Prep cross-country: Bulldog runners return to Pickard Park
Sep. 23—INDIANOLA — For the first time since racing in last year's Class 4A state qualifying meet, the Ottumwa High School cross-country teams returned to Pickard Park on Thursday to run in the Indianola Invitational.
The Bulldog girls finished sixth as a team in the field of central Iowa schools, finishing the night with 163 points scored led by a 24th-place finish by Jasmine Luedtke in 21:37.2 and a 26th-place run by Sarah Hunger in 22:15.7. The Ottumwa boys finished 13th overall with 387 points, led by Noah Trucano's 65th-place run of 19:11 and Walfret Morales who placed 72nd overall in the boys race after crossing the finish line in 19:48.8.
Luke Mattieson finished 81st overall for the OHS boys, completing the race at the 54th Indianola Invitational in 21:42.3. Rounding out the night for the Bulldog boys was Jacob Carlson's 84th-place time of 23:33.6, Garek Lindberg's 85th-place run of 23:53.2, Quenton Mitchell's 86th-place finish in 24:51.1 and Kooper Hugger's 87th-place run of 25:00.6.
Yaeli Carapia finished 36th overall in the varsity girls race for the Ottumwa Bulldogs, crossing the finish line in 22:58.8. Emily Lord finished 38th in 23:16.4, Eve Rust placed 39th in 23:28, Mallory Morgan crossed the finish line in 42nd place in 23:52.3 and Lilly Mitchell finished the race in 25:15.3 to place 53rd.
The Ottumwa junior varsity girls team finishing sixth overall with 171 points, led by Kaelin McElderry's 16th-place run of 23:24.6 edging teammate Silvie Monaghan by less than three seconds. Ko Htat produced the top time for the Ottumwa junior varsity boys, finishing 148th overall in 22:04.1.
The Ottumwa cross-country teams will be back in action at the Iowa City High Invitational on Sept. 29. The Bulldogs will be joined by Pekin to race against some of the top schools in Eastern Iowa at the Ashton Cross-Country Course next week starting at 4:15 p.m.
