Birthday boy is a district champ, too

CEDAR FALLS - Akash Borde won his first race on his 18th birthday. It was one worth remembering.

A senior at Iowa City West, Borde cashed in at Thursday's Class 4A state-qualifying cross country meet at Birdsall Park.

Good timing. Happy birthday.

'I really wanted this one today,” he said. 'When we were here last week (for the MVC Valley Division meet), I went out and led for the first mile and a half, and it backfired on me.

'Today, I didn't want to set the pace until I was close to the finish line.”

Borde finished in 16:07, holding off Cedar Falls' Sam Schilinger by a second. And may the record show that Borde's first career varsity title was punctuated with his arms upraised, and a breathless, 'Yes!” as he passed the finish chute.

His triumph concluded an individual West sweep. Emmie Skopec and Bailey Nock finished a commanding 1-2 in the girls' race as the Women of Troy ran away with the team title.

West's girls scored 26 points, followed by Iowa City High (55) and Dubuque Hempstead (77). The top three teams and the top 10 individuals advance to the state meet Saturday, Nov. 1 at Lakeside Golf Course, Fort Dodge.

Nock (a freshman) edged Skopec (a senior) for the divisional crown on the same course a week earlier. Thursday, it was Skopec's turn.

'Our goal was to get 1-2,” Skopec said. 'I could see Bailey's shadow. I knew she was right there. I was just going to give it everything I had, and if she beat me, that was just going to be the way it was.”

Skopec was clocked in 14:59, Nock in 15:01.

Each of West's five scoring runners finished in the top 10. Gabby Skopec, Olivia Moore and Claire Ronnebaum were sixth, seventh and 10th.

City's Molly Shepherd and Mary Arch were third and fourth. Cedar Rapids Washington freshman Sarah Altemeier was fifth.

'About two weeks ago, I really started to believe I could make it,” Altemeier said. 'One of the coaches said he didn't think I'd make it. I said, ‘Hey, I want in on that bet. You don't know what you're talking about.'”

Borde paced the West boys to third place with 78 points. Cedar Falls (31 points) and Hempstead (60) captured the first two spots.

'We had a couple sick guys. We weren't really confident that we'd make it,” Borde said. 'Now that we have, I don't think top five at state is out of the question. We've got the talent.”

Nick Feeley was fifth for West. City High's Joel Bender (eighth) and Washington's Sam Eck (10th) qualified individually.

CROSS COUNTRY: CLASS 4A STATE-QUALIFYING MEET

At Cedar Falls

(Top 3 teams, top 10 individuals advance to state Nov. 1 at Fort Dodge)

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams - 1. Iowa City West 26, Iowa City High 55, 3. Dubuque Hempstead 77, 4. Cedar Falls 113, 5. C.R. Kennedy 144, 6. C.R. Jefferson 165, 7. C.R. Washington 181, 8. Western Dubuque 195, 9. Waterloo West 258, 10. Waterloo East 288.

Individual state qualifiers - 1. Emmie Skopec (ICW), 14:59; 2. Bailey Nock (ICW), 15:01; 3. Molly Shepherd (ICH), 15:20; 4. Mary Arch (ICH), 15:27; 5. Sarah Altemeier (CRW), 15:58; 6. Gabby Skopec (ICW), 15:43; 7. Olivia Moore (ICW), 15:45; 8. Allison Zierke (CF), 15:49; 9. Kristan Brown (DH), 15:50; 10. Claire Ronnebaum (ICW), 15:52.

I.C. West - 1. E.Skopec, 2. Nock, 6. G.Skopec, 7. Moore, 10. Ronnebaum.

City High - 3. Shepherd, 4. Arch, 11. Emily Bywater, 15:59; 12. Maddy Deninger, 16:02; 25. Celeste Chadwick, 16:33.

Kennedy - 19. Hannah Fusselman, 16:14; 22. Lauren Meyer, 16:22; 24. Olivia Green, 16:30; 38. Kate Nus, 17:16; 41. Laura Feld, 17:34.

Jefferson - 21. Meredith Koenigsfeld, 16:17; 23. Adrianna Hargrove, 16:27; 31. Sarah Hanna, 16:46; 35. Megan Ely, 17:01; 55. Jasmine Blue, 18:20.

Washington - 5. Altemeier, 34. Serena Eck, 16:59; 44. Brett Visser, 17:40; 48. Ashley Hageman, 17:50; 50. Joi Johnson, 18:06.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams - 1. Cedar Falls 31, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 60, 3. Iowa City West 78, 4. C.R. Washington 96, 5. Iowa City High 122, 6. Western Dubuque 183, 7. Waterloo West 207, 8. C.R. Kennedy 212, 9. C.R. Jefferson 238, 10. Waterloo East 321.

Individual state qualifiers - 1. Akash Borde (ICW), 16:07; 2. Sam Schillinger (CF), 16:08; 3. Ethan Smith (CF), 16:23; 4. Joe Meehan (DH), 16:24; 5. Nick Feeley (ICW), 16:31; 6. Jake Hartman (CF), 16:35; 7. Ryan Strauss (DH), 16:36; 8. Joel Bender (ICH), 16:41; 9. Hiram Marquez (CF), 16:43; 10. Sam Eck (CRW), 16:46.

I.C. West - 1. Borde, 5. Feeley, 20. Ali Ali, 17:14; 22. Matthew Schneider, 17:15; 30. Noah Brase, 17:32.

Washington - 10. Eck, 13. Finbar Berry, 16:59; 21. Wyatt Forster, 17:15; 24. Sam Werner, 17:17; 28. Ian Klopfenstein, 17:27.

City High - 8. Bender, 17. Matthew Dodge, 17:08; 27. Tom McDowell, 17:26; 33. Jarrett Purdy, 17:35; 37. Michael Taylor, 17:43.

Kennedy - 19. Addison Furry, 17:13; 43. Tim Zange, 18:02; 48. Derek Girling, 18:29; 50. Ethan Williams, 18:36; 52. Riley Patton, 18:38.

Jefferson - 38. Jason Chung, 17:43; 42. Nate Homan, 17:58; 45. Trey Hitchings, 18:10; 55. Kane Kramer, 18:52; 58. Nathan Prochnow, 19:08.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com