Panther girls are RVC runners-up; boys finish sixth


Karle Kramer rounds a curve for Monticello in the River Valley Conference Meet Oct. 12 in Iowa City. (Photos by Pete Temple)

Chesney Capron speeds along the course at Kickers Soccer Park in Iowa City during the conference meet.
CROSS COUNTRY
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Sports Editor

     All sports teams want to be performing at their best near the end of the season. The Monticello High School girls cross country team appears to be doing just that.

     The Panthers finished second in a competitive field at the River Valley Conference Meet Oct. 12 at Kickers Soccer Park in Iowa City.

     It was the final race before the Class 2A State Qualifying Meet, to be held Thursday in Anamosa.

     Monticello’s girls trailed only top-ranked Mid-Prairie, which took five of the top six individual placings to win the RVC meet with just 17 points. The Panthers had 45, and Tipton was third with 78.

     “The girls are running really confident right now,” Monticello coach Dan Sauser said. “They looked good. They ran hard, and competed. Second place in the conference; we’re proud of that. This is an outstanding conference meet.”

     Meanwhile, the Panthers boys are still hoping to hit their best stride when they compete in the State Qualifying Meet this Thursday, Oct. 21. At the conference meet, Monticello’s boys finished sixth.

     Tipton easily won the boys’ race with 27 points, Mid-Prairie was second with 83, and Iowa City Regina took third with 109.

     “We competed well, but the second half of the race wasn’t our best,” Sauser said. “As coach, I have to make sure we’re better prepared for the second half of the race. It just wasn’t our best race of the year.”

     The Panthers suffered a bit when Carter Kurt, who was leading the team in the early part of the race, suffered a leg injury and didn’t finish.

     That didn’t help in a race that included four schools Sauser predicted will be running at the Oct. 30 state meet.

     “It’s a tough conference,” the coach said.

     There were some bright spots. Dylan Ponder knocked 1:17 off of the time he ran on the same course back on Sept. 2. And Hayden Tomkins had what Sauser called “another great race.”

     The Panther girls showed the consistency that has been their trademark this season. Emma Althoff finished fourth individually, followed by Ava Capron in seventh, Karle Kramer in 10th, Leah Kowhler ain 13th and Lydia Recker in 14th.

     “Emma had another good race. Ava Capron is getting better and better. And Lydia has really stepped up and solidified our top five.”

     Four other Panther runners dramatically improved their times from the Sept. 2 race in Iowa City: Ella Sauser by 2:44, JoAnna Patterson by 2:27, Jackie Stadtmueller by 1:45, and Katie Roher by 1:44.

 

State Qualifying

Meet Thursday

     Monticello will run in the Class 2A State Qualifying Meet Thursday, Oct. 21 at Anamosa Middle School. The girls’ race is scheduled for 4 p.m., followed by the boys’ race at 4:30 p.m.

     The top three teams and top 15 individuals in each race will qualify for the Oct. 30 state meet in Fort Dodge.

     There are three ranked teams that will run in the boys’ race: Danville/New London (first), Tipton (second) and Monticello (13th).

     In the girls’ race, four teams are ranked: Monticello (third), Tipton (fourth), Dyersville Beckman (10th) and Union of La Porte City (19th).

 

Oct. 12

River Valley Conf. Meet

(at Kickers Soccer Park,

Iowa City)

BOYS TEAM RESULTS

     1, Tipton 27; 2, Mid-Prairie 83; 3, Iowa City Regina 109; 4, Bellevue 126; 5, Anamosa 138; 6, Monticello 141; 7, Northeast 156; 8, Cascade 157; 9, Camanche 219; 10, Wilton 310; 11, West Liberty 337; 12, North Cedar 371.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

(Varsity and JV ran together)

     19, Jacob Miller, 18:53.22; 28, Walker Spence, 19:19.62; 29, Chesney Capron, 19:21.80; 30, Alex Oswald, 19:28.45; 35, Dylan Ponder, 19:37.06; 41, Grant Hospodarsky, 19:51.35; 46, Cord Nietert, 20:10.14; 58, Hayden Tomkins, 20:38.66; 62, Ian Temple, 20:53.61; 71, Nathan Sauser, 21:08.17; 77, Connor Eastin, 21:39.74; 85, Noah Webber, 21:59.67; 94, Royce Kiburz, 22:18.51; 104, Trey Kuper, 22:38.94; 114, Charly Lloyd, 23:24.72; 115, Kyle Shady, 23:36.68; 119, Connor Hynick, 23:49.73.

GIRLS TEAM RESULTS

     1, Mid-Prairie 17; 2, Monticello 45; 3, Tipton 78; 4, Northeast 130; 5, Iowa City Regina 136; 6, Wilton 185; 7, Bellevue 191; 8, Anamosa 202.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

(Varsity and JV ran together)

     4, Emma Althoff, 20:54.33; 7, Ava Capron, 21;28.77; 10, Karle Kramer, 21:35.39; 13, Leah Koehler, 21:50.38; 14, Lydia Recker, 21:51.31; 33, Marisa Kehoe, 23:02.29; 34, Triniti Etzel, 23:06.75; 42, Savannah Freese, 24:12.40; 51, Mya Postel, 24:32.02; 52, Faith Hansen, 24:34.47; 53, Emily Hendricks, 24:35.54; 55, Katie Roher, 24:48.61; 70, JoAnna Patterson, 26:16.93; 77, Jackie Stadtmueller, 27:22.16; 79, Riley Evans, 27:43.12; 89, Lily Moestchen, 29:28.93; 91, Lauren Verhagen, 29:42.91; 92, Ella Sauser, 30:00.40.

 

Category:

Subscriber Login