The Ankeny girls’ cross country team is closing the gap on top-ranked Johnston.
The seventh-ranked Hawkettes placed second among 12 teams in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Thursday. They posted a score of 77 points to finish 15 points behind Johnston.
Ankeny had finished 22 points behind the Dragons in the Bobcat Invitational on Sept. 7 at Marshalltown. The two squads also competed against each other at the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 22 at St. Paul, Minn., where Johnston placed second in the 40-team field and finished 210 points ahead of the ninth-place Hawkettes.
“The girls ran well from top to bottom,” said Ankeny coach Quinn Groff. “We couldn’t be more proud of the hard work and grit from the girls. They continue to improve, and we are excited to see what the home stretch of the season brings.”
Ankeny was led by Drew Beason, who placed second in the 5k race with a time of 18 minutes 56 seconds. She finished 14 seconds behind the winner–Olivia Verde of Johnston.
Sophia Graber took 13th for the Hawkettes in 20:15. Lauren Jackson placed 15th in 20:23, Ainsley Kiene was 16th in 20:24, Gwen Briggs took 31st in 20:53, Makenna Madetzke was 34th in 20:56, and Raegan Prendergast finished 43rd in 21:18.
“The girls are having fun–the atmosphere is light and positive,” Groff said. “The course was a true cross country course, and our girls attacked it. We are pleased with how the results turned out.”
The Ankeny boys’ team rested its varsity lineup. The Hawks entered a team in the junior varsity division and placed second with 47 points, finishing eight points behind Dallas Center-Grimes.
Ankeny’s Zach Riley placed third in a time of 17:52. He was followed by Jackson Kaiser (5th), Brennan Lesko (9th), Jake Dalmer (13th), Noah Yaeger (17th), Julius Wiegand (28th) and Brayden Nixt (33th).
Both Ankeny teams will compete in the Fort Dodge Invitational on Thursday.