There are 69 runners on the Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country team, and about a dozen of them are battling for the seven varsity positions.
The roster includes eight girls who have combined for a total of 13 state-meet appearances.
“The practices have been going well,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill. “The girls are eager to do the work. We’ve switched up our post-run strength and mobility routines which have been well received too.”
Centennial has qualified for the Class 4A state meet in nine of the 10 years in the history of the program. The Jaguars placed fourth at last year’s meet with 151 points.
Senior Anja Peck, a three-time state qualifier, is among the returnees from that squad. Juniors Cora DenHartog, Julia Flick, Bella Hodges and Anika Mohrhauser also ran at last year’s state meet along with sophomore Kylee Patterson.
Mohrhauser nearly earned a spot on the awards podium, placing 16th in the 5k race with a time of 18 minutes 52 seconds. She is a two-time state qualifier along with Flick and Hodges.
Mohrhauser had eight top-10 finishes a year ago. She placed third at three consecutive meets early in the season, then later took fourth at both the CIML Conference and regional meets.
Mohrhauser could become the team’s No. 1 runner following the graduation of Rondi Quass. Quass placed fifth at the state meet and is now competing for Tennessee.
Hodges was the Jaguars’ No. 3 runner last season. She placed second in the Bud Williams Invitational at Iowa City, then later took 22nd at the state meet in 19:26.
DenHartog placed 57th in Class 4A with a time of 20:11. Peck was 78th in 20:39, and Patterson finished 104th in 21:12.
Two other former state qualifiers, senior Lauren Reimer and junior Tillie Smith, are also back.
Reimer placed 82nd in 20:30 at the 2020 state meet as a freshman. She helped the Jaguars capture a third-place trophy for the highest finish in school history.
Smith took 80th in 20:37 at the 2021 state meet, while Flick finished 87th in that race in 20:46. They helped Centennial to a 10th-place finish.
Haley Hveem and Tallie Plueger are among the team’s other returnees. Sophomore Piper Zeman, last year’s 9/10 conference champion, and freshman Ellie Blevins are also part of the team’s top training group.
“Haley and Tallie saw some varsity action last year and have made tremendous gains following their successful track seasons,” Cogdill said.
The Jaguars are relying on a variety of girls to provide leadership during the team’s practices.
“Our squad has had a rotating 10-person leadership committee in place since the 2014 season that represents each training group and each grade level,” Cogdill said. “With that group, we are continuously returning leaders and growing new ones so that we avoid dips in leadership. Seniors Aidan Matney, Dana Cleveland, Hannah Varangkounh and Jillian Scroggs did a great job with summer communication, and we have had numerous juniors step in to learn and lead the new routines–Anika, Cora, Abby Drosieko and Audrey Patkin come to mind.”
Centennial was slated to open the season on Tuesday by hosting the Jaguar Invitational, but the meet was cancelled due to the extreme heat. The team will now prepare to make its debut on Aug. 28 at the Schmaltz Invitational in Ames.
Cogdill said his experienced team has established a tier of outcome goals this season.
“Our expectation goals are top half of the CIML, top three at state qualifying and top 10 at state,” said Cogdill, whose team won seven titles a year ago, including the conference crown. “Our stretch goals are top three at CIML and top three at state. To hit those outcomes, we also set several process goals: good communication, injury prevention, mental endurance, physical recovery, team bonding, having fun, seeing the big picture and (having) patience early.”