Both the Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country teams left the DMACC course on Wednesday feeling good about where they are headed.
The seventh-ranked Jaguars placed second in the CIML Conference meet with 64 points. The defending champions finished 14 points behind No. 1 Johnston.
“We had some lights out racing tonight from the Jaguars. We had 35 girls run lifetime bests,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill. “Ten girls broke 20 minutes; a week ago we had eight, and in the nine years prior to that we had never had more than five in a single meet. The girls are firing at the right time.”
No. 8 Ankeny, meanwhile, took fourth in the nine-team field. The Hawkettes finished with 95 points.
“Overall, it was a great night,” said Ankeny coach Quinn Groff. “We are getting to where we want to be down the stretch here. We have a few spots for improvement we will work on this week, but it’s been fun to watch the girls enjoy the season. From top to bottom, we had numerous PRs tonight.”
Johnston was led to the victory by Olivia Verde, the state’s No. 1 runner in Class 4A. She won the 5k race in a time of 17 minutes 48 seconds.
Eighth-ranked Drew Beason of Ankeny pulled away from No. 5 Anika Mohrhauser of Centennial late in the race to place second in 18:02.
“I was really happy with my race,” said Beason. “I felt good. I felt like I had enough in me so I might as well pull away and just run my own race. If they come, they come with. But I knew where I should kick and where I had enough in me to keep going so that was nice.”
Mohrhauser placed third in 18:12, setting a school record. She had edged Beason in all three previous meetings this season.
“I think it went good,” Mohrhauser said of the race. “We had a good pack running with us through the first mile and then Drew and I kind of worked together through the middle and then she kind of left me at the end, but she had a good race.”
Cogdill was confident that Mohrhauser would break the school record.
“She ran tough, pushing the pace in the middle mile and doing all the work for the pack,” he said.
Beason and Mohrhauser were joined on the all-conference first team by Centennial’s Cora DenHartog, who placed eighth in 18:57.
“Cora became just the third Jaguar under 19 minutes while she also PR’d by 38 seconds,” Cogdill said. “She has come remarkably far. She placed 98th out of 101 finishers in her first cross country meet back in seventh grade.”
Centennial’s Bella Hodges placed 12th in 19:05, while Julia Flick took 14th in 19:14. They were joined on the all-conference second team by Ankeny’s Sophia Graber, who finished 16th in 19:16.
Ainsley Kiene placed 21st for the Hawkettes in 19:23. She earned third-team all-conference honors.
“This season has been a blast,” Groff said. “Each girl has improved immensely.”
Haley Hveem and Ellie Blevins each posted a time of 19:42 for the Jaguars, placing 29th and 30th, respectively. Kyra Zinn was right behind them, finishing 31st in 19:43.
Centennial posted team times that set new school records for both the five scoring runners and the top seven finishers.
“The team did amazing,” Mohrhauser said. “Best race all season for sure. We had a lot of PRs today.”
Ankeny’s Makenna Madetzke placed 25th in 19:35. Lauren Jackson took 35th in 19:49, Gwen Briggs was 39th in 19:57, and Raegan Prendergast finished 46th in 20:16.
Briggs is the lone senior in the Hawkettes’ top seven, but Groff said some other seniors have also played critical leadership roles for the team.
“Our senior leaders have been phenomenal,” he said. “Ella Huber has worked her butt off and has been a team leader. Madisyn Gholson ran a great race and always brings a positive attitude to the team. Brenna Fast finished the hardest I have ever seen her run so it was fun to see her end her career that way. She’s a great young lady! Gwen has been a strong force on the varsity team this year, and we look forward to seeing what she can do these last few meets. Reagan Behrens is always bringing a positive attitude to the team as well, and she is such a great person. She ran super well tonight and led our JV team to a great finish.
“As a coaching staff, we are very pleased with this group but we know we are not finished yet!” he added.
Both Ankeny and Centennial will compete in a state qualifying meet on Wednesday. The Jaguars have been assigned to the site hosted by Iowa City West.
“We have set a big A+ goal to have all seven girls finish within the top 15, which would make each of them individual qualifiers,” Cogdill said.
The Hawkettes will run on the Iowa State cross country course in Ames.
“I like that course a lot,” Beason said. “I think everyone on our team likes that course.”