Competing against an elite field with teams from multiple states, the Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country squad placed sixth in the Gans Creek Classic on Friday at Columbia, Mo.
The third-ranked Jaguars posted a score of 238 points in a meet that featured 40 teams and 323 runners. According to Centennial girls’ coach Eric Cogdill, the course was built in 2019 specifically with cross country in mind and hosted last year’s NCAA Division I National Championships.
“Before the race, soaking in the atmosphere, we quickly got a feeling that it was one of those special opportunities where the conditions, the competition, and the athletes all aligned for electric performances, and our girls certainly delivered,” Cogdill said.
Senior Jax Alvarez of the Centennial boys’ team also competed at the prestigious meet. He placed seventh in a boys’ field of 316 runners with a personal-best time of 15 minutes 12 seconds, which set a school record.
“I think this race showed what kind of a competitor Jax is,” said Centennial boys’ coach Chad Fickbohm. “He’s had a couple of tough races this season and to have him go out, put himself in the race and come away with the school record builds a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
Jack McGovern of Rockhurst (Mo.) won the 5k race in 14:26. He finished 22 seconds ahead of Kuma Gutema of Sioux City North.
Pella, the No. 1 team and four-time defending state champion in Class 3A, captured the girls’ crown with 116 points. Bentonville (Ark.) was the runner-up with 129, followed by Bridgeland (Texas) with 136.
The Jaguars finished ahead of No. 2 Waukee Northwest, No. 5 Dallas Center-Grimes and No. 7 Pleasant Valley.
“We take on these challenges of elite fields containing more than twice the teams and nearly triple the number of competitors to give our girls big moments and challenges,” Cogdill said. “It’s truly exciting to see all the girls perform very well, but especially exciting that the freshmen shined in this big atmosphere that was new to them. Doing this now, makes the state meet much less intimidating.”
Maggie Bishop of Providence Academy (Ark.) won the race in 17:07. She edged Flannery O’Daniel of Bentonville by 6 seconds.
Centennial earned a pair of top-15 finishes. Rebecca Flick placed 12th in a school-record time of 17:48, while Natalie Cogdill took 14th in 17:59.
“Those two worked together and stayed within 1 second of each each for well over 4k of the race,” Cogdill said. “They crossed the 4k timing mat in 14:20, just under the legendary Kate Smith’s school record of 14:26, and both finished under the 18-minute barrier. Rebecca broke the school record held by 2024 state runner-up Anika Mohrhauser while Natalie’s time was just 1 second short of the old record.”
Ellie Blevins placed 31st for the Jaguars. She was clocked in 18:27.
“Ellie continues to get closer and closer to (our top two girls), and she gives us the best 1-2-3 combo in the state as she is positioning herself to repeat on the medal stand in five weeks at state,” Cogdill said.
Piper Klingner took 80th in 19:28, Zoey Bogseth was 106th in 19:42, Trinity Klingensmith placed 113th in 19:48, Madi Hames was 117th in 19:49, and Sammi Maile finished 136th in 20:06.
“Piper broke free from our pack much earlier than usual as she has been gaining more and more confidence, and she earned a big lifetime best and continues to look like a top-40 contender at state,” Cogdill said. “The next three all finished within 7 seconds of each other led this time by Zoey, who broke the 20-minute barrier for the first time. Both Zoey and Trinity passed right at 20 finishers over the final 1k, and our top seven was rounded out by Madi who also broke through the 20-minute mark. Sammi also ran varsity, finishing just on the other side of 20 minutes giving us eight strong performances in the top third of competitors.”
Emmy Stubbendeck of Northwest was the top individual finisher from Iowa. She took fourth in 17:22.
The Centennial girls’ team will compete in the Southeast Polk Invitational on Thursday. The boys’ squad will head to the Indianola Invitational at Pickard Park.
“We definitely look forward to everyone getting healthy and competing, hopefully in some better weather soon,” Fickbohm said. “But this (race by Alvarez) will bring some more excitement back to the team.
“We’ve had some really good practices, and we know we’re a better team than we’ve shown so far this season so we’re excited to be able to do that in the next few weeks,” he added.