Kalona, IA- The traffic by Hillcrest Academy was heavier than usual last night as 15 teams made the trip to Kalona to run at the Southeast Iowa Super Conference (SEISC) meet and the #4 WACO boys’ team and #8 Van Buren County girls’ team showed why they were ranked by grabbing the team titles.
The Boys’ Race
The WACO boys’ team tabbed 73 points as they had three Warriors finish within the top 10. Jude Dykstra grabbed the individual conference title with a time of 16 minutes and 47 seconds, while Locken Henderson turned in a 7th place time of 17 minutes and 36 seconds. Garrett Landau also finished with a sub-18 minute time for 9th place.
Mediapolis had Simon Wendel and Will Schmidgall anchor the Bulldogs with Wendel finishing with a silver medal time of 17 minutes and 3 seconds and Schmidgall taking 4th place, but the team finished back in 5th place.
Van Buren County’s Lincoln Bainbridge clocked a time of 17 minutes and 10 seconds, which was good enough for 3rd place. The Warriors took 4th place as a team.
Columbus did not have a runner finish in the top 10 but a strong team performance put the Wildcats in 3rd place, Victor Tovar led the charge with a 12th place finish followed closely behind by Ryan Villa in 14th place.
Notre Dame/West Burlington’s Cavin Denney collected an 8th place time of 17 minutes and 40 seconds, while Isaac Shinn of Danville took 15th place with a time of 18 minutes and 15 seconds.
Notre Dame/West Burlington collected 152 points for 7th place followed by Central Lee and Danville. Winfield-Mt. Union, Holy Trinity Catholic, New London, and Wapello rounded out the 15 teams.
Central Lee’s top runner was Austin Fogarty, who turned in a 28th place performance. Brayden Cline took 46th place for Winfield-Mt. Union, Natan Berman claimed 49th place, Jay Ellison finished in 51st place, and Wapello’s Will Parson nabbed 62nd place.
The Girls’ Race
Van Buren County’s team performance has been impressive this season as the team collected 59 points for the victory. Kayley Snowgren’s set the team’s time at 21 minutes and 25 seconds, which was good enough for 9th place.
Central Lee finished in 4th place as a team followed by Danville, Columbus, and Mediapolis, respectively. Aubree Bunnell of Central Lee rounded out the top 10 with a time of 21 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Bears got a 7th place finish by Alaina Gourley with a time of 21 minutes. Lastly, Iris Garza claimed 12th place with a time of 21 minutes and 57 seconds for the Wildcats. Evie Schmidgall led the Bulldogs with a 26th place finish.
Pekin’s Chloe Glosser finished with the individual conference title.
Individually, WACO’s Josie Dykstra took home the silver with a time of 20 minutes and 10 seconds, while Hannah Ritter of Notre Dame/West Burlington grabbed 5th place with a time of 20 minutes and 46 seconds.
Additionally, Irelynn Kelley of New London grabbed 59th place and Winfield-Mt. Union’s Ashlyn Bender took 62nd place. Lastly, Elizabeth Parson snatched 63rd place.
Up Next
The Class 1A and 2A boys’ and girls’ state qualifying meet is scheduled for October 23rd.