The Fairfield and Van Buren County cross country teams traveled to Fort Madison on Thursday, September 17th for the Timm Lamb Cross Country Invitational, with Fairfield’s girls placing third and boys placing third in the large school division, and Van Buren County’s girls placing second and boys fourth in the small school division.
Girls Results
In the Class A large school division, Muscatine won the team title with 50 points, followed by Fort Madison with 74, Fairfield third with 80, Washington fourth with 86, Burlington fifth with 89, and Mount Pleasant sixth with 97.
No. 20-ranked Avery Fedler of Mount Pleasant won the individual title at 20:00.7. Alex Jo Steward led Fairfield in eighth place at 22:28.7, followed by Ava Jones in 10th at 22:47.7, Kensley Fligg in 18th at 23:58.0, Madilyn Miller in 21st at 24:38.1, and Naomi Stiemsma in 23rd at 24:43.2.
In the Class B small school division, No. 19-ranked Central Lee won the team title with 65 points, followed by No. 5-ranked Van Buren County in second with 82, West Burlington Notre Dame third with 87, Mediapolis fourth with 102, Danville fifth with 111, Columbus sixth with 123, WACO seventh with 136, and Clark County Missouri eighth with 194.
No. 5-ranked Josie Dykstra of WACO won the individual title at 20:13.5. Kayley Snowgren led Van Buren County in ninth place at 22:20.6, followed by Adalyn Snowgren in 12th at 22:35.7, Gabby Titus in 17th at 23:35.4, Cami Daugherty in 18th at 23:41.0, Brystol Wiley in 26th at 25:58.8, and Paisley Baker in 31st at 26:24.5.
Boys Results
In the Class A large school division, No. 19-ranked Washington won the team title with 51 points, followed by Muscatine with 57, Fairfield third with 74, Fort Madison fourth with 86, Mount Pleasant fifth with 96, and Burlington sixth with 148.
Silas Hulett of Mount Pleasant won the individual title at 17:22.0, with No. 30-ranked Parker Tschantz of Washington close behind in third at 17:29.7. Elijah Hamilton led Fairfield in seventh at 18:30.3, followed by Brice Boatright in 10th at 18:38.0, River Fulton in 13th at 18:47.8, Parker Reid in 20th at 19:27.6, Kalen Patterson in 24th at 19:55.2, Elisha Vander Linden in 25th at 20:00.1, Liam Dowd-Robbins in 26th at 20:06.7, Aaron Wellnitz in 30th at 20:15.3, John Miller in 31st at 20:35.1, Sam Nelson in 43rd at 22:03.5, Jordan Miller in 45th at 22:22.1, Elijah Bar Shimon in 50th at 23:08.9, Aiden Holthus in 53rd at 23:22.1, Daniel Snyder in 59th at 24:00.0, Sawyer McCready in 64th at 24:33.6, Kris Powell in 65th at 24:35.2, Cael Guffey in 66th at 24:36.8, Kellen Copeland in 74th at 27:04.4, Quimby Scotton in 78th at 28:02.8, and Alex Hudson in 79th at 28:07.9.
In the Class B small school division, No. 11-ranked West Burlington Notre Dame won the team title with 49 points, followed by No. 3-ranked Columbus with 62, Central Lee third with 78, Van Buren County fourth with 135, Mediapolis fifth with 138, Louisa-Muscatine sixth with 174, Danville seventh with 201, Clark County Missouri eighth with 214, New London ninth with 232, Holy Trinity Catholic 10th with 247, and Winfield-Mount Union 11th with 290.
No. 30-ranked Drake Newton of Central Lee won the individual title at 17:40.3, followed by No. 17-ranked Will Schmidgall of Mediapolis in second at 17:44.8 and No. 28-ranked Oscar Cline of Louisa-Muscatine in third at 18:02.7. Landry Loeffler led Van Buren County in sixth at 18:46.8, followed by Kayden Farris in 12th at 19:30.2 — both finishing ahead of No. 24-ranked Cavin Denney of West Burlington Notre Dame, who placed 16th at 19:44.2. Bo Brecount followed in 26th at 20:19.8, Leo Jirak in 52nd at 22:04.0, Sawyer Spiker in 54th at 22:10.2, Camden Wells in 59th at 22:56.2, Thomas Roberts in 68th at 23:31.4, Jackson Meek in 76th at 24:19.8, Ramzes Hernandez in 80th at 24:38.7, and Cooper Richardson in 97th at 28:07.4.
Coach Comments
Fairfield head coach Jerrod Belzer was encouraged by the overall performance despite the challenging conditions. “It was a great night for us in Fort Madison. It was hot and humid and the course was slick in spots from the rain but our kids handled it all extremely well,” Belzer said. He highlighted the boys’ depth as a key asset heading into the postseason. “Our depth on the boys side proved to be pivotal for us. Some guys were on and had great races and some just didn’t have it tonight which is part of distance running, but to have nine guys that can fill those top-five spots is huge and it’ll be what helps us be competitive in October.” On the girls side, Belzer said their consistency across all three meets has been impressive. “The girls don’t have the depth that the guys have so it’s been really impressive to see all of them step up and run well at each of our three meets. We’ve got a lot more training to do and little things to work on but we feel like we’re in good position to be right where we want to be at the end of the season.” Belzer also gave a shoutout to the middle school program. “Shoutout to Coach Boatright and the middle school program. They keep getting better and better. The girls had an especially good team race last night, getting the win against a really good field.”
Van Buren County head coach Lucinda DeHart noted the continued growth of her athletes against a strong field. “It was another tough meet with new competition, including several larger schools and some of the top runners in the state,” DeHart said. She highlighted the leadership of the team’s seniors. “Our seniors, Landry Loeffler and Kayley Snowgren, have done a great job leading both teams and continue to show that leadership with top-10 finishes. Landry placed 6th in our class, while Kayden Farris placed 12th. Kayley placed 9th in our class, and Adalyn Snowgren placed 12th.” DeHart also noted that top girls runner Rory Philips missed the meet due to illness but that her teammates stepped up in her absence. “We are still early in the season, and our focus is on continuing to get better. Every meet gives us another opportunity to learn, compete and prepare for the end of the season.”
Middle School Results
In the middle school girls race, Fairfield won the team title with 46 points, finishing 16 points ahead of second-place Washington, who scored 62. Van Buren County placed fifth with 132 points. Among the top 15 finishers, Aubrey Hamilton of Fairfield placed third at 16:20.7, Kamryn Tharp of Van Buren County placed sixth at 16:45.9, Natalie Miller of Fairfield placed 10th at 17:10.7, Vera Runyan-Smith of Fairfield placed 11th at 17:15.1, and Lainey Bainbridge of Van Buren County placed 12th at 17:27.8.
In the middle school boys race, Fairfield placed fourth with 110 points. Among the top 15 finishers, Jacob White of Fairfield placed ninth at 14:39.7 and Keegan Goehring of Van Buren County placed 11th at 14:56.3.
Fairfield will next be in action Tuesday, September 22nd at Mount Pleasant. Van Buren County returns to competition Thursday, September 24th at Burlington.
