The strategy for the Ankeny Centennial cross country teams was pretty simple.
Just survive and advance.
The second-ranked Centennial girls’ squad easily won a Class 4A state qualifying meet on Wednesday at Southeast Polk. The Jaguars placed six runners among the top 14 individuals and finished with 31 points.
No. 11 Valley was a distant second with 61 points.
“Three good goals for state qualifying are to punch your ticket, maintain good health and get hungry for next week,” said Centennial girls’ coach Eric Cogdill. “Competing on an atypically warm day and on a punishing course can test any of those goals. For example, we saw an opposing team’s top runner–a medal contender ranked 12th in 4A–not finish today, and her season came to a tragic close. Fortunately, our girls stayed within themselves to execute solid races while still aiming for some targets out on the course. Ultimately, we punched our ticket with a very strong performance.”
The No. 9 Centennial boys’ team also advanced to the state meet by placing second with 47 points. No. 6 Waukee won the boys’ crown with 35 points.
“It was a good night for the team on a tough course,” said Centennial boys’ coach Chad Fickbohm. “Everyone executed the race as planned, finishing where they should have been in the race field. I know this gives us confidence going into next week.”
Fickbohm told his runners to compete conservatively.
“He said that we didn’t need to risk anything,” said senior Brecken Allen. “Just do what you’ve been doing throughout the season and get the job done.”
That’s exactly what Centennial senior Jax Alvarez did. He pulled away from the field to win the 5k race in a time of 16 minutes 20 seconds.
Alvarez, who is ranked 10th in Class 4A, finished 8 seconds ahead of No. 13 Thomas Limback of Valley.
“I felt pretty good, pretty controlled,” said Alvarez. “The goal was just to cover moves and then drop it when it was time to drop the hammer, really just bring it home and make sure that I can get my team in a good position. There was never really a doubt that I would do anything less than win. I just got to have…self-confidence is key.”
Allen placed third for the Jaguars. He was clocked in 16:32.
“I felt good,” Allen said. “I knew the time wasn’t going to be great just because of the course, but I felt like I held a good spot throughout the race and gave (Limback) a shot at the end. I felt like I ran well.”
In the girls’ race, Centennial placed three runners in the top five. Fourth-ranked Natalie Cogdill led much of the way before placing second in 19:04, finishing 10 seconds behind No. 14 Emma Stanley of Ames.
“I just wanted to see how I would feel (when I took the lead),” said Natalie. “I wanted to be patient on the first part, and then eventually I just got a little bored so I was like, ‘Ok, it’s time to go.’ I usually talk to my teammates a little bit so I just reminded them, ‘Ok, I’m going to go now.’ I just tried to have fun today.
“At the end, I didn’t want to empty the tank because it wasn’t going to be worth it to shred my legs on this hilly course. I’m just saving some for state,” she added.
Coach Cogdill said his daughter made a big sacrifice in order to compete on Wednesday.
“Last spring, she was selected to be a delegate to the World Food Prize’s global youth institute–a three-day immersive, academic conference (in Des Moines),” he said. “But, in order to attend, she was required to miss all other events. And, the decision was due in May. So, I am glad that she had an opportunity to compete among a stellar field of individuals, perform well, and gain more racing experience for next week.”
No. 9 Rebecca Flick placed third for Centennial in 19:12. She finished within two places of Cogdill for the eighth time this season.
“It is such a joy to see them work together in races and now see Ellie Blevins along with them,” coach Cogdill said. “Her re-emergence as a third likely medalist for our team has us in a strong position at the front of the race for next week.”
The No. 18 Blevins took fifth in 19:33.
“I made it my goal after mile 2 to catch some girls, because it’s hot and girls are going to fall off a little bit,” said Blevins. “I made that my goal for the third mile to keep me pushing and keep some intensity to the race rather than just completely chill out. But (at the end) my hips were hurting a little bit so I just decided to stay where I was and stay a little bit more chill. It’s qualifying, and I knew we were going to cruise to a win.”
Trinity Klingensmith placed 10th for the Jaguars in 20:22. Zoey Bogseth took 11th in 20:29, Piper Klingner was 14th in 20:46, and Sammi Maile finished 30th in 22:06.
“Today, it was Trinity and Zoey’s turn to round out our scoring,” coach Cogdill said. “Zoey just finished school volleyball a week ago, and similar to Ellie’s freshman year, she has started to take off a little bit since she is no longer juggling that. And Trinity has been a fierce competitor and stellar leader for us all season.”
The Jaguars won a state qualifying meet for the fifth time in six years.
“We all came in today trying to keep the pressure off, but having some other top runners here kind of kept it on for me, Becci and Natalie,” Blevins said. “I think we all handled it really well and went into it with good vibes, knowing we were going to end the day on a good note.”
The Centennial boys’ team got an 11th-place finish from Levi Odson, who posted a time of 17:09. Roman Fye took 13th in 17:12, while Noah Schneden was the Jaguars’ fifth scoring runner by placing 19th in 17:27.
Ben Nelson placed 25th in 17:43. Bennett Welcher finished 29th in 17:49.
“We definitely had our doubts early on just with a lot of people not being able to race the way we could, myself included,” Alvarez said. “But we saw that last year too. We didn’t put it together until state qualifying and even at state qualifying we had a guy lose his shoe, and our No. 3 (runner) was our No. 7. So really, anything can happen with us. You can’t count us out. We’re always going to stay hungry and really compete for the highest place we can get.”
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.
The Centennial girls’ team is expected to battle No. 1 Waukee Northwest, the defending champion, and No. 3 Johnston for the title. No. 4 Cedar Falls and No. 5 Pleasant Valley could also contend.
“The great Cedar Falls coach, Don Williams, once said, ‘You are only as good as your fifth scorer,'” coach Cogdill said. “So it’s quite a luxury that (Klingensmith and Bogseth) are joined by Piper and Sammi, all passing around those fourth and fifth spots. Piper was just a few places back today while Sammi struggled with the heat and the terrain but overcame the same a year ago to finish 35th at the state meet. If we can propel any two of them into the top-40 next week, we will have a shot at the team title while two in the top-50 will secure a top-three podium finish.”
Cogdill’s daughter said the Jaguars are looking to surpass the program’s third-place finish in 2020.
“We set our goal high, and I think we have what it takes,” she said. “I think it’s a very strong possibility for us.”
Blevins said it will be important for the Centennial runners to focus on themselves.
“I think we’re kind of confident after (winning) conference, but we’re not really focused on any other team or beating them,” she said. “We just want to be the best version of ourselves on the day that it matters the most because there are going to be some girls or some teams who start out doing something crazy. It’s our goal to just be ourselves next week.”
The Centennial boys’ squad, meanwhile, will try to duplicate its performance from last year’s meet, when the 12th-ranked Jaguars peaked at the right time and earned a third-place trophy.
“I think we can do that again,” Allen said.
Both Allen and Alvarez are also hoping to contend for spots on the awards podium as individuals.
“Today was pretty mellow compared to what I’m going to do next week,” Alvarez said. “Obviously, the goal for a guy like me is to win. My goal is to go out there and compete for God’s glory and to finish as high as I can and run as fast as I can.”
