Ethan Haus' trip to state highlights the 2022 Collins-Maxwell cross country season
The Collins-Maxwell boys cross country program sent a runner to state for the second time in its history and the Spartan girls earned an Iowa Star Conference championship in 2022.
"I love the fact that we went into almost every meet knowing that we could compete with our competition in the girls race and the boys race," Collins-Maxwell head coach Jerry Meinerts said. "Our girls and boys were very competitive. I also love the fact that our kids kept improving each and every week. That is what the cross country season is all about."
Senior runner Ethan Haus became the second Spartan boy to make state after Kyle Vanderwal qualified in 2020. Haus broke Vanderwal's school record in the 5-kilometer run during a remarkable season that saw him end up placing 48th in Class 1A at the state meet.
Haus was the driving force behind a successful season for the Collins-Maxwell boys as a team. The Spartans won the Spartan Earlybird and West Marshall Invitationals, took second at Colfax-Mingo, Montezuma and the ISC meet and placed third at Ogden and the 1A qualifying meet in Leon, scoring 113 points at the qualifying meet to finish just 10 points short of qualifying for state as a team.
"We had a very successful season this year," Meinerts said. "The boys are really improving from year to year and our team is very competitive at each and every meet we go to. We had some great seniors leading the way."
Haus won the Spartan Earlybird, Colfax-Mingo and West Marshall meets and he was second at Lynnville-Sully and the ISC meet. Haus ran a school-record 5K time of 16 minutes, 54 seconds at Ogden and he ran a 17:38.96 at state.
Junior Austin Hennick ran an 18:39 at the qualifying meet to place 17th for Collins-Maxwell. Hennick broke 18 minutes at the ISC meet, running a season-best time of 17:59 to place fifth.
Senior Hunter Lee was an all-ISC runner for the Spartan boys. Lee placed ninth at the ISC meet in a season-best time of 18:20 and he took 23rd at the qualifying meet in 19:19.
Junior Isaiah Hill and sophomores Silas Kimberley and Deegan Dirkx were the other top regulars for the Collins-Maxwell boys. Hill took 18th at conference in a season-best time of 19:25 and 35th at the qualifying meet in 20:37, Kimberley was 25th at the ISC meet in 19:56, 36th at conference in 20:17 and his best time was 19:31 at Colfax and Dirkx placed 34th at conference and peaked with a 34th-place time of 20:14 at the qualifying meet.
Freshman Kyler Davis was 76th at the qualifying meet in 23:59 and 41st at conference with a season-best 21:22 showing and Kaleb Ruiz-Genovese took 64th at the ISC meet in 25:44.
The Collins-Maxwell boys will bring back five of their top seven next season.
"We lose two very good runners in Ethan Haus and Hunter Lee," Meinerts said. "It will be difficult to replace those guys. But, we have some very good runners coming back, and as it is every season, if they get some quality training during the summer, they can be competitive again next year."
Freshmen lead Spartan girls to ISC title
Freshmen Triona Scott and Cypress Erickson helped the Collins-Maxwell girls keep a firm grip on the ISC championship in 2022.
The Spartans had lost five of their top seven runners from a year ago, including lead runners Alexis Houge and Avery Fricke. But the new freshman duo helped them maintain a high level of performance, winning the ISC meet for the fourth year in row before finishing one spot shy of qualifying for state with a third-place finish at the qualifying meet.
"Great season this year!" Meinerts said. "We only had seven girls out this year after losing four of our top five girls from last year, but were able to add some great runners and ending up doing awesome."
The Collins-Maxwell girls won the West Marshall and Montezuma Invites, took second at Lynnville-Sully and third at the Spartan Earlybird and Tigerhawk Invites before winning the ISC meet by scoring 37 points to beat North Tama's score of 46.
The Spartan girls went on to finish with a score of 95 at the 1A qualifying meet in Leon. They beat Central Decatur by one point for third, but fell 24 points short of qualifying for state in coming in behind Pekin and Madrid.
Scott and Erickson were outstanding for the Collins-Maxwell girls all season. Scott was the team's top runner for most of the season, but Erickson came on strong to lead the team during Montezuma, conference and the qualifying meet.
Scott placed eighth at the Spartan Invitational, ninth at Colfax, 10th at Lynnville-Sully, fourth at West Marshall, 10th at Ogden and third at Montezuma before taking fourth at conference and 20th at the qualifying meet. Her best 5K time was 21:47 at the conference meet and she also ran a 21:50 at Ogden.
Erickson came in seventh at Colfax and West Marshall then won the Montezuma meet in 22:20 and took third at conference and 16th at the qualifying meet. Her fastest time was 21:46 at conference.
Junior newcomer Chloe Wierson also provided a big lift for the Spartans.
Wierson switched from volleyball to cross country this year and ended up placing in the top 20 during six meets before coming in 22nd at the qualifying meet with a time of 23:44. Wierson finished eighth at both West Marshall and Montezuma and 11th at the ISC meet, where she ran her fastest time at 22:40.
Juniors Erica Houge and Sara Tschantz and senior Ashlyn Davis were the other top regulars for the Collins-Maxwell girls.
Houge placed 23rd at conference with a season-best time of 24:10 and took 55th at the qualifying meet in 26:53 and Tschantz ran her season-best time of 23:35 at the ISC meet, where she took 18th, before coming in 33rd at the qualifying meet with a 24:44 showing. Davis came in ninth at Montezuma, 10th at West Marshall and 14th at the ISC meet, where she peaked at 23:04, before placing 31st at the qualifying meet in 24:27.
Gianna Pitcherello also ran varsity for Collins-Maxwell. She finished 36th at the ISC meet in 26:51.
Davis will be the Collins-Maxwell girls only loss heading into next season as the Spartans go for their fifth ISC title in a row.
"We have six of seven girls coming back next season and I look forward to them being even better than this year," Meinerts said. "If we keep everyone healthy and get in some summer miles, then I believe these girls will be able to run at Fort Dodge next year."
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ethan Haus' state run highlights Collins-Maxwell cross country season
