Panther girls, Holub romp at Brown Invite

     Monticello’s home cross country meet isn’t until Sept. 9. But the Panther girls have certainly made themselves comfortable at the Bob Brown Invitational in Iowa City the past few years.

     For the fourth straight year, the Panthers won the event, held at Iowa City Kickers Soccer Park. Monticello had four of the top 10 finishers, finished with 42 points, and beat second place Marion by 31. It was the fourth straight year they came away with the first place trophy in that meet.

     Leading the way was Paige Holub, who took command early in the race and drew off to win the individual title by 41 seconds. Taylor McDonald followed with a sixth place finish. Jordyn Patterson and Gabrielle Steiner were ninth and 10^th, respectively.

     “I thought the girls had a really strong race,” Monticello coach Dan Sauser said. “Paige was never really pushed, and Taylor continues to give us a solid number two runner. I was pleased with Jordyn’s performance, and Gabrielle gave us a strong fourth (runner).

     “The concern is trying to get that 1-5 span a little tighter.”

     The Panthers’ first and fifth runners were 2:16 apart; Sauser said he is hoping to see that fall to 90 seconds.

     Lizzie Petersen was the junior varsity girls’ champion.

     “She had a strong race,” Sauser said. “It’s good for her to get recognition.”

     The boys’ picture was a little murkier, because a computer malfunction at the meet site left coaches without individual times. The placings were announced, however, enabling team scores to be compiled.

     Monticello’s boys finished seventh as a team, led by Aaron Loes, who ran second individually.

     “Aaron had a great race,” Sauser said. “He’s going to be out front a lot this year.

     “As a team, we’ve got some things to work on. We need better starts. But it’s a young team. They’re improving, and working hard.”

     Monticello’s next race will be its own invitational on Saturday, Sept. 9. Race times are 8:10 a.m. for middle school girls, 8:35 a.m. for middle school boys, 9 a.m. for JV girls, 9:30 a.m. for JV boys, 10 a.m. for varsity girls, and 10:30 a.m. for varsity boys.

Aug. 31

Bob Brown Inv.

(at Iowa City)

VARSITY GIRLS TEAM SCORES

     1, Monticello 42; 2, Marion 73; 3, Solon 98; 4, Anamosa 103; 5, Mount Vernon/Lisbon 135; 6, North Cedar 163; 7, Iowa City Regina 186; 8, Iowa City Liberty 239; 9, Tipton 259; 10, Clear Creek-Amana 261; 11, Wilton 270; 12, Columbus Community 361;

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     1, Paige Holub, 20:30.28; 6, Taylor McDonald, 21:29.83; 9, Jordyn Patterson, 21:46.15; 10, Gabrielle Steiner, 21:48.96; 17, Keeley Anderson, 22:44.68; 19, Rachel Larabee, 22:46.17; 22, Emily Schlarmann, 22:56.70.

VARSITY BOYS TEAM SCORES

     1, Mount Vernon/Lisbon 63; 2, Clear Creek-Amana 84; 3, Marion 87; 4, Tipton 108; 5, Anamosa 116; 6, Calamus-Wheatland 178; 7, Monticello 186; 8, Iowa City Regina 232; 9, Iowa City Liberty 237; 10, Wilton 243; 11, Solon 256; 12, Columbus Community 342; 13, North Cedar 13.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

(Times unavailable due to computer malfunction.)

     2, Aaron Loes; 45, Jasper NIetert; 51, Cole Cruise; 52, Jaison Monk; 54, Daltyn Kramer; 58, Austin Timm; 60, Alex Nealson.

JV GIRLS TEAM SCORES

     No team scores kept.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     52, Lizzie Petersen, 24:27.25; 64, Natalie Newhard, 25:09.95; 67, Gabby Guilford, 25:27.70; 83, Olivia Kremer, 26:15.46; 86, Emily Kurt, 26:23.91; 87, Makenna Patterson, 26:26.09; 91, Brooklyn Stark, 26:47.83.

JV BOYS TEAM SCORES

     No team scores kept.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     (Times unavailable due to computer malfunction.)

     65, David Titman; 77, Carter Cruise; 81, Alan Janssen; 86, Zach Chapman; 94, Ryan Oswald; 114, Dalton Hampson; 134, Ethan Martensen.