The Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country team was hoping to win its first CIML Conference title since 2022, which was also the last time the meet was held at Johnston.
After placing second behind Johnston in each of the last two years, the third-ranked Jaguars raced to a third-place finish on Wednesday. They finished with 67 points.
No. 2 Waukee Northwest captured its first conference crown with 40 points. The Wolves edged No. 4 Johnston by six points, preventing the Dragons from earning a threepeat.
“It was another great day for racing, and we had great outcomes for the 60 girls whose season has ended,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill. “Collectively, the varsity left some points out there today, so like last week at Fort Dodge, we still have a higher ceiling to chase.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, took seventh in the nine-team field. The Hawkettes scored 188 points.
“We were really happy with the effort each individual gave,” said Ankeny coach TJ Jumper. “We had some up and down results, but finished where we would have been seeded. Although we had some athletes have a tough competition, we had some others run well.”
Johnston’s Alyx Woodley, who is ranked 24th in Class 4A, defeated a field that included four top-10 runners to win the 5K race in a time of 18 minutes 5.9 seconds. She finished more than 2 seconds ahead of No. 4 Laney Sundet of Waukee Northwest.
Freshman Rebecca Flick led the way for Centennial. The No. 9 Flick passed several runners in the second half of the race to place third in 18:17.
“I was really happy with my race. It went better than I was expecting, which was really great,” said Flick. ” My strategy was to stay behind the first pack so I could run all the tangents while still running my pace. This allows for me to catch the fall stars (runners) that fall from the pack. An important step for this is to also always have my eyes on my running buddy Ellie Blevins so I have a way to stay close enough if I could sprint and catch up, that’s a good distance away from the pack. Overall, it was a pretty great race and I really enjoyed my race and my time overall.”
Her teammate, Blevins, earned a seventh-place finish. The No. 8 Blevins was clocked in 18:23.
“We visited last week about the confidence that Rebecca and Ellie have gained from finishing near the front of elite fields,” Cogdill said. “Today, Ellie took that confidence and attempted a big move in the middle of the race to try to take the conference crown from Woodley. Ultimately, she paid a price in the final quarter mile but still earned first-team all-conference along with Rebecca, who stuck with her recent racing plan and was rewarded with a third-place finish. Both are well-positioned to earn all-state honors in two weeks.”
No. 7 Makenna Madetzke of Ankeny also placed in the top 10. She took ninth in 18:51, earning second-team all-conference honors for the second year in a row.
Natalie Cogdill placed 17th for the Jaguars in 19:01. Kylee Patterson took 19th in 19:09, Sammi Maile was 21st in 19:13, Piper Klingner placed 34th in 19:48, and Ella Campbell finished 43rd in 20:05.
“Natalie and Sammi again led our pack and stayed together through 2.8 miles this go around,” Cogdill said. “The final bumps and sprints to the finish line created some separation as Natalie finished with a new lifetime best and Sammi joined her in earning third-team all-conference honors. Finishing between them was Kylee, who has been on fire recently as a fierce finish brought her a new lifetime best and her first-ever all-conference award in a long, successful career as a varsity runner for us. These efforts were all coming off our hardest workout of the season that our top girls carried a big load in and still had residual effects from, but they trust the payoff is coming.
“Piper took a new strategy into this race after reflecting on recent weeks and was rewarded with a 40-plus second lifetime best as she finished as our No. 6 runner. And, Ella made her return to the lineup after a bug last week forced her to stay home. She competed hard to nearly break the 20-minute barrier while not yet 100 percent,” he added.
Ainsley Kiene placed 38th for the Hawkettes in 19:55. Ivy Wiegand took 49th in 20:19, Vanessa Wise finished 54th in 20:39, Ella Schulz placed 58th in 20:49, Reagan Prendergast was 60th in 20:54, and Isabella Sullivan finished 66th in 21:32.
“Vanessa ran a great race and set a new PR,” Jumper said. “Ivy has been really consistent for us this year and continues to deliver. Every race we learn and improve no matter the outcome. We will do the same with this meet and look to be better at a very tough district meet next week.”
Both Ankeny and Centennial will now prepare for their respective Class 4A state qualifying meets.
The Jaguars will compete at the Council Bluffs Lincoln site on Wednesday. They are looking to qualify for the 12th time in the 13-year history of the program.
No. 6 Dallas Center-Grimes, No. 15 Norwalk and No. 16 Des Moines Roosevelt will be among the other teams in the field, which boasts eight runners ranked in the top 30.
“I expect a close matchup with DC-G for the team title,” Cogdill said. “They are as good as anyone in the state through three runners, and that carries them to a high ranking. In a small meet such as this, it will be very close.”
Ankeny will head to the Marshalltown site. The Hawkettes are seeking their sixth straight trip to state, but they will have to beat at least one top-10 opponent in order to qualify.
Waukee Northwest is in the field along with No. 8 Cedar Falls and No. 9 Waukee.