The Ankeny girls’ cross country team was not at full strength on Wednesday, and neither was Ankeny Centennial.
Still, both teams had some good performances in the CIML Conference meet at Southeast Polk.
The fourth-ranked Jaguars, who were without coach Eric Cogdill, placed second in the nine-team field for the second straight year. They finished with 75 points.
“Cog is gone, so it’s kind of hard,” said Centennial senior Haley Hveem. “But he’s been there to support us. He’s been texting us all day, and he told us not to go out too hot on Mile 1 because it would be hilly. We just tried to make him proud.”
No. 7 Ankeny, meanwhile, placed fifth with 119 points. The Hawkettes competed without seniors Drew Beason and Lauren Jackson, two of their top runners.
“Our plan is coming together at the right time,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “Our confidence has been building, and we are excited for our postseason. We hope to add Drew and Lauren back in at districts.”
No. 2 Johnston easily defended its title. The Dragons placed five runners in the top nine and scored 24 points.
Johnston’s Alyx Woodley held off Centennial senior Anika Mohrhauser to win the 5K race in a time of 18 minutes 19.1 seconds. Mohrhauser was clocked in 18:19.8.
“My goal was to win,” said Mohrhauser. “I didn’t think I was going to catch (Woodley), but at the end when we were sprinting, I was really hoping to.”
Hveem placed eighth for the Jaguars in a time of 18:59, despite undergoing a root canal earlier that morning.
“I’ve been in a lot of pain,” Hveem said. “(The race) actually went better than I expected, but my finish needs some work. Last week and this week I’ve been passed by a few (runners).”
Two other Centennial runners also earned all-conference honors. Bella Hodges took 19th in 19:48, and Ellie Blevins was 21st in 19:52.
Julia Flick placed 26th for the Jaguars in 20:04. Trinity Klingensmith was 40th in 20:30, and Kylee Patterson finished 46th in 20:43.
“The team’s goal was just to have fun and do our best,” Mohrhauser said. “We’re in the championship season, so just to look strong. (Coach Cogdill) just said to have fun. We missed him a lot.”
Cogdill was out of town due to the death of his grandfather. He said he hated to miss the meet, but that he always tells his runners that your family comes first before everything else.
“This team is my second family, and I was heartbroken to have to miss the last race of the season for 90 percent of the girls–especially our 27 seniors, 18 of which are five-year participants,” he said. “These girls know my grandpa is my hero, and I have shared much with them about how he has shaped me as a person and how we operate our team.”
Cogdill said his grandfather biked 10 miles daily through his 80s, last water skied when he was 91, drove a combine until he was 92, and last summer at the age of 96 was still mowing his lawn.
“He never missed a birthday for his 26 grandkids, 59 great-grandkids and two great-great grandkids,” Cogdill said.
Ankeny was led by Makenna Madetzke. She placed 12th in a time of 19:17.
Sophia Graber and Ainsley Kiene also earned all-conference honors for the Hawkettes. Graber took 13th in 19:27, and Kiene finished 15th in 19:33.
“I felt really good,” said Graber. “I felt really strong, and the weather was perfect. My goal was to stick with Ainsley and get (a time of) 19:30.”
Ankeny’s Raegan Prendergast placed 36th in 20:25. Ivy Wiegand took 48th in 20:51, Vanessa Wise was 56th in 21:09, and Ella Schulz finished 58th in 21:16.
“As a coaching staff, we focus our training on being prepared for districts and state with our varsity runners and conference for our 9/10 and JV runners,” Jumper said. “It was a great meet for each of our teams. Almost everyone who ran either set a personal best time or a course best time. Sophia had a breakthrough race, and Ainsley keeps getting better. Raegan closes like no one I have seen before. If athletes are within 400 meters of her late in the race, she feels she is within striking distance to catch them. The depth from Ivy, Ella, Vanessa and Bella (Sullivan) is amazing. Their improvement this year has been exciting to watch, and they are the ones that ensure our team scores are consistent because they are putting themselves in position to be a high fifth score for us if something happens to our other runners. The future is bright for them.”
The Hawkettes found out earlier in the day that they’ll be going back to Southeast Polk next Wednesday for a Class 4A state qualifying meet. Johnston will be among the teams in the field.
“We were a little bit nervous finding out today that we’d be back here, but after this race we’re feeling pretty confident about the times we can get next time,” Graber said.
Centennial was assigned to the Marshalltown site. The Jaguars will compete against a field that includes No. 10 Dallas Center-Grimes.
“We’re pretty excited,” Hveem said. “We like the Marshalltown course.”
Dallas Center-Grimes is led by sophomore Piper Messerly, the No. 1 runner in Class 4A.
“We’re really happy about (our draw),” said Mohrhauser, who is ranked second. “Just having DC-G there will be some good competition.”