Cedar Rapids Washington races to a 4A district title

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Washington Warriors planned to run as a pack.

'We wanted to run together,' Sam McDermott said. 'But we didn't think we'd all finish in the top 15.'

The Warriors qualified for the state cross country meet for the first time in five years, and they didn't exactly squeeze in. Washington was a surprise champion in the Class 4A boys' race at Thursday's state-qualifying meet at Noelridge Park.

'Like they say in other sports, we executed our game plan,' Warriors Coach Will Harte said. 'The guys raced together really well. They tried to hold it together all the way through.'

The Warriors scored 43 points. Iowa City High (60) and Linn-Mar (65) snagged the other two spots.

The top three teams and the top 15 individuals advanced to the state meet Oct. 29 at Lakeside Golf Course, Fort Dodge. Washington is making its first appearance since 2011.

'It's tough to get a team to state,' Harte said. 'It's not easy. But I knew we had a good team, and it's a team that just has fun running.'

Linn-Mar's Ryan Murphy surged in the final mile and won the individual title in 15:57, nearly 5 seconds ahead of City High's Matthew Dodge.

Most runners are approaching the end of their seasons. For Murphy, it's just the beginning, with Nike and Foot Locker races following state.

'It really starts next week for me,' he said. 'I think I can win next week if I run well. Today, I just wanted to win and use the least amount of energy possible to do it.'

McDermott was third in 16:02. Washington freshmen Max Locher and Lewis Kleman were sixth and seventh, Patrick Gorman 12th and Paul Schneidermann 15th.

Led by individual champion Mary Arch, City High ran away with the girls' title with 37 points. Then it got really tight: Linn-Mar was second with 78 points. Muscatine and Cedar Rapids Kennedy scored 81 apiece, with the Muskies claiming the tie-breaker and the final bid.

Arch has battled an optical migraine and a minor bout of mononucleosis this fall. She's more herself now, and she held off a fast-charging Ella Popenhagen of Kennedy to win in 18:27.

'It took me a while to recover,' she said. 'For a while, I felt so weak and tired. About two weeks ago, I finally started to feel better.'

Popenhagen is a freshman and a two-sport fall athlete (she also is on the swimming team). Between the two sports, she trains as much as four hours some days.

'It's crazy, but I love it,' said Popenhagen, who was fourth with 200 meters to go, then passed two runners and very nearly caught Arch. 'Both teams are like family to me.'

City's Anna Lindower was third.

Pekin swept the 1A championships. The boys were led by a 1-2 finish by Ryan Millikin and Malcolm Myers and scored 44 points. Calamus-Wheatland (63) and Bellevue (126) earned the other two spots.

The girls' race was closer, with Pekin (49) edging Bellevue Marquette (56) and North Linn (63). It is North Linn's 33rd state bid under veteran coach Bob Mudd.

Camryn Reeg of Bellevue was the 1A girls' champion. North Linn's Hannah Bridgewater was third.

CLASS 1A & CLASS 4A STATE QUALIFIER

At Cedar Rapids (Noelridge Park)

(Top 3 teams, top 15 individuals advance to state meet Oct. 29 at Fort Dodge)

CLASS 1A GIRLS

Teams — 1. Pekin 49, 2. Bellevue Marquette 56, 3. North Linn 63, 4. Wilton 118, 5. Belle Plaine 135, 6. Clayton Ridge 145, 7. Durant 164, 8. Lone Tree 211, 9. Iowa Mennonite 232, 10. Highland 254, 11. WACO 327.

Individuals — 1. Camryn Reeg (Bellevue), 19:13; 2. Shea Dahlstrom (Pekin), 20:04; 3. Hannah Bridgewater (NL), 20:12; 4. Halle Kilburg (Marq), 20:12; 5. Kailey Miller (Bellevue), 20:18; 6. Kasandra Rosenbum (ClayR), 20:20; 7. Kaylee Ford (Wilton), 20:30; 8. Annika Frank (Marq), 20:43; 9. Jaelynn Folkers (Midland), 20:44; 10. Kylie Reierson (NL), 20:46; 11. Ashley Koos (Marq), 20:48; 12. Remi Duwa (Pekin), 20:49; 13. Emiliy Linder (Pekin), 20:52; 14. Ellie Berry (Durant), 20:55; 15. Macey Kremer (Marq), 20:55.

CLASS 1A BOYS

Teams — 1. Pekin 44, 2. Calamus-Wheatland 63, 3. Bellevue 126, 4. Maquoketa Valley 147, 5. Durant 165, 6. Bellevue Marquette 216, 7. North Linn 217, 8. Fort Madison Holy Trinity 243, 9. Wilton 248, 10. Wapello 288, 11. Winfield-Mount Union 289, 12. Belle Plaine 306, 13. Iowa Mennonite 307, 14. Alburnett 390, 15. Columbus Community 405, 16. Highland 427, 17. Clinton Prince of Peace 433, 18. Easton Valley 482, 19. Clayton Ridge 517, 20. English Valleys 522, 21. WACO 600.

Individuals — 1. Ryan Millikin (Pekin), 16:19; 2. Malcohm Myers (Pekin), 16:31; 3. Hunter Rickels (Cal-Wheat), 16:45; 4. Gavin Bencze (WMU), 16:57; 5. Buddy Darting (Wilton), 16:59; 6. Noah Brown (Wilton), 16:59; 7. Turner Klein (Keota), 16:59; 8. Seth Boss (NL), 17:00; 9. Brenden Hogan (MaqV), 17:02; 10. Cole Moeller (Cal-Wheat), 17:09; 11. Colton Glosser (Pekin), 17:12; 12. Samuel Peters (Marq), 17:15; 13. Levi Geyer (IMS), 17:17; 14. Chandler Gannon (Cal-Wheat), 17:21; 15. Jack Sieverding (Bellevue), 17:21.

CLASS 4A GIRLS

Teams — 1. Iowa City High 37, 2. Linn-Mar 78, 3. Muscatine 81, 4. C.R. Kennedy 81, 5. Ottumwa 120, 6. C.R. Washington 155, 7. C.R. Jefferson 195, 8. Newton 221, 9. Western Dubuque 241.

Individuals — 1. Mary Arch (ICH), 18:27; 2. Ella Popenhagen (CRK), 18:28; 3. Anna Lindower (ICH), 18:28; 4. Brina Kraft (Musc), 18:37; 5. Kylie Latham (Ott), 18:38; 6. Maddie Mann (LM), 18:42; 7. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 18:57; 8. Hannah Fusselman (CRK), 19:02; 9. Moriah Morter (Musc), 19:06; 10. Emily Bywater (ICH), 19:08; 11. Bridget Brown (ICH), 19:10; 12. Annie Rummelhart (ICH), 19:16; 13. Abby Van Rheenen (LM), 19:20; 14. Alli Bookin-Nosbisch (Ott), 19:20; 15. Brooklyn Button (CRK), 19:21.

City High — 1. Arch, 3. Lindower, 10. Bywater, 11. Brown, 12. Rummelhart.

Linn-Mar — 6. Mann, 13. Van Rheenen, 18. Rachel Bohnenkamp, 19:34; 19. Deanna Newhouse, 19:36; 22. Maddie Genskow, 19:47.

Kennedy — 2. Popenhagen, 8. Fusselman, 15. Button, 27. Olivia Hamblin, 20:03; 29. Brianna McLaughlin, 20:22.

Washington — 7. Gorman, 24. Sarah Altemeier, 19:53; 35. Mekela Spence, 21:11; 44. JoJo Hayes, 21:57; 45. Serena Eck, 21:57.

Jefferson — 28. Autumn Anderson, 20:20; 37. Adriana Hargrove, 21:14; 40. Alex Smith, 21:32; 41. Makayla Belew, 21:34; 49. Anna Netz, 22:07.

CLASS 4A BOYS

Teams — 1. C.R. Washington 43, 2. Iowa City High 60, 3. Linn-Mar 65, 4. Muscatine 106, 5. Western Dubuque 107, 6. C.R. Kennedy 142, 7. C.R. Jefferson 201, 8. Ottumwa 222, 9. Newton 239.

Individuals — 1. Ryan Murphy (LM), 15:57; 2. Matthew Dodge (ICH), 16:02; 3. Sam McDermott (CRW), 16:02; 4. Alex Bautista (Musc), 16:03; 5. Dalton Gosch (LM), 16:05; 6. Max Locher (CRW), 16:08; 7. Lewis Kleman (CRW), 16:08; 8. Joe Freiburger (WDbq), 16:12; 9. Kyle Hoffman (Musc), 16:13; 10. Michael Berg (ICH), 16:16; 11. Tyler Olson (Musc), 16:17; 12. Patrick Gorman (CRW), 16:18; 13. Robbie Strang (ICH), 16:21; 14. Nathan Betts (WDbq), 16:24; 15. Paul Schneidermann (CRW), 16:24.

Washington — 3. McDermott, 6. Locher, 7. Kleman, 12. Gorman, 15. Schneidermann.

City High — 2. Dodge, 10. Berg, 13. Strang, 17. Lucas Firmstone, 16:25; 18. Quenton Max, 16:32.

Linn-Mar — 1. Murphy, 5. Gosch, 16. Colin Johnston, 16:24; 20. Johnny Sietz, 16:40; 23. Sam Vezina, 16:49.

Kennedy — 19. Jackson Foley, 16:34; 27. Sean Casey, 16:55; 30. Jacob Ciabatti, 17:00; 31. Haji Ali, 17:03; 35. Lucas Middlekauff, 17:09.

Jefferson — 29. Sri Sheshashai, 17:00; 34. Robert Larson, 17:07; 43. Aidan Meyer, 17:38; 46. Christopher Haring, 17:39; 49. Kane Kramer, 17:52.

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