Moustafa Tiea ‘shakes off the rust,’ races to victory at Cedar Rapids Invitational cross country meet

CEDAR RAPIDS — He’s keeping his college options “on the down-low,” though it sounds like he’ll be running somewhere warm.

Wherever he ends up, Moustafa Tiea wants to branch out and become more than an elite middle-distance guy.

“I want to be a someone who can do cross country well, too,” the Iowa City West senior said. “My training has been super great, and right now I’m just knocking off the rust.”

Tiea got to the front early and captured the boys’ individual title at the 18-team Cedar Rapids Invitational cross country meet Thursday afternoon at Seminole Valley Park. Tiea was clocked in 15:38, four seconds ahead of runner-up Grady Olberding of Mount Vernon-Lisbon.

“It was the rust bucket for me,” Tiea said. “For a first race, it was pretty good. It was a lot better than last year. I’m more of a 400/800 guy, but I need to learn to win in all (distances). I don’t want any excuses when we get to the big races.

“For sure, I think I can be a dark horse (at state).”

Pack running paid off for the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys, who had nobody in the top eight, but all five scored in the top 21.

The Hawks, ranked No. 10 in Class 4A, won the team title with 68 points, outscoring Bettendorf (87), Ankeny Centennial (91) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (95).

Centennial entered Thursday ranked No. 4 in 4A.

“I don’t think I’ve won anything as a team as a varsity athlete,” said senior Bennett Allred, who led the Hawks in ninth place. “Running together is something we try to work out, but we usually go out too fast.”

The Hawks’ gap from lead runner to No. 5 was a mere 25 seconds. Cole Carrizales, Kyle Johnson and Carter Mulford were 11th, 12th and 15th.

Olberding and Dawson Scheil were second and eighth for MVL; Slader Buckheister and Adam Gray placed third and seventh for Kennedy.

Class 4A third-ranked Centennial was the class of the girls’ field. Led by individual champion Anika Mohrhauser (18:42), the Jaguars ran 1-3-7-9-15 for a nifty 35-point tally.

Last year’s 3A state runner-up, Mount Vernon-Lisbon was second with 119 points, followed by Prairie (132).

MVL has run primarily against 4A competition in its first two meets; the Mustangs opened at Ames.

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“We definitely like running against the bigger schools,” said junior Kiersten Swart, who finished fifth in 19:23. “The teams we’ll run against at the end of the season, we’ll see them enough.

“It’s going to take time for us to get to where we want to be at the end of the season, but we’re off to a great start.”

Swart’s teammate, Evelyn Moeller, was 10th.

Center Point-Urbana’s Grace Estling was sixth.

Girls’ results

Teams — 1. Ankeny Centennial 35, 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 119, 3. C.R. Prairie 132, 4. Davenport Central 137, 5. Bettendorf 146, 6. Marion 158, 7. Dubuque Wahlert 220, 8. Iowa City West 226, 9. Center Point-Urbana 234, 10. Muscatine 266, 11. Clinton 269, 12. C.R. Kennedy 280, 13. C.R. Xavier 299, 14. North Scott 325, 15. C.R. Washington 360, 16. C.R. Jefferson 459, 17. Davenport North 490.

Individuals — 1. Anika Mohrhauser (AnkC), 18:42; 2. Joley Sullivan (DavC), 18:55; 3. Haley Hveem (AnkC), 19:00; 4. Dylan Moeller (DavC), 19:16; 5. Kiersten Swart (MVL), 19:23; 6. Grace Estling (CPU), 19:32; 7. Bella Hodges (AnkC), 19:33; 8. Lucy Murphy (DbqW), 19:48; 9. Trinity Klingensmith (AnkC), 19:49; 10. Evelyn Moeller (MVL), 19:52.

Boys’ results

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 68, 2. Bettendorf 87, 3. Ankeny Centennial 91, 4. C.R. Kennedy 95, 5. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 130, 6. Iowa City West 159, 7. Davenport West 163, 8. Waterloo West 234, 9. Davenport North 278, 10. North Scott 280, 11. Dubuque Wahlert 306, 12. C.R. Xavier 307, 13. Muscatine 311, 14. Marion 356, 15. C.R. Jefferson 390, 16. C.R. Washington 414, 17. Clinton 444.

Individuals — 1. Moustafa Tiea (ICW), 15:38; 2. Grady Olberding (MVL), 15:42; 3. Slader Buckheister (CRK), 15:43; 4. A.J. Willey (Bett), 15:46; 5. Cohen Moll (AnkC), 15:50; 6. Ryan Heden (Bett), 15:51; 7. Adam Gray (CRK), 15:57; 8. Dawson Scheil (MVL), 16:01; 9. Bennett Allred (CRP), 16:06; 10. Zack Ryan (DavC), 16:08.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com