Elite runners burn up the course at Prairie Invitational cross country meet

CEDAR RAPIDS — Consensus is that the cross country course on the College Community Schools campus isn’t classified as “fast.”

“No,” said Pella’s Marissa Ferebee. “There are all of those turns. And the grass was a little wet today.”

In the words of one of the coaches, who will remain nameless: “It’s not Seminole (Valley Park).”

So it’s not the course. It must be the runners.

Saturday morning at the Prairie Invitational, it absolutely was the runners.

The reigning Class 3A girls’ state champion, Ferebee blazed to a personal best by more than a minute, in 17:23.

Then came a highly anticipated boys’ race, in which Western Dubuque’s Quentin Nauman (15:15) outran Pella’s Canaan Dunham (15:25) and Cedar Falls’ Jaden Merrick (15:30) in the final half-mile.

All of those times ... those are October times. State-championship times.

Then again, these are championship-caliber runners. Ferebee and Dunham won 3A titles last year, Merrick was the 4A runner-up, Nauman was sixth in 3A.

All four of them are juniors.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since right after track season was over,” said Nauman, a four-event winner at Drake Stadium in May. “I thought, ‘I get to run against Canaan and Jaden in the first meet. Yes!’

“No matter what, running against them is going to make me better. Maybe I can make them better, too.”

Nauman’s effort was a school record and a personal best.

“It’s definitely a confidence builder,” he said. “Now I know I can keep up with those guys.”

When Nauman keeps up with you, with his closing speed, he’s almost certainly going to prevail.

“If they’re in view, I think I can catch them,” he said. “When there was 3-tenths or 4-tenths of a mile left, I just said, ‘Let’s go this now.’”

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Cedar Falls captured the boys’ race with 44 points. Prairie was second with 60.

Nick Lee and Bennett Allred finished fifth and seventh for Prairie.

“I felt pretty good for a first race,” Lee said. “The last half-mile, I need to work on that.”

In the girls’ race, the Dutch were too much. Led by Ferebee’s effort, Pella finished 1-3-4-6-7 for a 21-point effort. Cedar Falls was second with 47.

“I’m super-excited for this season,” Ferebee said. “My career-best was 18:38 (at state last year). I’ve done a lot of training. We have good coaches and a good support system, so everything has clicked into place.

“Our next girl (Elsie Brenneman) broke our old school record today, too.”

Cedar Falls freshman Charlee Gall was the runner-up in 18:12, two seconds ahead of Brenneman.

Prairie freshman Harper Groteluschen was the top area girl, placing eighth in 20:28.

Girls results

TEAMS

1. Pella 21, 2. Cedar Falls 47, 3. C.R. Prairie 126, 4. Linn-Mar 150, 5. Clear Creek Amana 154, 6. Marion 173, 7. Monticello 189, 8. Williamsburg 197, 9. Fort Madison 207, 10. C.R. Xavier 224, 11. Cascade 278, 12. Western Dubuque 280, 13. Central Lee 377.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Marissa Ferebee (Pella), 17:23; 2. Charlee Gall (CF), 18:12; 3. Elsie Brenneman (Pella), 18:14; 4. Ruth Dunham (Pella), 19:46; 5. Josee Simonson (CF), 19:53; 6. Mara Schiebout (Pella), 19:54; 7. Raegan Snieder (Pella), 20:02; 8. Harper Groteluschen (CRP), 20:28; 9. Hailey Kozloski (LM), 20:32; 10. Mia Deegan (CRX), 20:35.

Boys results

TEAMS

1. Cedar Falls 44, 2. C.R. Prairie 60, 3. Iowa City High 80, 4. Pella 123, 5. Dubuque Senior 126, 6. Clear Creek Amana 204, 7. Western Dubuque 233, 8. Fort Madison 236, 9. Waterloo West 250, 9. Monticello 312, 10. C.R. Xavier 318, 11. Marion 330, 12. Williamsburg 339, 13. Davenport West 384, 14. Cascade 422, 15. West Liberty 483, 16. Central Lee 503.

INDIVIDUALS

1. Quentin Nauman (WDbq), 15:15; 2. Canaan Dunham (Pella), 15:25; 3. Jaden Merrick (CF), 15:30; 4. Connor Martin (CF), 16:05; 5. Nick Lee (CRP), 16:11; 6. Kieran DeGroote (CF), 16:12; 7. Bennett Allred (CRP), 16:23; 8. Linus McRoberts (ICH), 16:23; 9. David Randall (ICH), 16:33; 10. Isaac Sorensen (CCA), 16:43.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com