The Fairfield boys cross country team finished second at the Southeast Conference Championships Tuesday, October 13th at the Elks Fairview Golf Course in Keokuk, turning in their best team race of the season against No. 19-ranked Washington. The Fairfield girls finished fourth.
Girls Results
Washington won the girls team title with 54 points, followed by Fort Madison in second with 61, Burlington third with 62, Fairfield fourth with 68, and Mount Pleasant fifth with 87. Mount Pleasant’s Quintree Lee won the individual title in 20:25.3, followed by Burlington’s Zoey Kantzavelos in second at 20:41.1 and Washington’s Emma Horak in third at 21:09.2.
Fairfield was led by freshman Ava Jones, who earned All-Conference honors with a fourth-place finish in 21:28.4. Kensley Fligg also earned All-Conference recognition with a sixth-place finish in 21:56.4. Madilyn Miller followed in 15th at 23:35.2, Naomi Stiemsma in 18th at 24:17.9, and Fernanda Baez in 30th at 30:25.7. Coach Belzer noted that top-runner Alex Jo Steward was having a strong race before the heat caught up to her at the halfway point.
Boys Results
No. 19-ranked Washington won the boys team title with 45 points, followed by Fairfield in a close second with 49, Mount Pleasant third with 75, Fort Madison fourth with 87, Keokuk fifth with 110, and Burlington sixth with 134. Washington’s Parker Tschantz won the individual title in 16:21.5, followed by Mount Pleasant’s Silas Hulett in second at 16:26.6 and Washington’s Ethan Hotchkiss in third at 16:53.1.
Fairfield was led by Elijah Hamilton, who earned All-Conference honors with a sixth-place finish in 17:39.4. Brice Boatright followed in seventh at 17:45.1 and Parker Reid in ninth at 18:07.3, both also earning All-Conference recognition. River Fulton was 11th at 18:13.8, Aaron Wellnitz 16th at 18:29.5, Kalen Patterson 17th at 18:45.2, and Elisha Vander Linden 22nd at 19:18.6. Liam Dowd-Robbins finished 29th at 19:36.8, John Miller 32nd at 20:07.8, Jordan Miller 33rd at 20:14.6, Sam Nelson 34th at 20:14.8, Elijah Bar-Shimon 44th at 21:48.4, Daniel Snyder 50th at 22:30.5, Sawyer McCready 53rd at 22:45.8, Aiden Holthus 55th at 23:00.7, Alex Hudson 57th at 23:37.9, Kris Powell 58th at 23:40.5, Kellen Copeland 61st at 24:13.3, Cael Guffey 62nd at 24:16.5, and Quimby Scotton 66th at 29:57.5.
The Fairfield Middle School girls also took home the conference title, led by Aubrey Hamilton in fourth and Avanley Mottet in seventh. The Fairfield Middle School boys finished fourth, led by Bennett Rebling in 16th.
Coach Belzer’s Thoughts
Fairfield head coach Jerrod Belzer said he couldn’t have asked for better performances from his team, calling winning conference titles a realistic goal they had discussed all season.
“Our kids believed in themselves and went out last night and put their team in position to win,” Belzer said.
Belzer acknowledged the tough moment when Steward went down mid-race but praised Jones and Fligg for their All-Conference performances.
“It’s always tough to see runners go down but especially during a conference race — Alex Jo was having a great race and unfortunately the heat just caught up to her at the halfway point,” Belzer said. “Congrats to Ava and Kensley though on their All-SEC honors. They both ran exceptional races.”
On the boys side, Belzer credited his team for running their best race of the season against a tough Washington squad.
“We knew beating Washington was a tall task. They’ve ran well all season and having three guys out front puts a lot of pressure on our guys — we know our 1-7 have to stay packed together,” Belzer said. “Our guys ran their best team race of the season and we were by far the closest to the Demons that we’ve been. Elijah, Brice and Parker all ran PR’s on their way to All-SEC honors. We’re excited for the challenge of the State Qualifying Meet next week.”
What’s Next
Fairfield will travel to Washington for the state qualifying meet on Wednesday, October 21st. Teams set to compete include Assumption, Clear Creek Amana, Fairfield, Fort Madison, Keokuk, Knoxville, Mount Pleasant, Newton, Oskaloosa, Washington, West Liberty, Williamsburg, and Xavier.
