The Ankeny Centennial cross country teams raced to third-place finishes in the Bud Williams Invitational on Thursday at the Kickers Soccer Complex in Iowa City.
The Centennial girls’ squad lost to opponents from Iowa for the first time this season. The third-ranked Jaguars had won their first three meets of the year before placing fourth in the Gold Division of the Rim Rock Farm Classic on Saturday at Lawrence, Kan., where they finished behind a trio of out-of-state teams.
Pella, the No. 1 team in Class 3A, claimed the girls’ crown with 41 points. No. 4 Dubuque Senior, which had won the previous three Williams titles, placed second with 61.
Centennial finished with 80 points.
“Our girls were excited to see some fresh teams, but Anika (Mohrhauser) summed it up nicely after the meet where she said they didn’t see us,” said Centennial girls’ coach Eric Cogdill. “We just weren’t ourselves following the quick turnaround from a really big meet in Kansas and multiple long travel trips. That travel and shortened recovery span often shows itself in Big 12 basketball’s Saturday games where team A played Monday but team B played Wednesday. Team A is a much better version of themselves.
“This was also our only meet of the year where varsity went first, so varsity had to go through the race plan blindly and what I gave them wasn’t the best for this day although I believed it would help them for the end of the season races when temps drop and legs freshen up,” he added.
More than a dozen teams competed in both races. The No. 13 Centennial boys’ team posted a total of 79 points to earn its fourth top-three finish of the season.
No. 3 Cedar Rapids Prairie won the boys’ crown with 32 points. No. 4 Iowa City High was the runner-up with 62.
“We had a more consistent performance which is what we are working on for the end of the season,” said Centennial boys’ coach Chad Fickbohm. “Throughout the race the guys were moving forward and not settling behind groups, which is what we will need to do the rest of the year.”
Pella star Canaan Dunham pulled away from the field to win the boys’ 5K race in a time of 15 minutes 42 seconds. Centennial’s Cohen Moll was the runner-up in 16:17.
Moll, a junior, has earned four straight top-10 finishes.
“When Cohen decided to make his move from the group, he looked great from that point on,” Fickbohm said. “We just need to keep everyone closer to him going forward.”
Brayden Vander Wilt placed 14th for the Jaguars in 17:05. Davis Johnson took 18th in 17:10, Sean Thomas was 22nd in 17:17, Jack Behrens placed 23rd in 17:19, Mark Nelson was 35th in 17:49, and Ian Smith finished 47th in 18:15.
In the girls’ race, Pella’s Marissa Ferebee raced to the victory in a time of 17:48. She finished 23 seconds ahead of teammate Elsie Brenneman.
Centennial was led by Mohrhauser, who placed third in 18:58. It was her fourth top-three finish of the season.
Haley Hveem placed eighth for the Jaguars in 19:29. Bella Hodges took 15th in 19:58 one day after she committed to run in college for Illinois State.
“Bella had a great race,” Cogdill said. “Going through the recruiting process snags a lot of time and energy off these girls, and having found her landing spot was great. She competed really hard throughout the race and moved up five spots in the last quarter-mile which was great to see.”
Ellie Blevins was 26th in 20:26, Trinity Klingensmith placed 28th in 20:34, Kylee Patterson was 31st in 20:58, Kyra Zinn took 33rd in 21:09, Ella Campbell was 38th in 21:27, Tallie Plueger placed 44th in 21:45, Greta DenHartog took 51st in 22:15, Lily Mohrhauser was 56th in 22:38, and Cora DenHartog finished 79th in 24:17.
“Ellie has continued to make great strides following her pivotal pass in the finish chute at the Valley meet a few weeks ago,” Cogdill said. “On the long course here, her time would convert to sub-20 which is a great spot to be in entering October.”
Both Centennial teams will compete in the Fort Dodge Invitational on Thursday. The CIML Conference meet will be held the following week.
“We have a positive attitude going into the championship season,” Fickbohm said.