Only one spot separates the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country teams in the latest Class 3A rankings from the Iowa Association of Track Coaches.
Tuesday’s Tom Karpan Invitational at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School showed that there isn’t much of a gap between the two squads.
Sixth-ranked Centennial edged No. 5 Ankeny by four points, 45-49, to defend its team title. No. 10 Valley placed third in the seven-team field with 59 points.
“It was fantastic,” said Centennial girls’ coach Eric Cogdill. “It was kind of a surprise because we’ve got our swimmers all gone, so we lose three girls there, which includes Anja (Peck) on the varsity. We have three girls with sinus infections in our top eight, and two of them ran and one was home sick. So, to come out and run well, that’s exciting stuff.”
The Jaguars avenged a 20-point loss to their crosstown rival at the season-opening Kirk Schmaltz Invitational on Aug. 28 at Ames, but Ankeny girls’ coach Quinn Groff wasn’t disappointed at all in his team’s runner-up finish.
“Overall, it was a great night,” said Groff. “We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The JV girls looked great along with the varsity. Anytime you finish top two in both races, that is a confidence-boost for the girls.”
Centennial’s Anika Mohrhauser outdueled Ankeny’s Drew Beason to win the 5k race in a time of 19 minutes 12 seconds. It was her second straight victory after winning the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Invitational on Thursday.
“I always like racing against Drew,” Mohrhauser said. “We were kind of working together. I was just kind of a step in front.”
Beason placed second in 19:16. She finished 53 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Klaire Lietz of Valley.
“I was with (Mohrhauser) at the beginning, and I thought I might as well stick with her the whole race,” Beason said. “I just wanted to stay with her–don’t lose her, stay behind her and catch her at the end if I could.”
Bella Hodges placed sixth for the Jaguars, and Julia Flick took seventh–both in a time of 20:24. Cora DenHartog was 13th in 20:51, Tillie Smith placed 18th in 20:59, Haley Hveem took 21st in 21:36, and Kylee Patterson finished 23rd in 21:39.
“I’m really excited for our team,” Mohrhauser said. “I knew it would be a close battle (with Ankeny).”
Cogdill said his squad has made a lot of progress in the first three meets.
“Our first race is our rust-buster and from then on out they kind of go, and today they felt like they were going to have a better showing,” he said. “I wasn’t anticipating that we were going to pick up a win, though.”
Ankeny’s Sophia Graber placed 10th in a time of 20:36. Lauren Jackson took 11th for the Hawkettes in 20:41, Ainsley Kiene was 12th in 20:44, Makenna Madetzke placed 14th in 20:57, Gwen Briggs was 15th in 20:57, and Raegan Prendergast finished 19th in 21:00.
“We asked the girls to try a new tactic tonight and make a risk, and overall we are happy with how we finished up,” Groff said. “We are continuing to get healthy. Our girls are such hard workers and demand the best from themselves day in and day out. We couldn’t be more pleased with where we are at top to bottom.”
Beason was also pleased with the Hawkettes’ effort.
“I feel really good about where we’re at. We’re doing well,” she said. “I know Centennial has some potential, so it’s going to be close between us.”
Valley placed three runners in the top five, but couldn’t match the depth of the top two teams. The Tigers’ fourth runner placed 22nd–behind all of Centennial and Ankeny’s scoring runners.
“As the race unfolded, it looked like a three-headed hunt with Valley in there too,” Cogdill said. “We certainly knew Ankeny was there. They’re running well, and it’s exciting to have that rivalry again with both of us right there really strong. We look like good competitive teams.”
Groff said his runners enjoyed the friendly competition as well.
“Our girls continue to have a blast every day,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit group, and that is the most important part. If they aren’t enjoying their running experience, we have to ask ourselves, ‘What is this all about?’ So, overall I couldn’t be more proud of these young ladies and the progress they have made thus far!”
The Centennial boys’ team also competed at the Karpan Invitational. The No. 17 Jaguars placed third among seven teams with 72 points.
No. 7 Valley easily claimed its second straight crown, finishing with 24 points. Marshalltown was second with 55 points.
“It was great to see our guys competing and getting huge improvements on the course over last year’s race,” said Centennial boys’ coach Chad Fickbohm, who rested some of his top runners. “The varsity crew had a 22-second spread, which was just a great execution of the race plan.”
Valley’s Evan McClinton won the race in a time of 16:33. He finished 34 seconds ahead of teammate Jacob Forney.
Cohen Moll led Centennial with a 10th-place finish, while Davis Johnson took 11th. They were both clocked in 17:50.
Corbin Vander Weerdt placed 14th for the Jaguars in 17:55. Mark Nelson took 17th in 17:59, Sean Thomas was 20th in 18:12, Isaac Porter placed 34th in 19:01, and Ian Smith finished 49th in 19:38.
Both Centennial teams will compete in the Indianola Invitational on Sept. 21 at Pickard Park.
“We are looking forward to continuing to improve at Indianola next week,” Fickbohm said.
The Hawkettes will travel to St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 22 for the Roy Griak Invitational.