Prep Cross County: The Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) released the fifth edition of team and individual rankings and seven of our local teams are still ranked, while three local runners found their way into the top 30 that were previously unranked.
Class 3A
Fort Madison swept the Timm Lamb Invitational, which saw both teams win the meet by nearly 30 points. For the boys’ team, despite Riley Tripp outpacing Washington’s Andrew Rees by four seconds at the meet, resulting in the senior being ranked #28 for the first, the team remained at #18.
Avery Rump’s impressive 1st place time of 18 minutes and 55 seconds placed the Bloodhound at #12 in the rankings, one spot up from last week. Additionally, with all five runners completing the race in the top 10 for scoring runners, the girls’ team climbed from #11 last week to #7 this week.
Washington’s Iris Dahl’s personal victory over Addison Rump reinserted her into the top 30 at #22 and knocking Rump in a bit of revenge. Additionally, Mt. Pleasant’s Avery Fedler did not run last week and since absence makes the heart grow fonder, she moved back up to #3 in the individual rankings.
Class 2A
Mediapolis’ team loss to Columbus, despite placing two in the top five, did no favors for their team rankings as the Bulldogs clung on to the top 20 at #20. However, the individual performances of silver-medalist Simon Wendel (16 minutes and 17 seconds) and 5th place finisher Will Schmidgall (16 minutes and 54 seconds) did see both runners move up in the individual rankings.
Wendel move up five spots to #5 and Schmidgall catapulted up seven spots to #21. The individual rankings also saw a newcomer in Notre Dame/West Burlington’s Cavin Denney. The freshman finished in 7th place at the Timm Lamb Invitational with a time of 17 minutes and 7 seconds, which was less than a minute away from several ranked runners in the area.
Class 1A
The Southeast Iowa Super Conference remains heated on the boys’ side as Columbus showed how teamwork delivers as Ryan Villa was the only runner to finish in the top 10, yet the Wildcats won with a 20-point cushion at the Timm Lamb Invitational. Yet, for the dominant win, the Wildcats remain at #5.
The WACO boys’ team usurped the #11 spot in the rankings, while Van Buren County slid back to #12. Van Buren County’s position most likely saved by their 2nd place performance at the Lighted Links meet in Ottumwa.
Surprisingly, despite Jude Dykstra besting Lincoln Bainbridge at the Timm Lamb Invitational with a time of 16 minutes and 22 seconds, as Bainbridge’s fastest time of the week was still 17 seconds slower than Dykstra, it is Bainbridge who is now ranked #6 and Dykstra moving back to #11, a fall of four spots.
Lastly, the Van Buren County girls’ team continued to stake their claim as the best in the area, gliding up five spots in the rankings to #6 after winning gold at the Timm Lamb Invitational and snatching silver at the Lighted Links meet, losing to Iowa City West, who is ranked #19 in Class 4A.
The team is consistently led by the trio of Kayley Snowgren, Adalyn Snowgren, and Rylee Philips, who all typically find spots in the top 15 at least.
WACO’s Josie Dykstra hung on to the rankings for another week as the sophomore turned in a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds at the Timm Lamb Invitational, the third-fastest time of the meet. Dykstra tumbled eight spots to round out the top 30.
Up Next
If the weather cooperates, look for a lot of these runners to cross paths tomorrow, September 23rd, at the Mt. Pleasant Invitational.