Wamac XC: Benton girls, Central boys reign

CENTER JUNCTION -- Conner Smock outdid himself Thursday.Smock eclipsed his own course record at Jones County Central Park, claiming the Wamac Conference boys' individual cross country title in 16 minutes, 34 seconds."Today I just decided to run and see how I felt," said Smock, a junior at Lisbon High School who runs for the combined Mount Vernon-Lisbon squad. "I felt great the first lap. The second lap, not so great."Smock and Solon's Lauren Benzing -- who matched the girls' course record of 15:31 -- were convincing champions. Smock won by 41 seconds, Benzing by 43.The team races, meanwhile, were tight. One contained suspense. The other featured a surprise.DeWitt Central's boys outran Marion, the top-rated team in Class 3A, by a 48-58 decision. All five of the scoring Sabers finished in the top 13 to offset a 2-4 finish by Marion's Lukas Mees and Zach Burhite.Benton Community captured its first girls' league title since 2006. The Bobcats tallied 59 points, followed closely by Solon (63) and Williamsburg (65)."This group has come a long way in the last two weeks," said Benton Coach Marty Thomae. "For us to win this meet, it says a lot about our kids."As it did Saturday at the North Linn Invitational, Benton relied on its depth. The Bobcats had the best No. 5 runner of any team. More often than not, that's the sign of a winning team.Benzing is a sophomore who played volleyball last fall. She burst onto the scene by winning her debut at Cedar Rapids Prairie in August, and hasn't been beaten all season.She maneuvered the hilly course  and utilized a strong, determined kick in time to tie the girls' record, set by Trisha Miller of Maquoketa in 2008."This was a really tough course, definitely the toughest I've run on," Benzing said. "You've got to stay strong."I like flat courses better, but I did like the challenge of the hills."Alex Wilson of Mount Vernon-Lisbon was second in 16:14, followed by Madison Weekly of Benton (16:22).Smock was chased home by Mees (17:15), Mount Vernon-Lisbon's Pryor Stroud (17:31) and Burhite (17:33)."It's really nice to have somebody like (Stroud) every day in practice to run with," Smock said. "He's a good person to compete with."

WAMAC CONFERENCE MEET

At Center Junction

GIRLS RESULTS

Teams -- 1. Benton Community 59, 2. Solon 63, 3. Williamsburg 65, 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 92, 5. Western Dubuque 109, 6. DeWitt Central 186, 7. Vinton-Shellsburg 234, 8. Marion 249, 9. West Delaware 266, 10. Anamosa 283, 11. Dyersville Beckman 311, 12. Independence 353, 13. Waterloo Columbus 354, 14. Clear Creek Amana 360, 15. Center Point-Urbana 376. Maquoketa did not field a complete team.

Individuals -- 1. Lauren Benzing (Sol), 15:31; 2. Alex Wilson (MVL), 16:14; 3. Madison Weekly (BC), 16:22; 4. Holly Salzbrenner (MVL), 16:25; 5. Molly Gustafson (Ind), 16:26; 6. Natasha Bruer (Wmsbg), 16:27; 7. Dakota Tell (WDbq), 16:39; 8. Bailey Kelsay (Sol), 16:39; 9. Mallory Carr (Sol), 16:39; 10. Cora Claypool (Wmsbg), 16:49; 11. Abbie Prusha (BC), 16:52; 12. Ashley Mills (BC), 16:53; 13. Regan Glandorf (Wmsbg), 16:53; 14. Kira Savage (Wmsbg), 16:54; 15. Megan Renfer (BC), 17:01; 16. Mariah Demmer (WDbq), 17:03; 17. Sydney Boudreau (CCA), 17:06; 18. Miranda Hammes (BC), 17:06; 19. Leah Adams (Sol), 17:08; 20. Ally Noethe (Beck), 17:09.

BOYS RESULTS

Teams -- 1. DeWitt Central 48, 2. Marion 58, 3. Solon 92, 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 120, 5. Vinton-Shellsburg 182, 6. Western Dubuque 189, 7. Benton Community 213, 8. Maquoketa 215, 9. Dyersville Beckman 221, 10. West Delaware 225, 11. Waterloo Columbus 277, 12. Williamsburg 305, 13. Anamosa 346, 14. Clear Creek Amana 377, 15. Independence 435. Center Point-Urbana did not field a complete team.

Individuals -- 1. Conner Smock (MVL), 16:34; 2. Lukas Mees (Mar), 17:15; 3. Pryor Stroud (MVL), 17:31; 4. Zach Burhite (Mar), 17:32; 5. Ryan Hamby (DC), 17:33; 6. Jeremiah Gerardy (Maq), 17:37; 7. Tyler Steele (BC), 17:39; 8. Sam Lehmann (Beck), 17:40; 9. Matt Zimmer (DC), 17:44; 10. Ben Niemann (DC), 17:50; 11. Daniel Barnes (DC), 17:51; 12. Chase Gross (Sol), 17:53; 13. Jordan Murray (DC), 17:57; 14. Colin Bream (Sol), 17:59; 15. Nick Rael (Mar), 18:01; 16. Jeanba Collet (Mar), 18:01; 17. Austin Schlueter (WDbq), 18:01; 18. Stephen Heffernen (WDel), 18:04; 19. Drake Rooney (CPU), 18:04; 20. Dain Gerber (Ana), 18:05.