Boys Cross Country - Photo Gallery

Photo gallery: Boys Cross Country Iowa City High, Cedar Rapids Prairie finish 1-2 at Spartan Invitational boys cross country meet Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025

Jon Gremmels

Sep. 8, 2025 5:05 pm, Updated: Sep. 9, 2025 8:12 am

Balance and depth were keys Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, as Iowa City High won the team title of the Spartan Invitational boys cross country meet in Bettendorf.

Iowa City Liberty’s Keegan Decker won the individual title, covering the 5,000-meter course at Crow Creek Park in 15 minutes, 33 seconds. Taking second, 8 seconds behind Decker, was Johnston’s Jack Crossland. Bettendorf’s AJ Willey (15:42) and Andrew Heden (15:54) and Elliot Batz (15:57) of Rock Island (Ill.) rounded out the top five.

Linus McRoberts was the first City High runner to cross the finish line, taking sixth in 15:59, but the balance of the other four scorers were important as the Little Hawks edged Cedar Rapids Prairie 117-125 for the title. Bettendorf was third with 134, and host Pleasant Valley edged Dubuque Senior 140-141 for fourth place.

City High’s other four scorers placed 20th (Emmett Palmberg), 27th (Jasper McRoberts), 28th (Jack Leman) and 36th (David Randall). By contrast, the No. 5 scorers for the other four top-five teams placed 60th, 57th, 54th and 45th.

Cole Carrizales led Prairie with an eighth-place finish (16:06), while teammates Owen Miller (14th) and Kyle Johnson (17th) also finished in the top 20.

Michael Hanna (18th) led Iowa City West to a sixth-place finish with a score of 167, three ahead of Edina, which was last year’s Class AAA team champion in Minnesota.

Dillon Wiethorn (267) of Cedar Rapids Prairie holds a slight lead on Johnston's Carter Dyer as they make the second-to-last turn Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf.

Samuel Lange (264) of Cedar Rapids Prairie and Garrett Willey (64) of Bettendorf run next to each other Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf.

Rocco Hawthorne (488) of Edina leads Pleasant Valley's Joe Knepp (985) and Kamran Foad in the third mile Saturday, Sept, 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf.

Keegan Decker (554) of Iowa City Liberty leads Johnston's Jack Crossland up a hill in the second mile Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational boys cross country meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf. Decker and Crossland finished 1-2 in the 5,000-meter race, with Decker winning by 3 seconds in 15:33.

Kyle Johnson (263) of Cedar Rapids Prairie leads Pleasant Valley's Landen Orris (987) and Iowa City High's Emmett Palmberg (207) up a hill Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational boys cross country meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf.

David Randall of Iowa City High leads a group that includes Rocco Hawthorne Arro of Edina (Minn.) up a hill Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational boys cross country meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf.

Samuel Lange of Cedar Rapids Prairie rounds a corner Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational boys cross country meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf.

Iowa City Liberty's trio of Tayson Cho (553), Jens Strand (552) and Maxwell Kinzer climb a hill together Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf.

Linus McRoberts (204) of Iowa City High climbs a short hill ahead of the Rock Island (Ill.) duo of Elliott Batz (1029) and Gabe Mahn (1030), Dubuque Senior's Jack Kirman (450) and Pleasant Valley's Kamran Foad (984) on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf. Batz (fifth), McRoberts (sixth) and Mahn (10th) all finished in the top 10, while Kirman placed 11th.

Ten runners are bunched up as they climb a hill Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf. The group includes Pleasant Valley's Jacob O'Connor (989), Iowa City West's Jacob Weimer (620), Bettendorf's Liam Rehnberg (60), Cedar Rapids Prairie's Dillon Wiethorn (267), Iowa City Liberty's Colin Finch (555) and Johnston's Robert Widtfeldt (674).

Michael Hanna (615) of Iowa City West runs between Pleasant Valley's Joe Knepp (985) and Kamran Foad (984) as they compete in the last half mile Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitational in Bettendorf. Hanna outran both of them down the stretch and placed 18th in 16:29.

The Iowa City High trio of Jack Leman (203), Jarris Prottsman (205) and Jasper McRoberts (209) run in a group with Judah Clark (1086) of Wheaton North, Ben Ellerbach (383) of Dubuque Hempstead and Lars Hildebrand of Iowa City Liberty on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Spartan Invitationl in Bettendorf.