The fifth-ranked Ankeny Centennial boys’ cross country team earned a fifth-place finish in the Heartland Classic on Saturday at Central College in Pella. The Jaguars scored 179 points.
Ankeny, meanwhile, took 13th in the 24-team field with 327 points.
“It was another good competitive effort from the guys,” said Centennial coach Chad Fickbohm. “It was good to get a race in on a Saturday morning as it’s a little different than racing in the evening.”
Ankeny also competed in the girls’ division. The 17th-ranked Hawkettes placed 10th among 18 squads with 210 points.
“We were really happy with the beginning of our race; we hit our first mile paces,” said Ankeny girls’ coach TJ Jumper. “The effort was outstanding.”
Centennial placed three runners in the top 15 in the boys’ 5K race. Cohen Moll led the way, taking seventh in a time of 16 minutes 2 seconds.
Davis Johnson placed 10th in 16:10. Jaxton Alvarez was 15th in 16:16.
“Those top three really are racing well,” Fickbohm said.
Ian Smith took 53rd for the Jaguars in 16:55. Levi Odson placed 106th in 17:51, and Benjamin Nelson finished 127th in 18:12.
“We can’t wait to get the full lineup to race together again,” said Fickbohm, whose team entered just six runners. “Brecken (Allen) had a soccer tournament this weekend, and Jack (Behrens) is trying to get fully healthy.”
Brett Augustine led Ankeny with a 52nd-place finish. He was clocked in 16:54.
Gus Brown placed 65th for the Hawks in 17:02. Isaiah Swanson took 73rd in 17:14, Benton Schuchart was 79th in 17:23, Logan Rolling placed 81st in 17:26, Jackson Kaiser was 89th in 17:30, and Brayden Nixt finished 107th in 17:51.
Western Dubuque star Quentin Nauman won the race in 15:01. He finished 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Canaan Dunham of Pella.
No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie won the team title with 87 points. No. 11 Dallas Center-Grimes was second with 102, followed by No. 7 Waukee Northwest with 118.
No. 6 Waukee Northwest captured the girls’ crown with 44 points. No. 5 Iowa City High was the runner-up with 74.
Izzy Hardin of Maquoketa won the race in 18:33. Northwest’s Laney Sundet took second in 18:37.
Ankeny was led by Makenna Madetzke. She placed fourth in a time of 18:52.
Ainsley Kiene took 42nd for the Hawkettes in 20:34. Ivy Wiegand placed 45th in 20:41, Ella Schulz was 63rd in 21:07, Reagan Prendergast took 79th in 21:25, Vanessa Wise was 89th in 21:47, and Isabella Sullivan finished 99th in 22:10.
“We are building toward districts and are at the heavy part of our training and season,” Jumper said. “The overall results were not where we wanted, but this is a process. We are going to really focus in on details that will help raise our performances here after homecoming. The next two weeks will help us get healthier and really put a late season push together.”
Both the Centennial boys’ and No. 4 girls’ teams will compete in the Indianola Invitational on Thursday at Pickard Park. The Jaguar girls’ squad will then head to the Rim Rock Invitational on Saturday at Lawrence, Kan., where they will be joined by the Ankeny boys’ team.
