The Ankeny cross country teams earned a pair of third-place finishes in the Bobcat Invitational on Thursday at Marshalltown Community College.
Top-ranked Johnston won the girls’ crown with 94 points, edging No. 11 Dallas Center-Grimes by five points. No. 5 Ankeny and No. 2 Dubuque Hempstead both finished with 116 points in the 18-team field, but the Hawkettes won the tiebreaker for third place.
“We are very proud of the girls!” said Ankeny girls’ coach Quinn Groff. “They continue to improve and work together. This group is very fun to watch as they grow. They work hard, and that hard work is paying off.”
No. 1 Cedar Falls easily won the boys’ title with 60 points, placing three runners in the top eight. No. 3 Dowling Catholic was second among 21 teams with 116 points, edging No. 8 Ankeny by two points.
“We ran much looser (than our first meet), and it showed,” said Ankeny boys’ coach Jon Lindaman. “Instead of worrying, they were just out there having fun. We certainly looked much more like the team we thought we would be. The top nine teams in the state were all there, and 16 of the top 20 individuals, too. We say it every year, but this meet really is a preview of the state meet, so finishing third in the field and only two points behind Dowling is certainly a step in the right direction. Obviously, we had some great individual performances, but we still have a lot of room to grow and ways we can be a lot better as a team. As long as the boys stay hungry and keep getting better each week, we will be in a good position to make a run at the podium again in late October.”
The Hawks were led by top-ranked Ethan Zuber, who raced to his second win of the season. He posted a time of 15 minutes 8 seconds to finish about 3 seconds ahead of No. 2 Jaden Merrick of Cedar Falls.
“Ethan continues to impress us,” Lindaman said. “This course has hosted some of the nation’s top distance runners over the past 20 years, and Ethan just ran the second-fastest time ever on this course–behind only Dowling’s Jackson Heidesch. He took charge of this race from the gun, and held off every surge Merrick threw at him. He craves big-time competition–it seems like the bigger the stage, the tougher he runs. He knows that these guys are going to keep coming at him, so he needs to keep improving, evolving, and refining his craft as a distance runner.”
Ankeny’s Ike Smith and Jake Bosch also earned top-15 finishes. Smith placed 10th in 15:47, while Bosch finished 15th in 15:56.
“Ike elevated to the competition once again,” Lindaman said. “I think he took it personally that he was not ranked last week, so he felt like he had something to prove. He responded by putting down the seventh-fastest 5k time in Ankeny cross country history and a top-10 finish. Jake was big-time as well, besting his PR with his first sub-16 performance. These guys just need to continue to run together and take care of the little things.”
Tate Brownsberger took 44th for the Hawks in 16:26. Nick Robie placed 48th in 16:35, Abel Squires was 64th in 16:47, and Justice Rathje finished 86th in 17:10.
“Tate showed some really nice growth this meet, and Nick was a guy that was clutch for us this meet by stepping into the No. 5 spot with a big-time PR,” Lindaman said. “We will continue to lean on Abel’s leadership. I know he is not where he wants to be right now, but he will be there when it matters most.”
Claire Helmers of Ames easily won the girls’ 5k race in 17:54. She finished 26 seconds ahead of Piper Messerly of Dallas Center-Grimes.
Drew Beason led the Hawkettes with a fifth-place finish. She was clocked in 18:46.
Ankeny’s Lauren Jackson placed 24th in 19:51, while Ainsley Kiene was 25th in 19:53. Sophia Graber took 30th in 19:56, Raegan Prendergast was 32nd in 20:00, Makenna Madetzke placed 37th in 20:02, and Gwen Briggs finished 44th in 20:08.
Madetzke finished 27 spots ahead of Hempstead’s No. 6 runner to provide the tiebreaker for third place.
“We ran very well with some of the top teams in the state so that is exciting to see,” Groff said. “The girls continue to have fun, and we can’t get enough of that!”
The Hawkettes will compete in the Tom Karpen Invitational on Tuesday at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School. The Hawks will return to action on Thursday, when they travel to Cedar Falls for the Rich Engel Classic at Birdsall Park.