Boys nab title, girls third at DeWitt


Harrison Ahlrichs of Monticello runs up an incline during the DeWitt meet Oct. 8. (Photos by Pete Temple)

Karle Kramer of the Panthers strides along the course at Grace Lutheran Camp in DeWitt.
CROSS COUNTRY
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Sports Editor

     If the Monticello High School cross country performances at the Jim Hetrick Invitational in DeWitt were any indication, the Panthers could be in for another successful postseason.

     The Monticello boys pulled out a championship in their race, edging Clear Creek-Amana by one point; while the girls finished third out of 11 teams in a competitive field.

     The meet was held Thursday, Oct. 8 at Grace Lutheran Camp in DeWitt. It was the final race of the season for all but 10 boys and 10 girls who were scheduled to run in the River Valley Conference Meet Oct. 13 in Monticello.

     “It was bittersweet because we had to say goodbye to a lot of our seniors,” Monticello coach Dan Sauser said. “There was a lot of excitement, but also a lot of tears.”

     Much of the excitement came from the Panther boys and their one-point victory. Jasper Nietert was running, but passed two runners in the closing stages to finish fourth, without which the Panther would not have won.

     “Jasper has been such a strong runner all year long,” Sauser said.

     Nietert’s time of 17:02.80 was a season-best, and missed his personal record by about three seconds.

     Zach Chapman had a big race as well, running a season best while finishing 15th. Harrison Ahlrichs was 16th, and Carter Kurt was 18th. All of them finished under the 18-minute mark.

     “It was the second time we had four runners in the 17-minute range,” Sauser said. “This team just continues to get better as the season is unfolding. Their confidence is growing, and they are focused and driven.

     Rounding out the varsity squad were Jacob Miller in 38th, Keegan Freese in 53rd, and Ian Temple in 54th place.

     The girls had four season-best times on the way to a third place finish behind Davenport Assumption and North Scott. Those came from Emma Althoff (who finished in seventh place), Karle Kramer (13th), Lydia Recker (21st) and Katie Roher (35th).

     “I thought the girls ran exceptionally well,” Sauser said. “Karle really came back strong. It was her best race since Maquoketa (the season opener) by far.”

     Triniti Etzel also figured in the scoring with a 23rd place finish. Rylee Kraus ran 45th and Mya Postel was 51st.

     Monticello won the JV boys’ race, led by Grant Hospodarsky in third place, Chesney Capron in fifth, Walker Spence in sixth and Jayden Orcutt in seventh.

     The squad had five personal records, from Orcutt, Erlin Bell, Cord Nietert, Hayden Tomkins and Nathan Sauser. It also had 12 season-best times.

     “That was by far the best performance that we’ve had out of the JV boys’ team,” the coach said. “They really went out and competed.”

     The JV girls were second with 41 points, behind North Scott’s 22. Savannah Freese took 15 seconds off her PR while finishing second. Emily Hendricks also made the top 10, finishing fourth.

     “Savannah and Emily ran a great race,” Sauser said.

     Ella Glawatz was 11th, and Faith Hansen ran 12th while taking 44 seconds off her season-best time.

Conference,

State Qualifying Meets

     The River Valley Conference meet was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 13 in Monticello, after this paper went to press.

     The Panthers were also waiting to hear who their opponents will be for the Class 3A State Qualifying Meet, which will also be in Monticello, on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

     Updates will be available on the Express Facebook page.

 

Oct. 8

Jim Hetrick Inv.

(at DeWitt)

VARSITY BOYS TEAM SCORES

     1, Monticello 68; 2, Clear Creek-Amana 69; 3, North Scott 83; 4, Muscatine 94; 5, Davenport Assumption 97; 6, Davenport Central 125; 7, Davenport North 193; 8, Clinton 195; 9, Davenport West 238; 10, DeWitt Central 238; 11, Maquoketa 345.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     4, Jasper Nietert, 17:02.80; 15, Zach Chapman, 17:46.50; 16, Harrison Ahlrichs, 17:47.55; 18, Carter Kurt, 17:53.44; 38, Jacob Miller, 18:36.91; 53, Keegan Freese, 19:02.62; 54, Ian Temple, 19:07.58.

VARSITY GIRLS TEAM SCORES

     1, Davenport Assumption 57; 2, North Scott 88; 3, Monticello 93; 4, Davenport Central 117; 5, Clear Creek-Amana 132; 6, Clinton 149; 7, Muscatine 178; 8, Davenport North 201; 9, Davenport West 212; 10, Maquoketa 229; 11, DeWitt Central 268.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     7, Emma Althoff, 20:20.04; 13, Karle Kramer, 20:50.36; 21, Lydia Recker, 21:48.68; 23, Triniti Etzel, 21:54.46; 35, Katie Roher, 22:41.04; 45, Rylee Kraus, 23:10.03; 51, Mya Postel, 23:35.98.

JV BOYS TEAM SCORES

     1, Monticello 29; 2, North Scott 32; 3, Davenport Central 102; 4, Davenport North 122.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     3, Grant Hospodarsky, 19:06.84; 5, Chesney Capron, 19:12.87; 6, Walker Spence, 19:14.94; 7, Jayden Orcutt, 19:18.48; 8, Dylan Ponder, 19:42.50; 10, Levi Temple, 20:03.73; 11, Hayden Tomkins, 20:05.38; 12, Erlin Bell, 20:11.11; 13, Cord Nietert, 20:12.74; 16, Ian Lorenzen, 20:20.35; 17, Nathan Sauser, 20:25.30; 20, Nathan Oswald, 21:11.80; 22, Alex Oswald, 21:17.72; 29, Noah Webber, 21:37.45; 36, Dominik Chally, 22:06.68; 48, Keagan Glawatz, 23:00.13; 49, Brock Westphal, 23:00.18; 52, Trey Kuper, 23:17.55; 63, Mark Sunlin, 25:08.05.

JV GIRLS TEAM SCORES

     1, North Scott 22; 2, Monticello 41; 3, Muscatine 81; 4, Davenport Central 98.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     2, Savannah Freese, 23:17.11; 4, Emily Hendricks, 23:20.04; 11, Ella Glawatz, 25:02.55; 12, Faith Hansen, 25:04.09; 19, Maddie Stadtmueller, 26:16.06; 22, Jackie Stadtmueller, 26:43.61; 38, Kehde Campbell, 29:20.16.

 

Category:

Subscriber Login