Panther teams excel despite heat and hills at Fillmore

     Runners and coaches came into the Cascade Invitational cross country meet at Fillmore Fairways knowing times were bound to be slower than normal.

     The grueling course features multiple hills – steep, long or both. This year’s version was also held on a hot day – about 90 degrees.

     Monticello’s teams ran well anyway.

     “We didn’t expect season-best performances, but we did expect season-best effort,” Monticello coach Dan Sauser said.

     The Panthers appeared to get just that, winning three of the four divisions at the meet, held in 90-degree weather Friday, Sept. 15.

     Monticello won the varsity girls’ team title, and swept both JV races. The varsity boys, finishing without top runner Aaron Loes, who was pulled during the race as a precautionary measure, earned a fifth place finish.

     The Panther varsity girls were led by Paige Holub, who was second overall. Monticello had all of its top five runners in the top 15 individually, as Gabrielle Steiner finished sixth, Lauren Lambert was ninth, Jordyn Patterson took 11^th and Emily Schlarmann was 14^th.

     “We had some great individual performances,” Sauser said. “Lauren Lambert had a breakout meet.

     The boys were led by freshman Jasper Nietert who finished 20^th, just ahead of Cole Cruise in 21^st place. David Titman ran 28^th.

     “The strength of the boys’ team is their depth,” Sauser said. “Now we’re waiting to see who is going to fill roles for us.”

     The JV girls edged Western Dubuque by one point, 40 to 41, led by four top-10 finishers: Lizzie Petersen in third place, Natalie Newhard in fourth, Gabby Guilford in sixth, and Anna Loes in eighth.

     “Several runners ran really well for us up front,” the coach said. “We held a number of girls out for precautionary reasons, and still won the team title.”

     The JV boys won by 18 points over Western Dubuque.

     “That doesn’t surprise me; they can go out and win any meet they’re in,” Sauser said.

     Jaison Monk (second), Austin Timm (third) and Carter Cruise were top-10 finishers for the Panthers.

     Overall, despite the tough course and the heat, Sauser said he was happy with the results.

     “It was a good effort across the board,” he said. “I don’t think as coaches we could be any happier.”

Anamosa meet –

NOT at Central Park

     Because of conservation work being done in and around the pond at Central Park, the annual Anamosa Invitational will not be held there, but instead will be held at Anamosa Middle School Saturday, Sept. 23.

     Race times are 8:30 a.m. for middle school girls, 8:55 a.m. for middle school boys, 9:30 a.m. for varsity girls, 9:55 a.m. for varsity boys, 10:30 a.m. for JV girls, and 10:55 a.m. for JV boys.

Sept. 15

Cascade Inv.

(at Fillmore Fairways)

VARSITY GIRLS TEAM SCORES

     1, Monticello 42; 2, Cascade 65; 3, DeWitt Central 74; 4, Western Dubuque 96; 5, Center Point-Urbana 104; 6, Iowa City Regina 134; 7, Dyersville Beckman 199; 8, West Delaware 200.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     2, Paige Holub, 20:17; 6, Gabrielle Steiner, 22:08; 9, Lauren Lambert, 22:34; 11, Jordyn Patterson, 23:10; 14, Emily Schlarmann, 23:40; 25, Rachel Larabee, 24:42; 37, Keeley Anderson, 25:37.

VARSITY BOYS TEAM SCORES

     1, Western Dubuque 38; 2, Center Point-Urbana 80; 3, Maquoketa Valley 87; 4, DeWitt Central 113; 5, Monticello 135; 6, Southwestern/Benton/Cuba City (Wis.) 136; 7, West Delaware 158; 8, Iowa City Regina 205; 9, Clinton Prince of Peace 206; 10, Dyersville Beckman 309.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     20, Jasper Nietert, 19:28; 21, Cole Cruise, 19:33; 28, David Titman, 19:47; 31, Daltyn Kramer, 19:58; 36, Ryan Oswald, 20:13; 41, Ben Barnhart, 20:27.

JV GIRLS TEAM SCORES

     1, Monticello 40; 2, Western Dubuque 41; 3, Iowa City Regina 76; 4, Center Point-Urbana 83; 5, DeWitt Central 128; 6, West Delaware 164.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     3, Lizzie Petersen, 24:50; 4, Natalie Newhard, 25:03; 6, Gabby Guilford, 25:12; 8, Anna Loes, 25:37; 20, Dru Kramer, 26:51; 21, Olivia Kremer, 26:58; 28, Katie Sauser, 27:31.

JV BOYS TEAM SCORES

     1, Monticello 39; 2, Western Dubuque 57; 3, West Delaware 66; 4, DeWitt Central 94; 5, Center Point-Urbana 109; 6, Maquoketa Valley 174.

MONTICELLO RESULTS

     2, Jaison Monk, 20:14; 3, Austin Timm, 20:16; 9, Carter Cruise, 20:43; 12, Alex Nealson, 20:44; 13, Zach Chapman, 20:58; 16, Alan Janssen, 21:05; 17, Dalton Hampson, 21:07.