Ankeny’s Ethan Zuber made a strong statement in his first cross country race of the season.
The Ankeny Centennial boys’ team also made a huge impression.
Zuber, the defending Class 4A state champion, raced to a victory in the Kirk Schmaltz Invitational on Thursday at the Iowa State cross country course in Ames. He posted a time of 14 minutes 56.5 seconds in the 5K race to break the 15-minute barrier for the first time in his career.
Zuber, who finished 7 seconds ahead of runner-up Preston Johnson of Marshalltown, nearly matched the school record of 14:51 that was set by Tim Sindt at the Centennial Invitational in 2018.
“There was a lot of conversation between me and my coach going into this,” said Zuber. “I was going to do whatever it took to win. There was a lot of emotion behind the race. This is the first time I saw some competitors in a while, and I was really looking forward to breaking some people on the grass. The time was good, and I’m super happy with what the rest of my team did today. They did an amazing job.”
Zuber led third-ranked Ankeny to a fourth-place finish in the 13-team field. The Hawks posted a score of 129 points.
No. 5 Norwalk captured the team title for the third straight year, finishing with 104 points. No. 16 Centennial placed second with 119 points, edging No. 4 Waukee Northwest by six points.
“It’s an outstanding first race for the season against great competition,” said Centennial coach Chad Fickbohm. “The entire team raced great. We have talked a lot about the pack we have and how essential it is to keep that pack, and tonight we held it together pretty well.”
The Jaguars defeated Ankeny for the first time since the Schmaltz Invitational in 2021.
“I can recall a year ago leaving this meet really disappointed with our fourth-place finish, and our team ended up a top-three team in the state,” said Ankeny coach Jon Lindaman. “I see a similar scenario unfolding this season. At first glance our team score won’t strike fear in many teams, but we really did have a good meet for the most part, and are in great shape to do what we want at the end of the season. We saw some outstanding performances from key guys, and are in a really good place right now. If we make another great run during championship racing, nobody will remember the results of the Ames Invite.”
Junior Cohen Moll placed 13th to lead the Jaguars. He posted a time of 15:47.
Brayden Vander Wilt took 21st in 16:14. Davis Johnson placed 23rd in 16:17, Corbin Vander Weerdt was 28th in 16:22, Sean Thomas took 34th in 16:33, Jack Behrens was 41st in 16:38, and Mark Nelson finished 60th in 17:13.
“What I liked the most about tonight is we competed the whole race, and the times reflected that,” Fickbohm said. “It’s an exciting first race to learn from and build confidence–we need to keep focused on consistency and having fun racing this season. The competition is fast, and we showed tonight that we are part of that mix.”
Along with Zuber, Ankeny also got a top-five finish from Ike Smith. He placed fifth in 15:25.
“Zuber and Smith came out of the gates hot and are everything we thought they would be,” Lindaman said. “Zuber cruised an effortless sub-15 minute run, and Smith dropped a huge PR first meet out. After taking second in the state track 1,600, Ethan wanted to prove a point and he did just that. These guys are both hungry and set up for big seasons.”
Justice Rathje took 29th for the Hawks in 16:22. Nick Robie placed 46th in 16:49, Jackson Kaiser was 48th in 16:51, Brett Augustine took 54th in 17:03, and Tate Brownsberger finished 59th in 17:13.
“Our top two came out as advertised, but we are most excited about the performances we saw from Rathje, Kaiser, (Zach) Riley (in the JV race), and Augustine,” Lindaman said. “We really needed one of these guys to step up, and they all did. Rathje’s 48-second PR was a great sign for our team. If he continues to run at this level we will be a really hard team to beat down the stretch. Brownsberger and Robie were not where they wanted to be tonight, but both were ahead of where they were a year ago, and both ended the season as sub-15:50 runners last season at the state meet. These guys are gamers with a ton of big race experience, and will continue to improve as the season goes on.”
The Ankeny and Centennial runners had to wait an extra week to open the season after the Jaguar Invitational on Aug. 27 was cancelled due to the extreme heat.
“The last couple of years that meet has been cancelled, so I think this lined up perfect with our race schedule,” Zuber said. “We had time to unite the team and get the guys ready and just mentally prep for this race, so I think that was actually a blessing in disguise.”
The Hawks will compete in the Marshalltown Invitational on Thursday at Marshalltown Community College, while the Jaguars will run in the Cedar Rapids Jefferson Invitational at the Seminole Valley cross country course.
