Benzing, Evans surge to individual crowns

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Lauren Benzing surged to take the steam out of the competition.

It took a lot out of her, too.

A junior at Solon and a reigning state champion, Benzing labored down the final stretch but repeated as the girls' individual champion at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational cross country meet Saturday morning at Prairie High School.

Her time of 15:04 broke her own course record, set last year in her cross country debut.

"I felt like I was hyperventilating at the end," said Benzing, who became more and more wobbly in the race's final 150 meters. "I really started feeling it when I got on the track the final time. I was saying to myself, 'Just make it to the finsh. Make it to the finish.' I tried to focus on that."

Benzing trailed Cedar Falls' Allison Gregg at the halfway point, then raced ahead with a swift move about a half-mile from the finish. Despite the late struggles, Benzing won by 9 seconds.

"We were going uphill, and I had some energy, so I went hard," she said.

Linn-Mar's boys and Cedar Falls' girls captured the team titles, both by two-point margins.

Led by individual champion Josh Evans, Linn-Mar edged Iowa City West, 59-61, for the boys' crown. Cedar Rapids Washington was third with 115.

Like Benzing, Evans put on a move to gain separation in the last stages of the race.

"I went to a camp at Wartburg (College), and they taught me a lot on different mental strategies," said Evans, who has put forth a noticeable growth spurt since last track season -- a couple inches and 5-10 pounds from his 5-foot-5, 105-pound frame he had last spring.

"Right around the 2-mile mark, I figured it was a good time to create a gap."

That gap became a comfortable one. Evans finished in 16:00, 18 seconds ahead of Cedar Rapids Washington's Etienne Nzoyisaba. Isaac Jensen of West was third in 16:25.

"I didn't expect to be this fast today," Evans said. "I expected maybe 16:15. I'd like to be around 15:30 by the end of the season."

Cedar Falls nudged Linn-Mar, 57-59, in the girls' race. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (93) and Iowa City West (96) were third and fourth.

Linn-Mar had three runners in the top seven: Carolyn Newhouse, Brooklynn Kascel and Morgan Uridil were third, fifth and seventh.

"If everything goes as well as possible, we could be really good by the end of the season," said Newhouse, a senior. "We have a couple really talented freshmen."

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE INVITATIONAL

Girls Results (Complete results)

Teams -- 1. Cedar Falls 57, 2. Linn-Mar 59, 3. C.R. Kennedy 93, 4. Iowa City West 96, 5. C.R. Washington 107, 6. Solon 131, 7. C.R. Prairie 163, 8. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 233, 9. C.R. Xavier 259, 10. Southeast Polk 279, 11. Monticello 316, 12. Benton Community 341, 13. Columbus Junction 363, 14. Marion 416, 15. Anamosa 419.

Individuals -- 1. Lauren Benzing (Sol), 15:04; 2. Allison Gregg (CF), 15:13; 3. Carolyn Newhouse (LM), 15:23; 4. Brianna King (CF), 15:26; 5. Brooklynn Kascel (LM), 15:42; 6. Pombie Silverman (ICW), 15:52; 7. Morgan Uridil (LM), 15:56; 8. Shannon Gorman (CRW), 15:58; 9. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW), 16:01; 10. Mariah Kauder (Cascade), 16:01.

Boys Results (Complete results)

Teams -- 1. Linn-Mar 59, 2. Iowa City West 61, 3. C.R. Washington 115, 4. Monticello 188, 5. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 148, 6. C.R. Prairie 151, 7. Marion 198, 8. C.R. Xavier 205, 9. C.R. Kennedy 228, 10. Solon 281, 11. Columbus Junction 322, 12. Anamosa 346, 13. Benton Community 350, 14. West Liberty 357, 15. Valley Lutheran 422, 16. Calamus-Wheatland 489.

Individuals -- 1. Josh Evans (LM), 16:00; 2. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW), 16:18; 3. Isaac Jensen (ICW), 16:25; 4. Conner Smock (MVL), 16:27; 5. Jacob Aune (CRP), 16:34; 6. Robert Hogg (CRW), 16:34; 7. Lukas Mees (Mar), 16:36; 8. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW), 16:36; 9. Daniel Murphy (LM), 16:43; 10. Bailey Wetherell (ICW), 16:49.

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