After winning its first three meets of the season, the Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country squad traveled to Lawrence, Kan., this weekend to face some of the top teams in the Midwest.
The third-ranked Jaguars placed fourth in the Gold Division of the Rim Rock Farm Classic on Saturday. They finished with 210 points.
The prestigious meet featured teams from seven different states.
“This was a great experience for our girls to compete at one of the storied cross country facilities in all of America at the University of Kansas donated by legendary coach Bob Timmons,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill. “Our squad was selected as one of the top 35 teams entered to compete in the Gold Championship Division from over 130 entries. We have never competed out of state before and ahead of us was a daunting course to learn. The Rim Rock Farm features multiple sharp declines where runners can struggle to stay in control, a long ascent midway, followed by two late stair-stepper hills that can humble even the best runners.
“Fortunately, we were able to run a full course walkthrough the night before to familiarize ourselves somewhat and then we had the extra benefit of having our JV squad compete. They were the race plan guinea pigs and exceeded expectations to earn runner-up honors with four medalists. Without their performance providing confidence and targets for our varsity, Saturday’s outcome could have been much different. Instead, we entered the meet with a sense of calm and optimism and ended the race with the highest Iowa-based finish in five years,” he added.
Millard (Neb.) West won the team title with 109 points. Denver (Colo.) East took second with 163.
Ryin Miller of Topeka-Seaman (Kan.) won the 5K race in a time of 17:14. She finished about 3 seconds ahead of runner-up Kaylie Schultz of Salina (Kan.) Central.
Anika Mohrhauser and Haley Hveem both earned top-15 finishes for the Jaguars. Mohrhauser took seventh in a field of 179 runners with a time of 18:18, while Hveem finished 12th in 18:46.
Mohrhauser is the top-ranked runner in Class 4A.
“My hat’s off to Anika for a superb race,” Cogdill said. “For the season, only one Iowan (Marley Turk from Ames) has beaten Anika and today she flipped the result. Along the way, Anika ran the fastest ever time by an Iowa high school female at Rim Rock. We were hoping for our girls to be within 25 seconds of their season opener at Ames, and Anika was within 8 seconds.
“And Haley followed closely, solidifying herself as a state meet medal contender and giving our team the best score through two runners,” he added.
Centennial’s Bella Hodges placed 34th in 19:32. Kylee Patterson took 85th in 20:34, Trinity Klingensmith placed 100th in 20:55, Ellie Blevins was 101st in 20:57, and Greta DenHartog finished 113th in 21:14.
“This was a great dress rehearsal for the state meet to get out the jitters and to learn more about ourselves as racers,” Cogdill said. “For these girls, there won’t ever be as big of a talented field or as challenging of a course as what they competed in here.”
The Jaguars will compete in the Bud Williams Invitational on Thursday at Iowa City.