Best of best in town for girls race
Elite in town for girls race
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Over 1,800 runners competed at Lakeside Golf Course for the Fort Dodge Invitational on Thursday.
Home teams Fort Dodge and St. Edmond were in action, along with area squad Manson Northwest Webster.
Facing the state’s elite, the Cougars were 20th and the Gaels took 23rd.
Waukee Northwest (60) was the champion, followed by Ankeny Centennial (79), Johnston (167), Dowling (167) and Norwalk (191).
St. Edmond's top two runners, Grace Schlegel (21:14.7) and Naomi Valles (21:18.4), both had personal bests in placing 101st and 103rd, respectively.
"Grace and Naomi both ran great races," said SEHS head coach Mike Szalat. "It was a good night weather-wise tio be at home."
Lily Eslick (23:23.0), Mae Pokorny (23:32.7), Greenlee Crimmins (24:04.7), Betsy Gruver (25:22.3) and Alex Leiting (26:09.9) were next in line for the GAels.
"Mae had a PR, Greenlee a season best, and our sixth runner, Betsy, also had a season best," Szalat said. "We needed a night like this. I'm getting a little greedy, but I want to see us keep pushing."
Szalat was happy to see such a large contingent of Gael fans at the event.
"Both the volleyball and football parents moved their team times (ahead to Wednesday) so the students could be here," Szalat said. "It was great for them to do that and have such a large group of our student body come out and support these kids by adjusting their schedules."
Fort Dodge's lone varsity runner, Linnie Pratt, turned in a season-best time of 22:15.4.
"Linnie ran well and keeps making progress," said FDSH head coach Austin Read. "She didn't feel her best, so knowing she did that still is encouraging.
"It will be great to see her improve over the next few weeks."
The rest of the FDSH roster competed in the junior varsity race.
"I wanted those girls to have a positive racing experience," Read said. "They didn't drop as much time as I hoped, but they did well overall and still have a couple of weeks to improve."
Madison Carmody (25:46.4), Laila Grantham (26:14.9), Ella Johnson (29:28.8), Jalynn Jackson-Foy (29:59.8), Reina Lacina (31:14.2) and Gabrielle Wirtz (31:40.3) competed on the JV side.
Read was happy to see so many squads and fans at the FDSH Invitational, and he also thanked the workers and volunteers that made it happen.
"We've got some incredible people that came together to make sure this was a terrific cross country event," Read said. "Brandon Ruffridge (activities director) and Ryan O'Leary (assistant athletic director) did a great job.
"It's awesome to have a meet like this on a state course that attracts the best teams."
MANSON NW WEBSTER
The Cougars had two runners place in the Top-100.
Maddie Wittrock (20:39.6) and Kathleen Hildreth (20:40.2) were 79th and 81st respectively.
Also running for Manson Northwest Webster was Haydel Oswald (22:48.4), Payton Peterson (23:19.6), Kaylee Pugh (23:36.5), Ella Oswald (24:02.0) and McKenna Becker (24:46.2).