Tuesday’s Tom Karpen Invitational at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School featured only four teams in the girls’ varsity division.
It turned into somewhat of a dual meet between third-ranked Ankeny Centennial and No. 7 Valley.
Both squads placed seven runners among the top 17 finishers, resulting in a tight battle. In the end, the Jaguars edged Valley by two points, 29-31, to win the meet for the third straight year.
“We’ve made a lot of progress this summer, so I’m excited,” said Centennial senior Anika Mohrhauser.
Centennial remained unbeaten on the season. The Jaguars had easily won their first two meets, including a 52-point victory over Valley in the Kirk Schmaltz Invitational on Sept. 5 at Ames.
Mohrhauser posted her second consecutive victory after winning the Cedar Rapids Invitational on Thursday. She turned in a time of 19 minutes 19 seconds in the 5k race.
“I was happy with it,” said Mohrhauser, who defended her individual crown. “I just wanted to win and hopefully run a good time and enjoy it, because this is the last time running here. I don’t really enjoy the hills, but it’s fun to see what I can do on this course.”
Teammate Haley Hveem placed second in 19:59. She ran closely behind Mohrhauser for awhile, but eventually dropped back.
“I like to kind of shadow (Mohrhauser) because she runs really smart races,” Hveem said. “But I think I might have taken it out a little too hot for how hard the course was. I think I just kept getting slower, but it’s ok.”
Centennial’s Kylee Patterson placed seventh in a time of 21:13. Ellie Blevins took eighth in 21:26, finishing 1 second ahead of Valley’s Kate Green.
If Green had finished ahead of Blevins, that would have allowed the Tigers to finish in a tie with Centennial at 30 points apiece.
“The race could have gone better, but I’m really happy with our team,” Hveem said.
Trinity Klingensmith was the Jaguars’ fifth scoring runner, placing 11th in 21:41. Greta DenHartog was 13th in 22:07, and Tallie Plueger finished 15th in 22:22.
No. 8 Ankeny placed fourth with 111 points. The Hawkettes entered a lineup of junior varsity runners with the Roy Griak Invitational coming up on Friday at St. Paul, Minn.
Isabel Squires placed 22nd in 23:38 to lead Ankeny. Paige Schmidt was 23rd in 23:43.
The No. 16 Centennial boys’ squad also entered a lineup of junior varsity runners. The Jaguars placed eighth among 10 teams with 186 points.
Levi Odson placed 20th to lead Centennial, while Maxwell Curnyn took 21st. They were both clocked in 18:34.
Preston Johnson of Marshalltown won the race in 16:39. He finished 7 seconds ahead of teammate John Moellers.
No. 20 Valley won its third straight title, finishing with 40 points. No. 18 Marshalltown was the runner-up with 91 points.