Super close at MVC cross country Super meet

DUBUQUE — What are the odds? One in 1,000, maybe?

Both team races were closer than close at the Mississippi Valley Conference cross country 'Super' meet Thursday afternoon at the Dubuque Soccer Complex. Both, in fact, were decided via tie-breaker.

'In practice, we do a lot of pack running,' said Jack Pendergast, who led the Cedar Rapids Prairie boys to an ultra-slim triumph over Dubuque Hempstead. 'I think that helps us push each other through the race.'

Prairie and Dubuque Hempstead both scored 61 points, but as Coach Bill Schwarz hoped before the meet, the Hawks' depth carried the day. Prairie's No. 6 runner not only beat Hempstead's No. 6 (and that's how a tie is broken), he also finished ahead of the Mustangs' fourth and fifth guys.

That offset Hempstead's 2-3-6 finish at the front of the pack.

Hempstead was on the other side of the girls' tie-breaker; the Mustangs and Iowa City West both tallied 69 points.

'There's always something all of us could have done a little better to make a difference, but I don't want anybody on our team to get down on themselves,' said West's Bailey Nock, the individual girls' champion. 'The season is far from over, and we'll get after it again tomorrow.'

Nock pulled away from Linn-Mar freshman Micah Poellet in the final half of the race and finished in 18:07.

'Every race is different, and I think (Poellet) changed her strategy a little today,' said Nock, the reigning 4A state champion who is unbeaten against Iowa competition this season. 'I just tried to stay relaxed ... my pace, my race.'

Poellet, who was timed in 18:19, is the leader of a talented crew of Metro freshmen. Teammate Lilly Geelan (18:39) was third; Prairie's Laurdyn Meyer (18:54) was fourth.

'That's really exciting to see,' Poellet said. 'Maybe by the time we're seniors, we can go 1-2-3 at state.

'I tried for the first mile and a half to keep up with (Nock). When I run with a more consistent pace, I do better.'

West junior Kolby Greiner comfortably won the boys' individual race. He got out front early and built the lead from there, clocking in at 15:43 — 18 seconds ahead of Hempstead's Addison Kalb.

'It was a fun race for sure,' he said. 'I've been having some back issues that are slowly getting worse. When I get in rhythm, I don't really feel it, but after the race and first thing in the morning, it hurts a lot.'

Greiner was sporting a new hairdo, blond in hue.

'It was sort of a dare,' he said. 'This will probably get shaved.'

Linn-Mar was third, Cedar Rapids Kennedy fourth in the boys' race. Linn-Mar was the top Metro girls' squad, placing fifth.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE SUPER CROSS COUNTRY MEET

At Dubuque Soccer Complex

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams — 1. Dubuque Hempstead 69, 2. Iowa City West 69, 3. Dubuque Senior 95, 4. Cedar Falls 107, 5. Linn-Mar 123, 6. Dubuque Wahlert 140, 7. Iowa City High 151, 8. C.R. Prairie 182, 9. C.R. Kennedy 242, 10. C.R. Washington 266, 11. C.R. Jefferson 333, 12. C.R. Xavier 374, 13. Waterloo 384.

Individuals — 1. Bailey Nock (ICW), 18:07; 2. Micah Poellet (LM), 18:19; 3. Lilly Geelan (LM), 18:39; 4. Laurdyn Meyer (CRP), 18:54; 5. Mackenzie Michael (CF), 19:01; 6. Mia Rampton (DS), 19:09; 7. Gabby Moran (DS), 19:09; 8. Hannah Brown (DH), 19:12; 9. Reagan Gorman (CRW), 19:16; 10. Shaelyn Hostager (DH), 19:18.

Iowa City West — 1. Nock, 18:07; 14. Colleen Bloeser, 19:27; 17. Kiara Malloy-Salgado, 19:38; 18. Deniz Ince, 19:42; 19. Erica Buettner, 19:43.

Linn-Mar — 2. Poellet, 3. Geelan, 20. Chloe Skidmore, 19:43; 44. Abby Van Rheenen, 20:53; 54. A.J. Kendrick, 21:14.

Iowa City High — 22. Aly Hecker, 19:49; 29. Esti Brady, 20:04; 30. Annie Rummelhart, 20:11; 33. Bridget Brown, 20:22; 37. Anna Lindower, 20:27.

C.R. Prairie — 4. Meyer, 21. Kendall White, 19:43; 43. Riley Coulter, 20:51; 53. Maggie Mikimen, 21:14; 61. Hailey Cooper, 21:35.

C.R. Kennedy — 40. Hannah Fusselman, 20:44; 41. Olivia Hamblin, 20:47; 49. Lauren Gray, 21:04; 52. Brianna McLaughlin, 21:11; 60. Kaelyn Ryan, 21:33.

C.R. Washington — 9. Gorman, 46. Sarah Altemeier, 20:55; 67. Sydney Mitvalsky, 21:56; 71. Jojo Hayes, 22:10; 73. Emma Westphalen, 22:14.

C.R. Jefferson — 42. Rachel Nagel, 20:50; 51. Jenna Griffith, 21:10; 69. Josie Chung, 21:57; 84. Izzy Bushman, 24:08; 87. Callie Christofferson, 25:15.

C.R. Xavier — 63. Hannah Denman, 21:49; 70. Claire Iversen, 22:05; 75. Megan Meyer, 22:28; 81. Bridget Schmitt, 23:16; 85. Rilee Lansing, 24:19.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams — 1. C.R. Prairie 61, 2. Dubuque Hempstead 61, 3. Linn-Mar 113, 4. C.R. Kennedy 118, 5. Dubuque Senior 145, 6. Iowa City West 154, 7. C.R. Washington 163, 8. Cedar Falls 170, 9. Iowa City High 183, 10. Dubuque Wahlert 305, 11. C.R. Xavier 308, 12. C.R. Jefferson 328, 13. Waterloo West 342.

Individuals — 1. Kolby Greiner (ICW), 15:43; 2. Addison Kalb (DH), 16:01; 3. Ben Hermiston (DH), 16:02; 4. Jalen Hildebrand (DS), 16:04; 5. Brandon Conrad (CF), 16:05; 6. David Holesinger (DH), 16:11; 7. Jack Pendergast (CRP), 16:11; 8. Robert Laue (CRP), 16:18; 9. Jacob Green (CRK), 16:18; 10. Max Locher (CRW), 16:19.

C.R. Prairie — 7. Pendergast, 8. R.Laue, 13. Mike Jasa, 16:23; 14. Maxwell Laue, 16:26; 19. Colton LaGrange, 16:34.

Linn-Mar — 11. Colin Johnston, 16:21; 17. Dylan Dolezal, 16:30; 24. Brycen Snell, 16:40; 29. Trent Long, 16:53; 32. Cadin Evans, 16:56.

C.R. Kennedy — 9. Green, 12. Jackson Foley, 16:22; 28. Lucas Middlekauff, 16:49; 31. Ricardo Calderon, 16:56; 38. Sean Casey, 17:02.

Iowa City West — 1. Greiner, 15. Ethan Goers, 16:26; 43. Ethan Trepka, 17:06; 45. Will Conrad, 17:07; 50. Yousif Salama, 17:18.

C.R. Washington — 10. Locher, 16. Paul Schneidermann, 16:26; 26. Khory Nobles, 16:41; 48. Caleb Kleman, 17:12; 63. Lewis Kleman, 17:31.

Iowa City High — 21. Caden Turnbough, 16:35; 25. Quenton Max, 16:40; 37. Jonathan Brown, 17:02; 49. James Momberg, 17:12; 51. J.P. Rethwisch, 17:21.

C.R. Xavier — 36. Jonathan Lansing, 17:01; 42. Nolan Pithan, 17:05; 59. Jack Renning, 17:29; 84. Grayson Walther, 18:33; 87. Grant Schnoebelen, 18:37.

C.R. Jefferson — 41. Sri Sheshashai, 17:05; 58. Robert Larson, 17:29; 69. Lukas Lamparek, 17:36; 79. Blaze Bouzek, 18:15; 81. Nathan Lauterwasser, 18:20.

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