Thursday’s Fort Dodge Invitational was a preview of the upcoming Class 4A state meet for the second-ranked Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country team.
Competing on the same 5k course at Lakeside Golf Course that will host the state meet on Oct. 31, the Jaguars placed second in the 25-team field with 79 points. They finished 19 points behind No. 3 Waukee Northwest, which won the meet a year ago and then went on to capture the Class 4A crown.
Both Northwest and Centennial defeated No. 1 Johnston, which placed a distant third with 129 points.
“It’s been such a joy to watch these girls compete, work together and keep growing through the season. We turned in another solid performance today, upsetting Johnston while falling to Waukee Northwest as they approached full strength for the first time this season,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill. “After today’s races, my message to the girls was to start fully trusting the body of work they have turned in this season. Big meet, after big meet, they have faced elite competition and continue to shine. They are too hard on themselves, and I told them no more doubts–no more worries. Keep showing up!”
It was the first meet for Centennial since the Jaguars placed sixth in the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 25 at Columbia, Mo. The layoff had been even longer for crosstown rival Ankeny, which competed for the first time since the Heartland Classic on Sept. 19 at Central College.
“It for sure had its challenges, but I thought our girls did a really solid job of staying focused through it all,” said Ankeny coach Josh Einertson. “We’d have a meet cancelled, get into another one, and then that one would get cancelled too. Everyone was in the same boat, though! We were able to put together a fun little intrasquad meet and then had a nice crosstown race against Centennial, so our girls still got to compete a little bit. But it’s just not the same as getting out there and racing an actual 5k.”
On Thursday, Ankeny finished right in the middle of the pack. The Hawkettes placed 13th with 366 points.
“Tonight was a beautiful night, and it was just nice to see our girls get out and race again!” Einertson said. “Coach Skelly (Dan Skelton) and I are pretty happy with how the team ran tonight. Our younger girls continue to get some valuable experience, and I think we have to remember that most of them have only run a few 5ks in their lives. They’re still figuring things out and learning how to race, which is exciting!”
Centennial placed three runners among the top 11 finishers. Seventh-ranked Natalie Cogdill took third with a time of 18 minutes 9 seconds, No. 5 Rebecca Flick was fifth in 18:26, and No. 17 Ellie Blevins finished 11th in 18:50.
“Today’s race went out conservative with a pack of 15 girls together at the mile,” Cogdill said. “It was nice to see Natalie, Rebecca and Ellie all within a second and running strong and comfortable. The hilly second mile split Ellie off as her quads were pretty sore from a VO2 Max workout we did on Monday, but her heart kept fighting. She finished with a nice flurry to overtake two girls and nearly picked off two more, finishing higher than the XCRatings computer model had her picked.”
No. 1 Emmy Stubbendeck led Northwest to the team title. She won the race in a time of 17:58, edging No. 14 Isabel Spradling of Des Moines Roosevelt by 3 seconds.
“At the 2-mile mark, Natalie and Rebecca were one step in front of a cluster of five with the final separation all occurring over the last 1,000 meters,” Cogdill said. “Both Rebecca and Natalie have been sick, but seeing them battle through the whole race and continue to perform at an elite level when not 100 percent was another reassurance. Rebecca was also coming off a doubleheader, travel soccer weekend where she has been playing every minute of the games. Similar to Ellie, she had some residual soreness she was working through.”
Blevins finished ahead of Northwest’s No. 3 and 4 runners, but the Wolves placed four girls in the top 14 and had two more runners finish ahead of Centennial’s No. 4 runner, Sammi Maile.
Maile placed 27th in a time of 19:25. Trinity Klingensmith was the Jaguars’ fifth scoring runner, taking 33rd in 19:38.
“I can’t say enough good things about our pack of five,” Cogdill said. “They race together, they move up well, and they finish in a flurry passing numerous athletes over the final mile. That pack mentality keeps them pulling one another along, and the excitement of hearing how our girls up front were performing gave them a little extra motivation in the middle.”
Klingensmith was followed closely by three of her teammates. Zoey Bogseth placed 38th in 19:41, while Madi Hames and Piper Klingner crossed the finish line together in 19:52–taking 43rd and 44th, respectively.
“In the last five meets, Sammi and Piper have either finished fourth or eighth for us,” Cogdill said. “Sammi shined today with a huge season best while Piper has been battling a tough cold and still broke the 20-minute barrier. Likewise, Zoey and Trinity have swapped the fifth and sixth spots for us. Today, Trinity had a fierce race and closed very strong while Zoey ran a lifetime best for the fifth time this year. Madi broke the 20-minute barrier as well and has finished as our No. 7 girl each of the past five meets.
“A year ago, we put seven girls under 20 minutes at state for the first time and today we pushed eight girls under that barrier with a few weeks to keep improving,” he added.
Ankeny, meanwhile, was again led by freshmen Mia Heim and Aubrey Young. Heim placed 49th in 20:02, while Young took 55th in 20:14.
Piper Conklin, another freshman, placed 85th in 20:44.
“Piper was our No. 3 runner tonight and had a huge PR!” Einertson said. “I thought she ran the best race of the night. She just went out there and competed really well. It was awesome to see!”
Conklin finished just ahead of teammate Vanessa Wise, who was 86th in 20:45. Isabella Sullivan placed 107th in 21:25, Gillian Schramm took 112th in 21:32, and Maria Owen finished 113th in 21:33.
“I was really happy with our senior crew,” Einertson said, referring to Wise, Sullivan and Schramm. “They’re starting to come into form at the right time, and a lot of them are either right at or have already passed their personal bests with a couple weeks still to go. That’s always fun to see!”
Both Ankeny and Centennial will compete in the CIML Conference meet on Wednesday at Southeast Polk. Northwest is the defending champion.
“Overall, we are pretty happy with where we’re at,” Einertson said. “It’s been a weird cross country season with the weather, but the girls have continued to work hard and stay focused. I’m excited to see what we can do over these next couple of weeks!”
