After being 17th in the Class 4A preseason rankings, the Ankeny Centennial boys’ cross country team proved in its opening meet that the Jaguars were vastly underrated.
Centennial moved up to No. 5 in the Week 2 rankings after winning the Jaguar Invitational on Aug. 26 for its first team title since 2020.
Then, on Thursday, the Jaguars nearly picked up another victory. They placed second in the Kirk Schmaltz Invitational at the Iowa State cross country course in Ames with 82 points, finishing just two points behind No. 3 Waukee Northwest.
“I think our team did very well overall,” said Centennial senior Cohen Moll, who was one of three top-10 finishers for the Jaguars. “There were a lot of big PR’s, especially coming from our 9-10/JV runners.”
No. 16 Ankeny, meanwhile, placed seventh in the 14-team field. The Hawks, who competed without 11th-ranked Isaiah Smith, scored 197 points.
“Again, I’m really pleased with the way our boys stepped up and performed,” said Ankeny coach Jon Lindaman. “We have been hit pretty hard with illnesses, losing two of our hammers for multiple weeks and several of the other guys were running at less than 100 percent, but they did not let that stop them from having a really nice night. Several of the kids knew we needed them so the whole team collectively rallied.”
Marshalltown junior Preston Johnson pulled away from the field to win the 5K race in a time of 14 minutes 55 seconds. The seventh-ranked Johnson finished 37 seconds ahead of teammate Carter Nunn, the No. 25 runner in Class 4A.
The No. 8 Moll placed fourth in 15:37.8, No. 28 Davis Johnson was fifth in 15:38.3, and No. 23 Jax Alvarez finished ninth in 15:47.
“I knew Preston was going to pull away pretty much from the gun,” Moll said. “I wanted to stick with the chase pack and let them do most of the heavy lifting, and I executed my race plan pretty well. I’m happy with how I finished in the field.
Ian Smith placed 29th for the Jaguars in 16:28. Brecken Allen took 35th in 16:41, Levi Odson was 56th in 17:10, and Jack Behrens finished 71st in 18:04.
“I’m really happy for Ian, Davis and Jax–who had pretty big races as well,” Moll said. “The addition of Jax and Brecken to the team this year has made a big impact on our standing these last two meets.”
Ankeny placed two runners in the top 30. Brett Augustine took 25th in 16:25, while Gus Brown finished 27th in 16:27.
“It was pretty cool for Brett to be our top guy,” Lindaman said. “He has worked hard for four years, so it is a great honor for him. Our superstar freshman (Brown) moved up to No. 3 all-time freshman in Ankeny history, so he continues to impress.”
Isaiah Swanson placed 43rd for the Hawks in 16:56. Jackson Kaiser took 50th in 17:04, Brayden Nixt was 52nd in 17:08, Benton Schuchart placed 53rd in 17:09, and Logan Rolling finished 58th in 17:14.
“When you look at an overall team score, it does not always tell the whole story,” Lindaman said. “This course is always a touch short, and we knew our times would be much faster than last week. What I was impressed with is how much faster our kids were on this same course from last year to this year. The majority of our team was 30 seconds to 2 minutes faster, so it is very rewarding to see their hard work pay off. Isaiah dropped 2 minutes from his time here last year, and as only a sophomore, he will only get better and better. Kaiser and Schuchart were both less than 100 percent, but still competed really hard. Nixt and Rolling both ran PR’s and looked good doing it.
“Finally, we got a nice JV push from Cody Banks, Allan Johnson and Gideon Miller. Our guys have to keep working together, and keep improving each week, and good things will happen,” he added.
Both Ankeny and Centennial will compete in the Bobcat Invitational on Thursday at Marshalltown Community College.