgensen finished 96th in 21:01.
“With four freshmen in our lineup and two of them (Mohrhauser and Hodges) placing in the top 50, that was fantastic for them,” Cogdill said. “I was really happy to come in 10th.”
Unlike some teams, the Jaguars avoided any major mishaps.
“I saw (seventh-place finisher) Ashlyn Keeney (of Iowa City Liberty) go down, and I was a little nervous going around that turn,” Quass said.
Centennial posted an average time of 19:52 with a spread of 1:52.
“I feel like we set our goal a little higher so (10th place) wasn’t exactly what we wanted to do today, but I think all around the girls had some good performances with these conditions,” Quass said.
