Dawson Scheil leads Mount Vernon-Lisbon boys to the Williamsburg Invitational title

WILLIAMSBURG — For Dawson Scheil, it wasn’t a bad day to experiment.

“I knew (Pella’s Canaan) Dunham was going to take it a little easy, so I thought I would try some new things,” said Scheil, a senior for the combined Mount Vernon-Lisbon cross country team.

He increased his caffeine intake. And he ditched his spikes.

“I’d had some good workouts in these (regular running shoes),” he said. “It was a little tough on the turns (without the spikes), but it’s OK.”

It was more than OK.

Scheil claimed the individual boys’ title at the 27-team Williamsburg Invitational meet Tuesday afternoon at the Williamsburg Recreation Center. He finished in 16:04, building a 19-second winning cushion.

That triggered Mount Vernon-Lisbon, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, to the boys’ title. Sawyer Feldman was third, freshman Benjamin Brinkmann was seventh and the Mustangs compiled 40 points.

Pella was second with 55.

“The was the first time I tried Gu (caffeine supplements), and I felt confident,” Scheil said. “Maybe I’ll try it again.”

It was a strong day all around for Mount Vernon-Lisbon. The girls finished second to powerhouse Pella (48 points to 80), with Evelyn Moeller earning individual runner-up honors.

Albia’s McKenna Montgomery won in 18:07; Moeller was clocked in 18:16. Both broke the former course record.

“Last year, I had my breakout race here,” said Moeller, a junior. “That really helped my mindset today.

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“Over the summer, I got some miles on my legs. We have really, really good coaching. (Kory Swart) knows what he’s doing. ”He’ll get you into race shape.“

Montgomery finished third in Class 2A at last year’s state meet. Moeller had her in her sights for the majority of the race.

“(Swart) told me to go out chill, but I went out a little too hot,” Moeller said. “I looked at my watch and thought, ‘Well, you can’t turn back now.’”

The three-time defending 3A girls’ state champion, Pella prevailed despite resting its top two runners. The Dutch still placed three runners in the top eight.

Channing Becker of Williamsburg was fifth; MVL’s Kiersten Swart was sixth.

Barrett Jesina of South Tama was the boys’ runner-up. Alex Torres of Vinton-Shellsburg was fourth.

Williamsburg Invitational Girls Results

TEAMS

1. Pella 48, 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 80, 3. Solon 123, 4. Williamsburg 143, 5. Pella Christian 229, 6. Albia 246, 7. Tipton 251, 8. Clinton 254, 9. Lynnville-Sully 257, 10. English Valleys 275, 11. Bondurant-Farrar 290, 12. West Delaware 301, 13. Bettendorf 304, 14. North Mahaska 333, 15. Carlisle 337, 16. Mount Pleasant 369, 17. Vinton-Shellsburg 438, 18. Davis County 488, 19. Colfax-Mingo 492, 20. Eddyville EBF 521, 21. Belle Plaine 625.

INDIVIDUALS

1. McKenna Montgomery (Albia), 18:07; 2. Evelyn Moeller (MVL), 18:16; 3. Avery Fedler (Mt Pleasant), 18:55; 4. Lizzy Vande Voort (Pella), 19:10; 5. Channing Becker (Williamsburg), 19:19; 6. Kiersten Swart (MVL), 19:21; 7. Carleigh Altwine (Pella), 19:40; 8. Ruth Dunham (Pella), 19:41; 9. Carryn Sattler (Clinton), 20:01; 10. Aubrey Rivers (Clinton), 20:02.

Williamsburg Invitational Boys Results

TEAMS

1. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 40, 2. Pella 55, 3. Bondurant-Farrar 132, 4. Vinton-Shellsburg 158, 5. Pella Christian 193, 6. Tipton 200, 7. Carlisle 205, 8. Williamsburg 238, 9. Lynnville-Sully 241, 10. Solon 266, 11. Clinton 331, 12. West Delaware 387, 13. South Tama 407, 14. Albia 430, 15. English Valleys 434, 16. Davis County 439, 17. Mount Pleasant 439, 18. Danville 508, 19. Waterloo East 536, 20. HLV-TC 606, 21. Eddyville EBF 608, 22. North Mahaska 609, 23. Colfax-Mingo 622, 24. Belle Plaine 660, 25. Meskwaki 717.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Dawson Scheil (MVL), 16:04; 2. Barrett Jesina (South Tama), 16:23; 3. Sawyer Feldman (MVL), 16:24; 4. Alex Torres (Vinton-S), 16:32; 5. Ryler Hanson (Bond-F), 16:32; 6. Kael Streeter (Carlisle), 16:41; 7. Benjamin Brinkmann (MVL), 16:43; 8. Mason Gaulke (Pella), 16:45; 9. Jonah Ebersole (Pella),17:00; 10. Porter Carlton (Pella), 17:05.

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Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com