Cross County: Singular focus nets Rethwisch a crown

Rebecca Rethwisch eliminated the periphery and focused on her passion.“I love cross country,” she said. “I've always loved it the most.”Cross country loved her right back Thursday. Rethwisch claimed the girls' individual title at the Cedar Rapids Invitational meet at Noelridge Park.And that wasn't all of it. Rethwisch's team - Iowa City High - was a victor as well.“That's the best, when the team wins,” she said.Led by a 1-3-5 finish by Rethwisch, Erin Danielson and Meg Richardson, the Little Hawks tallied 48 points. Pleasant Valley (71) and Iowa City West (77) rounded out the top three.Top-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie lived up to its billing, whipping its closest competitor by 65 points. Prairie had four runners in the top seven and accumulated 48 points. West was second with 113, with Pleasant Valley (132) edging Cedar Rapids Washington (132) and City High (134) in a tightly knit race for third.

Cedar Rapids Prairie's Matt Stocker (left) and Jordan Burns (right) finished third and fourth in the boys' race and led the Hawks to the team title (Brian Ray/SourceMedia Group News) “(Being No. 1), it's pressure, but it's a good pressure,” said Prairie's Jordan Burns. “This is a meet where we go out to run hard, but we're still focused on the end of the year.Matt Stocker led the Hawks' effort with a third-place finish. Burns was fourth, Kyle Stocker seventh.Tyler Meseke was the top male runner, finishing in 16:00. Matt Butler of Pleasant Valley was second in 16:11, Stocker third in 16:17.Rethwisch took command of the girls' race about a mile in. She finished in 14:44, 5 seconds ahead of runner-up Maddie Reynolds of Pleasant Valley.“I got ahead, and I just kept pushing,” Rethwisch said.City's Erin Danielson and Meg Richardson were third and fifth.This time last year, Rethwisch was involved with drumline for the school's marching band, as well as show choir.“I'd go to school early for band, and I'd get home from show choir at 10 at night,” she said.Now, it's cross country. And only cross country.

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams - 1. Iowa City High 48, 2. Pleasant Valley 71, 3. Iowa City West 77, 4. Bettendorf 91, 5. Dubuque Wahlert 166, 6. C.R. Washington 166, 7. Linn-Mar 181, 8. C.R. Kennedy 188, 9. C.R. Xavier 238, 10. Ames 282, 11. C.R. Prairie 317, 12. North Scott 355, 13. Davenport West 372, 14. Muscatine 375, 15. Marion 439, 16. C.R. Jefferson 489, 17. Davenport Central 556.

Individuals - 1. Rebecca Rethwisch (ICH), 14:44; 2. Maddie Reynolds (PV), 14:49; 3. Erin Danielson (ICH), 14:59; 4. Mahnee Watts (Bett), 15:00; 5. Meg Richardson (ICH), 15:01; 6. Anna Peer (Bett), 15:07; 7. Kate Kaster (Clinton), 15:10; 8. Mickey Malmgren (PV), 15:17; 9. Megan Nickles (Bett), 15:18; 10. Taylor Fehlberg (ICW), 15:21; 11. Morgan Uridil (LM), 15:22; 12. Molly Leveille (ICW), 15:24; 13. Brett Guerra (ICW), 15:25; 14. Courtney Martin (Ames), 15:31; 15. Pombie Silverman (ICW), 15:46; 16. Kristin Rogers (CRW), 15:47; 17. Anne Leners (PV), 15:50; 18. Brooke Bierhaus (PV), 15:50; 19. Lauren Rusch (DbqW), 15:51; 20. Courtney Bruns (ICH), 15:58.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams - 1. C.R. Prairie 48, 2. Iowa City West 113, 3. Pleasant Valley 132, 4. C.R. Washington 132, 5. Iowa City High 134, 6. Linn-Mar 153, 7. Ames 185, 8. Marion 237, 9. Bettendorf 276, 10. C.R. Kennedy 280, 11. Dubuque Wahlert 282, 12. Waterloo West 314, 13. Clinton 323, 14. C.R. Jefferson 327, 15. Muscatine 380, 16. C.R. Xavier 421, 17. Davenport West 441, 18. Davenport Central 502, 19. North Scott 549.

Individuals - 1. Tyler Meseke (PV), 16:00; 2. Matt Butler (Bett), 16:11; 3. Matt Stocker (CRP), 16:17; 4. Jordan Burns (CRP), 16:27; 5. Brook Price (ICH), 16:32; 6. Chase Grabau (LM), 16:33; 7. Kyle Stocker (CRP), 16:33; 8. Isaac Jensen (ICW), 16:34; 9. Zach Greimann (ICH), 16:36; 10. Robert Hogg (CRW), 16:37; 11. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW), 16:37; 12. Bailey Wetherell (ICW), 16:41; 13. Jacob Aune (CRP), 16:50; 14. Jack Aspeset (Ames), 16:51; 15. Mike Lieb (DbqW), 16:52; 16. Lukas Mees (Marion), 16:53; 17. Trevor Oates (CRK), 16:57; 18. Lincoln Rozeboom (ICW), 16:57; 19. Brenice Ndayizeye (CRW), 16:59; 20. Taylor Mueller (CRJ), 16:59.