Trio of area teams dominate Class 3A boys district cross country meet

SOLON - Throughout this cross country season, the Class 3A boys competition on this side of the state has been marked with domination, primarily, from three teams.

On Thursday afternoon in Solon, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, Marion and Center Point-Urbana reminded everyone why they were ranked No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The three teams filled the top 13 runners, and 17 of the top 20, with Mount Vernon-Lisbon taking the team title ahead of Marion and CPU in third.

'They push us; they help us get better all the time,” said Mount Vernon-Lisbon Coach Kory Swart. 'We know they're chasing after us, so it just keeps pushing us to get better and better and better. It motivates us, and they're great teams too. We're just doing what we do every day, trying to get better.”

Swart's team had just one runner in the top five individually in senior Nolan Teubel (16:45), who finished second to overall winner Josh Yeager (16:17) of Center Point-Urbana.

But the MVL team strategy of pack running made itself evident in the results, as five of their runners finished from sixth to 11th. Pack running, Swart said, is what's propelled MVL throughout this season.

'Getting out smart, working together and helping each other out - that's kind of been our mantra all year, and they've done just a phenomenal job executing (the pack running strategy),” Swart said. 'We've got a lot of guys at even ability levels, so it kind of developed itself. And if you want to score well at competitions like this, you really have to follow that team-first mentality, team pack-running mentality.”

MVL was the runaway winner of the meet, with 35 team points, compared to Marion at 56 and CPU at 61. Swart's team had five of its seven runners in the top 10, while Marion only had two in second-place Colton Forster (16:39) and fourth-place Jeremy Fopma (16:48). CPU also fell victim to the MVL pack, claiming two top 10 spots as well with Yeager winning and Michael Marshall (16:48) in fifth.

Among the three teams, the lowest any runner finished was 34th out of 84 runners, further showing the rest of the 3A competition how big the gap was between those programs and the rest of Eastern Iowa.

Center Point-Urbana, back to the state meet as a team for the third straight season, was 73 points ahead of fourth-place finisher Clear Creek-Amana, who produced the only non-MVL, Marion or CPU individual state qualifier in junior Eric Douglass (16:57), who finished eighth.

'I think for all three teams, everybody has to raise the bar,” CPU Coach Lew Paine said. 'When you need to motivate (the kids), you definitely talk about the other schools and how hard they're working.

'They know, to do well, they have to be pretty darn good around here.”

For Yeager, now a four-year state qualifier as an individual, he wanted his teammates there with him again. After all they've been through together and who they've had to face this season, he didn't want anyone left out of the state fun in Fort Dodge.

'For us seniors, it's been six or seven years of work,” Yeager said. 'My freshman year I went by myself. And while it was a fun experience, nothing matches when you're there with the team.”

In the Class 3A girls race, Davenport Assumption had two of the top three individual finishers. Sophomore Joy Ripslinger (14:58) won and freshman Julia Schumacher (15:20) was third. Marion's Madison Bach (15:13) split the two, finishing second.

Williamsburg won the 3A girls district team title, led by fifth-place finisher Kiaya Walters (15:38), ahead of Assumption in second and Mount Vernon-Lisbon in third.

Class 1A district races were held in Solon on Thursday as well, though without Iowa City Regina, whose teams were disqualified by the IHSAA and IGHSAU for practicing on the Solon course before competition.

Bellevue won the 1A boys' team title, led by overall individual winner Andrew Meyer (16:29). Bellevue Marquett finished second as a team, with Elkader Central third.

Elkader Central was one of two schools in competition on Thursday to qualify both its boys and girls teams, joining Mount Vernon-Lisbon. It won the 1A girls district title, led by third-place finisher Haley Schroeder (15:41). North Linn finished second in the team race, with Durant third.

Clayton Ridge senior Jasmine Staebler (15:35) was the 1A girls overall winner.

RESULTS

Class 3A boys

Team:

1. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 35; 2. Marion 56; 3. Center Point-Urbana 61; 4. Clear Creek-Amana 134; 5. Fort Madison 146; 6. Solon 168; 7. DeWitt Central 206; 8. South Tama 221; 9. Davenport Assumption 234; 10. Fairfield 274; 11. Washington (Iowa) 317; 12. Keokuk 352.

Individual:

1. Josh Yeager, Center Point-Urbana, 16:17; 2. Colton Forster, Marion, 16:39; 3. Nolan Tuebel, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 16:45; 4. Jeremy Fopma, Marion, 16:48; 5. Michael Marshall, Center Point-Urbana, 16:48; 6. Reid Smock, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 16:48; 7. TJ Krob, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 16:51; 8. Eric Douglass, Clear Creek-Amana, 16:57; 9. Chase McLaughlin, Mount Vernon-Lisbon 17:01; 10. Ben Gilbert, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 17:06.

Class 3A girls

Team:

1. Williamsburg 43; 2. Davenport Assumption 53; 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 95; 4. Fort Madison 111; 5. Fairfield 134; 6. Solon 140; 7. Marion 163; 8. Center Point-Urbana 196; 9. DeWitt Central 211; 10. Washington 259; 11. South Tama 302; 12. Clear Creek-Amana 343.

Individual:

1. Joy Ripslinger, Davenport Assumption, 14:58; 2. Madison Bach, Marion, 15:13; 3. Julia Schumacher, Davenport Assumption, 15:20; 4. Sarah Steffensmei, Fort Madison, 15:26; 5. Kiaya Walters, Williamsburg, 15:38; 6. Julie Hollensbe, Williamsburg, 15:39; 7. Sarah Adams, Davenport Assumption, 15:55; 8. Miranda Doehrmann, Williamsburg, 15:57; 9. Mallory King, Davenport Assumption, 15:57; 10. Maren Jeppson, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, 15:57.

Class 1A boys

Team:

1. Bellevue 45; 2. Bellevue Marquette 110; 3. Elkader Central 114; 4. Highland 129; 5. BGM Brooklyn 132; 6. Edgewood-Colesburg 207; 7. Wilton 213; 8. Iowa Mennonite 217; 9. Alburnett 228; 10. Durant 234; 11. North Linn 241; 12. Calamus-Wheatland 282; 13. Montezuma 286; 14. Belle Plaine 341; 15. Easton Valley 356.

Individual:

1. Andrew Meyer, Bellevue, 16:29; 2. Evan Mahler, Highland, 16:57; 3. Keiffer Sexton, Highland, 17:02; 4. Andrew Segalla, Bellevue, 17:19; 5. Jake Wilson, BGM Brooklyn, 17:27; 6. Lucas Schmidt, Bellevue Marquette, 17:27; 7. Geert Boelen, BGM Brooklyn, 17:33; 8. Joey Tobin, Durant, 17:35; 9. Kirby Shetler, Iowa Mennonite, 17:44; 10. Jacob Jansen, Elkader Central, 17:44.

Class 1A girls

Team:

1. Elkader Central 50; 2. North Linn 72; 3. Durant 119; 4. Clayton Ridge 143; 5. Bellevue Marquette 146; 6. Edgewood-Colesburg 147; 7. Wilton 163; 8. Calamus-Wheatland 182; 9. Bellevue 198; 10. Easton Valley 240; 11. Maquoketa Valley 257; 12. Montezuma 281.

Individual:

1. Jasmine Staebler, Clayton Ridge, 15:35; 2. Camryn Reeg, Bellevue, 15:40; 3. Haley Schroeder, Elkader Central, 15:41; 4. Alyssa Williams, Durant, 15:50; 5. Megan Slattery, Calamus-Wheatland, 15:59; 6. Riley Schmieder, Iowa Mennonite, 16:15; 7. Kari Fitzpatrick, Edgewood-Colesburg, 16:12; 8. Renee Buckwalter, Iowa Mennonite, 16:15; 9. Sydney Mertens, North Linn, 16:16; 10. Kaylee Ford, Wilton, 16:16.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com