Although both Ankeny cross country teams placed fourth in a state qualifying meet on Wednesday at Iowa City, the Hawks and Hawkettes will still be represented at next week’s state meet.
Mia Heim and Vanessa Wise of the Ankeny girls’ squad both qualified as individuals. They’ll be joined at the state meet by Gus Brown of the Ankeny boys’ team.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity to send Mia and Vanessa to Fort Dodge!” said first-year Ankeny girls’ coach Josh Einertson. “Those two girls have been putting in a ton of work since the end of track season, and it’s pretty cool to see all that hard work pay off. They’ve both been great examples of what it means to work hard and stay committed to the process. I couldn’t be happier for those two, and we’re excited to see what they can do at the state meet!”
Brown, a sophomore, placed third in the boys’ 5k race. He posted a time of 16 minutes 3 seconds on the Kickers Park course.
“I was pretty happy with my race, but it stung that my team didn’t qualify,” said Brown.
Top-ranked Dowling Catholic easily captured the boys’ crown with 34 points. No. 8 Iowa City High placed second with 75 points, while No. 13 Davenport Central took third with 78 and also qualified for state.
No. 17 Ankeny finished with 106 points.
“Our kids did a really nice job of going out the first half of the race and executing exactly how they needed to,” said Ankeny boys’ coach Jon Lindaman. “We knew we were racing Davenport Central for the third spot, and today we ran into a team that just had a lights out day–credit to them. We need to be tougher in the second half of the race, and that starts with me making sure these guys are prepared to finish races. We get six of the seven runners back next year and get our superstar freshman Jack Vonnahme back from an injury, so there is a lot to be excited about. This was a learning experience for these guys, and they know what they need to be better at to succeed at the highest level. It is a really great group of young men, and I am already looking forward to what these guys can do next season.”
Fifth-ranked Andrew Heden of Bettendorf won the boys’ race in a time of 15:40. No. 8 Charlie Deick of Dowling was the runner-up in 15:55, crossing the finish line 8 seconds ahead of Brown.
“The pace was a little slower than I thought, but the hills were a big factor so that contributed to it,” said Brown, who is ranked 18th.
The Hawks had an individual state qualifier for the second straight year. Brown’s former teammate, Isaiah Smith, qualified a year ago.
“Congrats to Gus for another great race,” Lindaman said. “He has set himself up wonderfully to hit those goals he set out to do at the start of the season. He looked really comfortable and hungry. It will be a ton of fun watching him compete at the state meet.”
The Hawks got a 19th-place finish from Elijah Thompson. He was clocked in 17:03.
“Elijah really went after it and had a great race,” Lindaman said. “Unfortunately, he was the first runner out and didn’t quite qualify. I’m still really proud of how far he has come this season.”
Cody Banks took 27th in 17:41, while Jackson Schulz and Benton Schuchart both were clocked in 17:42–placing 28th and 29th, respectively. Tryce Riesberg was 32nd in 18:02, and Isaiah Swanson finished 34th in 18:04.
“I also want to give a shoutout to our lone senior on the district team,” Lindaman said. “Jackson has been such a steady contributor to our team over the past four years, and I am really proud of what this young man has given to the program. He does things the right way, and is a multi-activity kid that spends an obscene amount of time between band and cross country.”
The same three schools qualified for the girls’ state meet. No. 12 Iowa City High claimed the girls’ title with 35 points, No. 6 Dowling took second with 55, and No. 14 Davenport Central finished third with 59.
“It was a new course for both us and the boys, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect heading into the meet,” said Einertson, whose team finished with 117 points. “There was a lot of asking around, using different apps to try to map out the course, and looking at previous times to get an idea of what kind of course we would be running on. It ended up being a beautiful day to run!
“One thing that was really fun about this meet was getting the opportunity to compete against teams we don’t normally see throughout the season. Outside of Dowling, we really hadn’t raced against many of these teams, so there was a little bit of an unknown heading into the meet. I think that’s part of what makes a meet like this exciting. You’re looking at names and times on paper, but you aren’t necessarily able to put faces to those names like you can with teams you race against all season. That brings a challenge in itself because you don’t always know exactly how things are going to play out once the gun goes off. You can run all the simulations you want, and at the end of the day, that still doesn’t tell you the full tale,” he added.
Davenport Central swept the top three individual places. No. 5 Joley Sullivan won the race in 18:21 and was followed by a pair of her teammates, No. 10 Presley Moeller (18:33) and No. 16 Rhemidy Brack (19:32).
Heim punched her ticket to state with a 12th-place finish. The freshman posted a time of 20:19.
Wise outkicked Muscatine’s Lou Anderson for the final individual qualifying spot. Wise crossed the finish line in 21:19.9, while Anderson was clocked in 21:20.0.
“I told the girls that no matter what happens, you have to be able to walk off that course knowing you gave it your best effort,” Einertson said. “I truly believe our girls left everything they had out there on the course. It wasn’t our best day by any means, but they went out there, competed, and fought until the finish. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for, and I’m proud of them for that.”
Ankeny’s Peyton Anderson placed 24th in 21:29. Piper Conklin took 29th in 21:47, Aubrey Young placed 31st in 22:05, Gillian Schramm was 32nd in 22:06, and Maria Owen finished 33rd in 22:08.
“We had five freshmen among our seven runners, so we relied heavily on our two seniors (Wise and Schramm) along with some of our senior alternates for leadership and experience,” Einertson said. “We knew heading into the meet that it was probably going to be a fight for that third qualifying spot, so we had to change up our approach a little bit in how we attacked the race. I actually thought our girls did a pretty good job of executing their race plans early on. They put themselves in positions to compete and gave themselves a chance. Unfortunately, as the race went on, it just wasn’t quite enough, and that’s going to happen.
“We’re a young team, and I think we gained some really valuable experience from this meet. Having five freshmen competing in a state qualifying meet is pretty exciting when you think about the future of this program. I’m also extremely thankful for our upperclassmen and the leadership they’ve provided throughout this season. Whether they were competing, helping younger girls prepare, or simply being great teammates, they played a huge role in getting this group to where we are. I don’t think that should go unnoticed. They’ve helped set a great example for our younger girls, and I’m excited to see how this group continues to grow,” he added.
The state meet is slated for Saturday, Oct. 31 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. The Class 4A girls’ race will be held at 2 p.m., with the boys’ race to follow at 2:45.
