MV starts with pair of meets

Cross Country

   Two meets opened the season for the Maquoketa Valley cross country team.

   The Wildcats began with a Sept. 6 meet at Clayton Ridge in Guttenburg.

   MV’s boys finished second in the meet with 47 points, just three behind champion Clayton Ridge. The Wildcats had three runners in the 18s in terms of time; Matthew Schaul was third overall in 18:15.5; Arion Rave was fifth in 18:56.2; and George Livingston took sixth in 18:57.1. Toby Grimm was 13^th, Kenyon Baker ran 20^th, and Brady Eike was 21^st.

   The Wildcat girls finished fifth with 114 points. Taryn Burbridge was fifth individually with a time of 21:24.7. Isabel Imler ran 11^th in 23:27.9. They were followed by McKenna Bush in 29^th, Keely Recker in 34^th and Allison Hogan in 35^th.

   “It was our first meet and we competed well,” MV coach Pat Meehan said. “It was a good start to the season.”

   The Wildcats also competed at the Monticello Invitational Sept. 10. The boys placed ninth with 250 points. Schaul led the team with a 22^nd place finish in 17:41. Livingston finished 40^th in 18:20, Rave was 52^nd in 18:46; Grimm took 69^th in 20:20; and Baker was 71^st in 20:35.

   MV had two runners in the girls’ varsity race. Burbridge finished 16^th in 20:43; and Imler was 38^th in 22:28.

   “Although our team and individual places were harder to achieve than past years, it did not deter the Wildcat runners from achieving their best times of the year,” Meehan said.

Football

   Lance McShane rushed for 251 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries, as the Maquoketa Valley Wildcats scored a 38-8 win at South Winneshiek of Calmar Sept. 2.

   The Wildcats (1-0, 2-1) scored in each quarter to gradually pull away in the opener of the Class A, District 4 schedule.

   MV also scored two touchdowns defensively. McShane had a 37-yard interception return for a score, and Lucas Orcutt scooped up a South Winn fumble and ran in from 15 yards away.

   Leading tacklers were Orcutt with 12.5, Aidan Salow with 8.5, and McShane with six. Brady Wall also had an interception; Carter Klaren recovered a South Winn fumble.

   Then, the Wildcats traveled to face West Branch, the seventh-ranked team in Class 1A, on Sept. 9. West Branch scored 28 first quarter points on the way to a 59-0 victory.

Volleyball

   Two Tri-Rivers Conference matches and a tournament kept the Maquoketa Valley volleyball team busy in recent action.

   On Sept. 1, the Wildcats lost a Tri-Rivers Conference match at North Cedar, by scores of 22-25, 16-25, 21-25. Grace Richter had 11 kills, and Keira Leytem made 16 assists. Leah Reicher had five blocks, and Richter had two. Dig leaders were Bianka Ronnebaum with six and Kennedy Raush with five. Bianka Ronnebaum also served 15-for-15.

   Maquoketa Valley then played in the Anamosa Tournament Sept. 3, losing six matches. Against Anamosa, the Wildcats lost 18-21, 18-21. Lanni Beaman had eight kills, and Lili Bauers had nine digs. Reiche had four blocks.

   MV then fell to Clear Creek-Amana 12-21, 9-21. Bauers had six digs, and Lily Huber had four.

   The Wildcats lost to Galena, Ill. 10-21, 6-21. Reicher had two blocks.

   Next came a 20-22, 14-21 loss to Northeast of Goose Lake. Leytem made 12 assists, and Richter had six kills. Rausch served 8-for-8.

   Maquoketa Valley fell to Washington 25-27, 17-21. Bauers had 10 digs. Reicher had four blocks. Haley Ronnebaum served 11-for-1 with an ace.

   Against Bellevue, the Wildcats lost 10-21, 22-24. Rausch made 11 assist. Bauers served two aces. Huber served 9-for-9 with an ace.

   Maquoketa Valley returned home to play a triangular meet Sept. 6, defeating MFL MarMac 25-12, 25-12; and West Central 25-17, 25-12.

   In the MFL match, Leytem made 10 assists, and the Wildcats combined for 21 kills, with Haley Ronnebaum, Bianka Ronnebaum, Richter and Reicher getting four apiece. Bauers had eight digs. Reicher had four blocks. Richter served two aces.

   Against West Central, Beaman had eight kills, while Haley Ronnebaum and Richter had six each. Rausch made 12 assists, and Leytem had eight. Reicher had four blocks, and Haley Ronnebaum had three blocks and three aces. Bauers had eight digs, and Beaman had five.

   The Wildcats returned to Tri-Rivers play Sept. 8 at home against Clinton Prince of Peace, but lost a heartbreaker, 23-25, 25-20, 27-25, 17-25, 14-16. MV hammered down 56 kills, as Rausch had 46 assists. Kill leaders were Beaman with 17, Richter with 14 and Haley Ronnebaum with 12. The team also had 65 digs, led by Bauers with 21 and Beaman with 16. Richter served 17-for-17 with four aces, while Haley Ronnebaum served 21-for-21.