Van Buren County’s girls cross country team edged Albia by a single point to claim the team title at the Albia Cross Country Invite on Thursday, August 27th at the Albia Golf and Leisure Club, while Pekin, Cardinal, Davis County, and Albia also competed at the meet.
Girls Results
Van Buren County won the girls team title with 74 points, edging Albia by just one point at 75. Kirksville (MO) finished third with 81 points, followed by Pekin in fourth with 114, Grand View Christian fifth with 116, Davis County sixth with 122, Centerville seventh with 131, and Knoxville eighth with 147.
Van Buren County was led by Kayley Snowgren, who finished seventh overall out of 80 competitors with a time of 21:11.26. Rory Philips finished 12th at 21:44.60, Adalyn Snowgren placed 15th at 22:23.51, Gabby Titus finished 24th at 22:54.09, and Cami Daugherty rounded out the scoring five in 25th at 23:49.41. Brystol Wiley placed 29th at 24:24.74 and Paisley Baker finished 40th at 25:38.47. All seven Van Buren County girls finished in the top half of the 80-competitor field.
Van Buren County head coach Lucinda DeHart was pleased with the team effort. “We had a great opening meet last night. The girls came away as team champions, and I was really pleased with the effort from everyone,” DeHart said. “Several newcomers stepped up and finished in places that helped us secure the team win. A couple of our more experienced runners also finished near the front and helped lead the way. It was truly an all-around team effort.”
Albia finished just one point behind Van Buren County in second place with 75 points, led by Mady Montgomery who won the individual title with a time of 19:50.71. Leilani Deforest placed fourth overall at 20:58.85, Raegan Carter 14th at 21:57.89, Frankie Tharp 28th at 24:07.87, Aliyah Hood 36th at 25:27.87, Millie McAninch 48th at 26:22.80, Hannah DeVore 51st at 26:42.01, Aubrey Major 62nd at 28:52.36, Maniya Autry 63rd at 28:57.69, and Sophie Hemann 65th at 29:24.46.
Montgomery’s performance is particularly noteworthy given her rapid development as a runner. As a freshman last year, Montgomery finished 10th at the state meet, helping Albia place 12th overall as a team. Her sister McKenna, who won that same state meet as a senior, has since graduated — leaving Mady to carry on the family legacy at the top of the Albia program.
Pekin finished fourth as a team with 114 points. Jude Freese-McCabe led the Panthers with an eighth-place finish at 21:30.50, followed by Scout Lock in 16th at 22:26.27 and Stella Dickey in 23rd at 22:48.13. Harper Guise placed 33rd at 25:11.96, Emerson Porter 46th at 26:18.18, Callie Deutschle 55th at 26:58.70, Bree Earnest 56th at 27:10.34, Zoe Heisdorffer 72nd at 31:14.78, Reagan Wise 73rd at 31:31.37, and Haven Hensley 78th at 36:06.80.
Pekin head coach Davis Eidahl noted the team is improving. “We have been improving each day,” Eidahl said. Eidahl highlighted that Freese-McCabe is an eighth grader taking advantage of a new rule this year allowing eighth graders to compete in varsity high school sports, while Lock and Dickey are both freshman. “The girls are young,” Eidahl said. “Our main goal is to close the gap between all our runners. We can do this but it will take time. We have made a good start.”
Cardinal’s girls were led by Makayla Crosby in 21st place at 22:45.89. Kyndall Sivak placed 42nd at 25:55.08, Raegan Pherigo 53rd at 26:57.26, and Karter Crosby 80th at 37:58.94.
Davis County’s girls were paced by Gracyn Ware in 17th at 22:27.36 and Gabi McGregor in 18th at 22:32.17. Dakota Houston placed 26th at 23:58.31, Claire Garland 35th at 25:26.97, Claire Benge 37th at 25:28.71, Jaydee Birchner 39th at 25:34.53, and Jenna Gibson 74th at 33:47.87.
Boys Results
Kirksville (MO) won the boys team title with 60 points, followed by Grand View Christian at 68, Knoxville at 80, Albia at 102, Davis County at 138, Pekin at 148, Van Buren County at 155, Wayne at 222, Cardinal at 251, and Centerville at 263.
Van Buren County was paced by Landry Loeffler, who turned in an impressive fourth-place finish out of 108 competitors with a time of 17:20.40. Leo Jirak placed 38th at 19:50.42, Jaren Troxel 40th at 19:55.47, Camden Wells 43rd at 20:02.45, Kayden Farris 50th at 20:19.46, Sawyer Spiker 52nd at 20:31.62, Jackson Meek 62nd at 21:17.39, Thomas Roberts 81st at 23:02.31, Malik Hunington 87th at 24:41.42, and Harrison Mahon 89th at 25:05.51.
DeHart said the boys also gained valuable experience. “The boys ran well against some strong competition. We have several inexperienced runners who gained valuable experience last night and learned a lot about racing and competing at this level.”
Albia’s boys placed fourth with 102 points, led by Ben Wilson in seventh place at 17:34.74. Guy Sample placed 21st at 18:50.60, Emett Fisher 24th at 18:54.75, Ryken Fee 25th at 18:58.99, Ryker Anderson 30th at 19:17.60, Garrett Dykstra 35th at 19:47.87, Vincent Etcher 37th at 19:48.78, and Tyson Ratliff 42nd at 20:00.20. All eight Albia boys finished in the top half of the 108-competitor field.
Pekin was led by Mason Dahlstrom and Lane Fariss, who finished second and third overall respectively with times of 17:03.74 and 17:12.01. Brody Sobaski placed 48th at 20:15.94, Wyatt Brown 56th at 20:47.16, Garrett Greiner 61st at 21:09.02, Clayton Harvey 69th at 21:44.13, Landon Fariss 74th at 22:11.22, Colton Harvey 82nd at 23:03.67, Hayden Miller 86th at 24:36.61, and Liam Guise 98th at 27:20.49. Eidahl said Dahlstrom and Fariss are among the best in their class and noted the team is building toward closing the gap between their top runners and the rest of the pack.
Cardinal’s boys were led by Channing Whennen in 36th at 19:47.95, followed by Dane Johnson in 49th at 20:16.88, Gabriel Mason in 54th at 20:44.87, Aden Short in 77th at 22:19.54, Elio Basilio in 99th at 28:21.53, and Kagan Vannoy in 102nd at 30:18.17.
Davis County’s boys fielded a large squad, led by Gage Moss in 15th at 18:17.01, Connor Garland in 17th at 18:41.81, and Brock Brineger in 18th at 18:43.14. Evan Morrissey placed 47th at 20:14.17, Cinch Wiegand 55th at 20:45.77, Jagger Garmon 60th at 21:08.50, Truett VanMaanen 63rd at 21:23.10, Riley Benge 67th at 21:37.53, Maddux Scamporino 68th at 21:42.03, Asher McClure 75th at 22:18.90, Lane Boyd 78th at 22:45.46, Jacob Harsch 79th at 22:49.57, Erick Jimenez 92nd at 25:27.87, O’Bannon Miller 97th at 27:05.68, Rayden Lopshire 104th at 30:49.84, Hudson Yearling 105th at 32:35.60, Maks Davis 106th at 33:17.89, and Rydale Horn 108th at 34:13.41.
DeHart said overall it was a strong opening meet for both Van Buren County programs. “Overall, it was a great first meet for both teams. We saw a lot of positives, but we also learned what we need to work on as we continue through the season. It was a great starting point and gives us plenty to build on.”
