The Ankeny Centennial girls’ cross country team proved again on Wednesday that it’s a legitimate contender to capture the Class 4A state championship later this month.
The second-ranked Jaguars won a showdown between the state’s top three large-school squads to claim the CIML Conference title for the first time since 2022. They finished with 50 points, edging No. 1 and defending champion Waukee Northwest by one point and No. 3 Johnston by two points.
“I never lose faith in them,” said Centennial coach Eric Cogdill. “I knew they were going to turn in great performances, but you can’t control the opponent. Waukee Northwest, on paper, should have won this meet by about 15 points. They didn’t have the best day, they’re nursing a couple of injuries, and they sat a girl out. But I don’t think it would have made a difference. We came and competed so well, and I think we had lifetime bests from six of the eight (girls). You can’t compare to that–it’s amazing.”
All six of Centennial’s returning runners placed higher than they did at last year’s meet. The Jaguars set a school record time for the five scoring runners and the varsity seven.
“I’m so proud of this team,” said Centennial sophomore Piper Klingner. “We’ve worked so hard all season, and I’m ready for the next meet.”
Ankeny, meanwhile, placed eighth in the nine-team field. The Hawkettes finished with 215 points.
“What a beautiful night to compete!” said Ankeny coach Josh Einertson. “I couldn’t be more proud of our girls. I mean, you can’t ask for much better competition than the CIML Conference. I believe six of the top 11 teams in the state are in our conference, and that’s pretty awesome! Our girls get to go out and compete against some of the best runners in the state at almost every meet, and I think that is really starting to pay off for us.”
Top-ranked Emmy Stubbendeck of Northwest won the 5k race with a time of 17 minutes 30 seconds. She was followed closely by the Centennial duo of No. 9 Rebecca Flick and No. 4 Natalie Cogdill.
Flick was the runner-up in a time of 17:37, while Cogdill took third in 17:41. They both eclipsed Flick’s previous school record of 17:48.
The Jaguars also got a fourth-place finish from No. 18 Ellie Blevins, who was clocked in 18:03.
“Every girl is so important,” Cogdill said. “Ellie had the race of the season for herself. On paper she was supposed to finish eighth, and she slides up to fourth. The rest of the pack just stayed together and kept working hard, kept grinding and pulling each other up. Every single one of them–just one pass is the difference maker there. If we had gone to a tiebreaker, I think Northwest had that too.”
A gap of just 3 seconds separated Centennial’s other four varsity runners. Sammi Maile placed 20th in 19:08, Trinity Klingensmith took 21st in 19:09, Klingner was 23rd in 19:10, and Zoey Bogseth finished 25th in 19:11.
“It felt pretty good,” Klingner said of the race. “I felt pretty strong throughout the whole thing, and I just tried to kick as hard as I could at the end.”
The Jaguars also got a 29th-place finish from Madi Hames. She posted a time of 19:24.
The state meet is slated for Oct. 31 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Centennial is looking to earn a trophy for the second time after placing third in 2020.
“We started becoming believers along the way,” Cogdill said. “We’re a contender to bring home a team trophy. Today kind of cements that again, but we’re still going to have to show up. There are five teams that can bring home those three trophies. I wouldn’t count any of them out because they’ve all been there before.”
Ankeny is also hoping to qualify for state. The Hawkettes took a step in the right direction with their performance on Wednesday.
“It’s been really cool to see how much these girls have grown throughout the season and to see all the hard work they’ve put in over the summer and throughout the fall start to pay off,” Einertson said. “Coach Skelly and I are really proud of this group and the progress they’ve made. We’re excited to keep things rolling into districts next week and see what we can do! We know it’ll be a challenge heading to Iowa City, but we’re looking forward to it!”
Ankeny was led by freshman Mia Heim. She placed 18th in 19:04, allowing her to earn all-conference honors along with several of the Jaguar runners.
“Mia executed her race plan nearly perfectly and ran a huge new PR!” Einertson said. “Breaking 19 minutes is now right within reach for her, which is pretty exciting!”
Peyton Anderson, another freshman, took 45th for the Hawkettes in 20:12. She was making her varsity debut.
“Peyton has been battling injuries for most of the season and was finally able to get back out and compete in the JV race at Fort Dodge last week,” Einertson said. “It was really cool to see her get into the mix with our varsity crew tonight and show what she’s capable of.”
Ankeny’s Vanessa Wise placed 49th in a time of 20:18. Gillian Schramm took 55th in 20:22, Piper Conklin was 56th in 20:25, Maria Owen was 64th in 21:03, and Isabella Sullivan finished 66th in 21:17.
“Every single girl on our team set either a lifetime best or a season best tonight, and many of those were by pretty large margins!” said Einertson, whose squad competed without No. 2 runner Aubrey Young. “The performance of the night might have to go to Gillian, who ran a new PR by over a minute!”
While Ankeny will head to Iowa City for the regional meet on Wednesday at Kickers Park, Centennial has been assigned to the Southeast Polk regional. No. 9 Waukee and No. 11 Valley will provide the most competition for the Jaguars.
“We’ll be the team champion, and it won’t be close. That’s just the nature of the sport,” Cogdill said. “But individually, it’s very top-heavy. There are maybe eight girls who could end up in the top 15 at the state meet. We’re going to see a pretty honest race up front. Our pack is going to end up right around that top 15 spot. We might have all seven girls be individual qualifiers in that top 15.”
