Return of Mather matters for Lions

CEDAR FALLS - How, exactly, does an Achilles heal?

'Some ice, some heat,” Michael Mather said. 'Lots of stretching and exercises.”

But mostly, rest and patience.

And Thursday afternoon, patience paid off for Mather. The junior chased teammate Daniel Murphy to the finish line, and the 1-2 finish was enough for Linn-Mar to edge Cedar Falls for the MVC Valley Division boys' cross country championship at Birdsall Park.

'Just to be back on the varsity, it means the world to me,” Mather said. 'It didn't matter if I was the second runner or the seventh. Just to be back running ... I couldn't be happier.”

Mather missed the majority of the track season because of his balky Achilles. He didn't run his first 'official” varsity cross country race of the season until last week's MVC Super meet.

'I just made it my goal to come back and run and help the team,” he said.

He helped the Lions greatly Thursday. Linn-Mar scored 37 points, Cedar Falls 39.

Murphy finshed in 16 minutes, 10 seconds. Mather was a couple strides behind, also in 16:10.

'At the Super meet, I took it out really hard and kind of died in the last kilometer,” Murphy said. 'Today I went out a little bit more controlled for a mile or so, then I surged a little bit.”

Murphy's brother, Ryan, was fourth in 16:19.

'He ran really well,” big brother said. 'And (Mather), it's good to have him back. He's got unreal talent. He's just going to get better and better.”

Iowa City West captured its 15th divisional title in 17 years, placing its five scorers in the top seven. The Women of Troy (19 points) and Linn-Mar (37) combined for the top nine individuals.

Freshman Bailey Nock earned the first individual title of her career, pulling away from teammate Emmie Skopec late and crossing the finish line in 14:49. Skopec was next in 14:59, then it was Super Meet champion Amber Decker of Linn-Mar in 15:25.

Decker outran Nock and Skopec last week before the West duo reversed the outcome Thursday.

'This week, we tried to change things up,” Nock said. '(Decker) is a really good sprinter, and we didn't want to be right with her at the end.

'It was good to find a plan that worked.”

West's Gabby Skopec, Olivia Moore and Claire Ronnebaum finished fourth, fifth and seventh. Linn-Mar's Morgan Garcia, Maddie Mann and Maddie Saville followed Decker in sixth, eighth and ninth.

MVC VALLEY DIVISION MEET

At Cedar Falls

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams - 1. Iowa City West 19, 2. Linn-Mar 37, 3. Cedar Falls 112, 4. C.R. Kennedy 117, 5. Dubuque Senior 126, 6. C.R. Jefferson 146, 7. Dubuque Wahlert 174.

Individuals - 1. Bailey Nock (ICW), 14:49; 2. Emmie Skopec (ICW), 14:59; 3. Amber Decker (LM), 15:25; 4. Gabby Skopec (ICW), 15:34; 5. Olivia Moore (ICW), 15:42; 6. Morgan Garcia (LM), 15:51; 7. Claire Ronnebaum (ICW), 15:56; 8. Maddie Mann (LM), 15:59; 9. Maddie Saville (LM), 16:03; 10. Hannah Fusselman (CRK), 16:03.

I.C. West - 1. Nock, 2. E.Skopec, 4. G.Skopec, 5. Moore, 7. Ronnebaum.

Linn-Mar - 3. Decker, 6. Garcia, 8. Mann, 9. Saville, 11. Bryce Jones, 16:04.

Kennedy - 10. Fusselman, 16. Laura Meyer, 16:15; 26. Olivia Green, 16:39; 28. Kate Nus, 16:48; 39. Laura Feld, 17:14.

Jefferson - 14. Sarah Hanna, 16:12; 21. Adrianna Hargrove, 16:31; 29. Megan Ely, 16:50; 37. Meredith Koenigsfeld, 17:04; 45. Caleigh Meyer, 17:52.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams - 1. Linn-Mar 37, 2. Cedar Falls 39, 3. Iowa City West 72, 4. Dubuque Senior 97, 5. Dubuque Wahlert 116, 6. C.R. Kennedy 161, 7. C.R. Jefferson 202.

Individuals - 1. Daniel Murphy (LM), 16:10; 2. Michael Mather (LM), 16:10; 3. Sam Schillinger (CF), 16:15; 4. Ryan Murphy (LM), 16:19; 5. Mark Whalen (DS), 16:20; 6. Akash Borde (ICW), 16:21; 7. Ethan Smith (CF), 16:30; 8. Jake Hartman (CF), 16:36; 9. Dylan Southall (CF), 16:42; 10. Nick Feeley (ICW), 16:46.

Linn-Mar - 1. D.Murphy, 2. Mather, 4. R.Murphy, 11. Bryan Fogerty, 16:47; 19. Grant Chlystun, 17:07.

I.C. West - 6. Borde, 10. Feeley, 13. Matthew Schneider, 16:57; 14. Abdallah Ali, 17:02; 29. Noah Brase, 17:40.

Kennedy - 16. Addison Furry, 17:02; 33. Reece Linder, 17:58; 34. Derek Girling, 18:04; 37. Andrew Solsrud, 18:13; 41. Tim Zange, 18:28.

Jefferson - 35. Nate Homan, 18:05; 38. Jason Chung, 18:13; 42. Kane Kramer, 18:35; 43. Trey Hitchings, 18:41; 44. Christopher Haring, 18:54.

MVC MISSISSIPPI: PRAIRIE BOYS, CITY HIGH GIRLS REIGN

WATERLOO - Tysen VanDraska led a 1-2-3 finish as Cedar Rapids Prairie ran away with the MVC Mississippi Division title.

VanDraska won the race in 16:37, followed closely by Matt Lorenz (16:38) and Jake Moore (16:39).

Prairie scored 25 points. Dubuque Hempstead was second with 59.

On the girls' side, Mary Arch and Molly Shepherd of City High were the first two finishers, in 15:15 and 15:35, igniting the Little Hawks to the crown. The Little Hawks scored 36 points, Hempstead 43.

MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISION MEET

At Waterloo

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams - 1. Iowa City High 36, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 43, 3. C.R. Prairie 70, 4. C.R. Washington 116, 5. C.R. Xavier 127, 6. Waterloo West 175, 7. Waterloo East 177.

Individuals - 1. Mary Arch (ICH), 15:15; 2. Molly Shepherd (ICH), 15:35; 3. Cayla Renwick (CRP), 15:43; 4. Casey Nichols (DH), 15:43; 5. Sarah Altemeier (CRW), 15:44; 6. Heather Hostager (DH), 15:46; 7. Jenny Dickes (CRX), 16:00; 8. Kristin Brown (DH), 16:01; 9. Emily Bywater (ICH), 16:03; 10. Alesha Duccini (DH), 16:04.

City High - 1. Arch, 2. Shepherd, 9. Bywater, 11. Maddy Deninger, 16:09; 13. Hazel Crew, 16:29.

Prairie - 3. Renwick, 12. Hannah Frazee, 15:43; 16. Eilish Stanek, 16:39; 19. Alissa Neubauer, 16:46; 20. Victoria Enyart, 16:51.

Washington - 5. Altemeier, 25. Serena Eck, 17:33; 27. Brett Visser, 17:49; 28. Sierra Sheets, 17:52; 31. Ashley Hageman, 18:07.

Xavier - 7. Dickes, 26. Kiana Stanek, 17:35; 29. Liz Hessman, 17:57; 30. Maddy Bailey, 18:02; 35. Annie Sigmon, 18:37.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams - 1. C.R. Prairie 25, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 59, 3. Iowa City High 70, 4. C.R. Washington 80, 5. C.R. Xavier 133, Waterloo West 179, 7. Waterloo East 197.

Individuals - 1. Tysen Vandraska (CRP), 16:37; 2. Matt Lorenz (CRP), 16:38; 3. Jake Moore (CRP), 16:39; 4. Joe Meehan (DH), 16:39; 5. John Bender (ICH), 16:48; 6. Chris Oehlert (CRP), 17:04; 7. Mike Fink (DH), 17:05; 8. Finbar Berry (CRW), 17:08; 9. Will Smith (DH), 17:11; 10. Matthew Dodge (ICH), 17:11.

Prairie - 1. VanDraska, 2. Lorenz, 3. Moore, 6. Oehlert, 13. Zack Fiser, 17:16.

City High - 5. Bender, 10. Dodge, 11. Tom McDowell, 17:13; 18. Jarrett Purdy, 17:47; 26. Michael Taylor, 18:05.

Washington - 8. Berry, 12. Sam Eck, 17:13; 17. Wyatt Forster, 17:45; 21. Sam Werner, 17:53; 22. Ian Klopfenstein, 17:54.

Xavier - 15. Steven Culpepper, 17:28; 20. Nick Koechner, 17:50; 30. Jonathan Francois, 18:55; 36. Nolan Pithan, 19:12.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net