Prep Cross Country- The Iowa Track Coaches Association (IATC) released the latest team rankings and all eight of our local teams that were ranked last week remained in the top 20 with five teams climbing up the rankings.
Class 3A
The Southeast Conference (SEC) meet looms just two days away and for the boys’ race, two squads enter the day ranked with Washington at #13 and Fort Madison at #18. Both teams fell in the rankings, the Demons from #8 and the Bloodhounds from #17.
Washington’s last race was a winning effort at the Bob Mudd Lynx Invitational over the weekend, defeating Class 2A’s #12 Tipton by 12 points. #27 Tyler Alderton and Andrew Rees are the two heavy hitters for the Demons as they finished side-by-side at their last meet.
Fort Madison traveled to Centerville for their last meet on October 8th as the Bloodhounds finished in 3rd place with 84 points, 37 points behind Chariton who won the invitational. Fort Madison touts their own duo in Jacob Shottenkirk and Peyton Lambert as they grabbed 9th and 11th place, respectively.
The Fort Madison girls’ team climbed one rung up the ladder to #4 in the state after a dominating 1st place finish at the Centerville Invitational. All five of the Bloodhounds finished within the top 12 with Avery Rump grabbing the bronze and Ellie Hellman taking 5th place at the meet.
Class 2A
The Mediapolis boys’ team, fresh off a 3rd place performance at the Mike Jay Invitational, moved up from #20 to #18 in the rankings. Will Schmidgall is the pack leader for the Bulldogs with Simon Wendel proving to be a top 10 runner for the squad.
Class 1A
A log jam of local talent has three teams ranked within the top 20 for the boys’ teams. Danville is in pole position for the Southeast Iowa Super Conference, who will have their conference showdown tonight, as the Bears are ranked #4.
Van Buren County vaulted five spots in the rankings to round out the top 10 and Columbus remained put at #12. The three teams met at the Mike Jay Invitational with the Bears winning the meet by nearly 20 points with the Warriors taking 2nd and the Wildcats placing in 4th.
Jackson Shacklett of Danville grabbed the gold as Nick Powel and Noah Horn each finished in the top 10. Lincoln Bainbridge, who has had his turn on top of the leaderboard, finished back in 4th place while Landry Loeffler was the next Warrior in 12th place. Ty Muniz is the leader of the Wildcats as he finished with the silver at the meet. Cade Storm was next in 15th place.
On the girls’ side, Danville moved up two spots in the rankings to #15. Alaina Gourley, who has been ranked individually for most of the season, matched the Bears’ team finish as her time of 20 minutes and 14 seconds took 2nd place. Abby Arnett, Delaney Newberry, Addy Henkelvig, and Ava Ourth provide an excellent supporting cast.