The Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country team opened its season on Tuesday by placing second in the Jaguar Invitational at DMACC.
The 12th-ranked Jaguars scored 55 points when the results of the two girls’ races were combined. No. 3 Waukee Northwest won the meet with 36 points.
“Our coaching staff is very proud of our girls as they fought off bussing challenges and first-race jitters, were very coachable before and during races, and turned in many strong performances,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill.
No. 8 Ankeny, meanwhile, placed seventh in the seven-team field. The Hawkettes posted a score of 216 points.
“With this being the first meet, we used it as a learning meet,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “Since it is so early in the season, we decided to train through the meet to ensure our progression and development was slowed down for later in the season. This is why we held out a few of our runners. We felt another week of training would be more beneficial to our team and individual goals.”
Centennial freshman Rebecca Flick won the 5K race in the 9/10 division with a time of 19 minutes 17.1 seconds. She finished 24 seconds ahead of the field while placing second overall.
“Rebecca executed her race perfectly to seize the lead with about 1.25 miles to go and then ran away for the victory over last year’s eighth grade state runner-up,” Cogdill said.
Sammi Maile placed eighth for the Jaguars in the 9/10 race in 20:21. Natalie Cogdill was ninth in 20:24, Trinity Klingensmith took 11th in 20:35, and Piper Klingner finished 15th in 20:52.
“In the 9/10 race, our scoring five all finished in the top 15 with most of those girls exceeding the stretch goals I had in mind for them,” Cogdill said. “Sammi and Natalie ran side-by-side throughout the race and moved up through the field like veterans to capture a pair of top-10 finishes. Trinity was phenomenal as well finishing 11th and closing strong. And, Piper took 15th as she faded a little after spending much of the race with those other three. We look forward to seeing pack running out of this group of girls all season long!”
In the 11/12 race, Centennial got a runner-up finish from Ellie Blevins, who took third overall in a time of 19:17.5. She was 29th in the Class 4A preseason individual rankings.
Northwest’s Caroline Opfer won the race in 19:11.
“In the 11/12 race, we again exceeded stretch goals,” Cogdill said. “Ellie led nearly half of the race. She gained a lot of valuable racing experience today.”
Ella Campbell placed seventh for the Jaguars in 20:00. Kylee Patterson was 12th in 20:32.
“Ella had a phenomenal day to take seventh among a field of state meet veterans,” Cogdill said. “And Kylee climbed throughout the race and felt as though her legs were the freshest she can remember, but was hindered by the dusty conditions. Numerous girls experienced stomach cramps and tight lungs across both races. Kylee and Ella will add to our pack next week, and Ellie will have a race partner with Rebecca too!”
Ankeny’s Ella Schulz placed 30th in the 11/12 race in 21:59. Ivy Wiegand took 32nd in 22:17, Vanessa Wise was 33rd in 22:19, and Isabella Sullivan finished 36th in 22:29.
The Hawkettes got a 36th-place finish from Elin Alber in the 9/10 race. She was clocked in 23:52.
“Those who did compete, we were extremely happy with their effort,” Jumper said. “This gave us a practice run of what routines we need to have. We found out what may work and what did not work related to our school day schedule, lunch times, and hydration. It was a great test run for us.”
Both Ankeny and Centennial will compete in the Kirk Schmaltz Invitational on Thursday at the Iowa State cross country course.
“We see all these teams again next week at Ames and add a few more state meet contenders to a race that the girls are already excited about where they will apply today’s lessons and have the opportunity to work together to see improvement,” Cogdill said.
