Prep cross-country: Lady Dees remain perfect, Ottumwa girls finish fifth at Osky Invite

Sep. 15—OSKALOOSA — The eighth-ranked (2A) Albia girls cross-country team remained unbeaten, winning team titles both at the Forest Park Cross-Country Festival on Saturday, scoring 35 points with three runners placing in the top 10, before outpointing 12 teams at Edmundson Park on Tuesday at the Oskaloosa Invitational.

"We've now faced 57 teams in four meets," Albia head cross-country coach Todd Ratliff said. "We're undefeated at 57-0."

Serene Thompson led the charge for the Lady Dees, finishing second overall in the girls race in 20:29.7 beating freshman teammate Makenna Montgomery by 9.5 seconds. Twin Cedars senior Rylee Dunkin beat out both Albia runners to the finish line, winning the girls race in Oskaloosa in 20:25.8 before racing back to Bussey to participate in a special night on the volleyball court as part of the school's Homecoming week.

"We've got what's called jungle volleyball where each class sends their boys out to play. We've also got a group of staff and teachers that play together," Dunkin said. "It's a Homecoming tradition at Twin Cedars. I (was) definitely not going to miss it."

Ottumwa junior Jasmine Luedtke led the Bulldog girls, finishing seventh in 20:58.8 less than four seconds behind Albia junior Avery Major. Ottumwa finished with 166 points, edging Davis County by ninth place as junior Karston Nebel led the Mustangs with a 21st-place run of 22:28.3.

Lizzy Van Utrecht led the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont girls to a 10th-place finish with 215 points, crossing the finish line in 38th place in 23:58.8. Noelle Craver led the Centerville girls in the Oskaloosa Invitational, finishing 19th in 22:22.2.

The top two teams at the meet at Forest Park on Saturday were from Southeast Iowa as the Pekin girls (ranked fourth in Class 1A) finished as the runner-up to the Lady Dees with 68 points. John Burroughs High School out of St. Louis finished third overall with 108 points.

Montgomery would lead the charge for Albia, finishing in the second place overall in 21:01.7. Thompson finished just seconds behind Montgomery, placing third overall in 21:07, improving on her time in the same race last year by 54 seconds.

"These two really got out well," Ratliff said. "They worked together throughout the race and ran really incredible times."

Chloe Glosser secured a top-five finish for the fifth straight meet for the Pekin girls, placing fourth in 21:09.5. Panther junior teammate Lauren Steigleder followed Glosser across the finish line, placing fifth overall in the varsity girls' white division race in 21:30.1.

"Having Pekin at this meet was really fun," Ratliff said. "Serene and Makenna were both able to pace off of (13th-ranked in 1A) Chloe Glosser and made passes late in the race. Familiar runners are really beneficial, and that was the case today for these two."

Also grabbing an incredible top-10 finish for the Albia girls Major, who shaved 47 seconds off of here 2021 time and battle to a sixth-place finish in 21:37.3.

"To see Avery maintain the grueling pace that she was carrying all the way through the finish was pretty impressive," Ratliff said. "She is very smooth and her grit was evident."

Finishing 16th and 17th overall from the Lady Dees were Lily Buckingham and Olivia Sheffield. Buckingham would finish in a time of 22:34 with Sheffield crossing the line in 22:35.

"These two are so beneficial for each other," Ratliff said. "They run different style of races, but in the final push of the race seem to really motivate each other."

Brooke Miller edged Pekin teammate Audrey Fariss for 21st place, finishing the race in 22:50.5 just over 20 seconds ahead of Fariss who placed 22nd for the Panthers in 23:10.2. Juliana Brown would race to the top 25 for the Albia girls, placing 25th place overall in a time of 23:20.

"Juliana's final 200 meters were so fast," Ratliff said. "She came up behind a pair of runners, burst past them and they were unable to regain the ground. It was a really good finish and overall race."

Brooke Sylvester cracked the top 30 for the Pekin girls, placing 30th in 23:51.1. Makenna Cronin would finish the course in 37th place for the Albia girls in a time of 24:47 with a final mile that was quicker than her second mile by over 11 seconds.

"Makenna battled all day. This race is great because they give us all three-mile splits at the end of the race," Ratliff said. "Her last 1.1 miles was 11 seconds faster than just her second mile. This shows her determination to finish the race."

Ranae Eubanks finished 43rd for the Pekin girls in 25:11.7, Lexi Swearingen placed 45th for the Panthers in 25:21.3 and Teagan Swearingen placed 49th in 26:08.4. Emma Bradley, the senior captain for Albia, ran a solid race and round out the team placing 54th in 26:45.8.

"It was great to see Emma out there giving everything she had," Ratliff said. "The atmosphere at this race is only matched by the likes of state qualifying and state. It is a great experience for the athletes."

The 18th-ranked (2A) Albia boys finished seventh at Forest Park with 239 points. Ethan Stalzer placed 12th in a time of 18:50 with Ethan Yarkosky finishing 28th in a time of 19:11.

"Stalzer ran a good race just off the lead pack and really finished the race strong," Ratliff said. "Yarkosky was able to cut an astonishing two-and-a-half minutes off of his 2021 performance on this same course. Just an incredible drop in his time."

Christopher McDonald racing to a 53rd-place finish in a time of 20:13, leading a trio of seniors for the Albia boys. John Pistek would catch six runners in the final mile and wind up with a 58th-place finish in a time of 20:21 with Adam Sheffield completing the course in 22:10 in 101st place.

"This is McDonald's first taste of a race with over 160 competitors in it. He did a good job of staying calm and pushing through," Ratliff said. "Adam pushed through some pretty extensive pain today as he raced. Very proud of the way he finished the run out."

Grant Wilson, Cole Hafer, and Eric Dershceid would race hard as well. Wilson would finish the course in 22:31 for 112th place, Hafer 22:39 in 116th place and Dershceid in 23:04 for 120th place.

"This was a big meet and these young runners were able to handle it very well," Ratliff said. "The experience is one that I am sure will stay with them for a long time."

Pekin scored 390 points to finish 17th in the varsity boys white division. Brady McWhirter produced a runner-up finish in the race for the Panthers, crossing the finish line in 18:10 less than 18 seconds behind Christian High School senior Ronan Hardwicke.

Cole Millikin finished 61st in his Forest Park Festival varsity debut for Pekin, producing a time of 20:34.6. Ben Guise finished 69th for the Panthers in 20:50.5.

"The opportunity to run in St. Louis is amazing. I know the guys wanted a higher finish, but I am extremely happy with seventh with the 29 teams that are represented today. I look forward to watching them progress throughout the season."

The Albia boys were the top area team in the final scoring on Tuesday at Oskaloosa, finishing seventh with 179 total points. Stalzer led the Blue Demons, finishing 14th overall in 18:29.6.

The Davis County boys finished ninth with 238 total points, led by a 33rd-place run of 19:18.1 by junior Mark Shirley. Noah Trucano again led the Ottumwa boys, finishing 24th overall in 19:02.8 as the Bulldogs finished with 286 points, placing 11th.

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont senior teammates Sam Seddon and Jake Melon placed in the top 40 with Seddon edging Melon by four seconds to finish 38th overall in 19:31.1. Euan Luecthenberg finished 66th in 21:10.3 running for the Centerville Big Reds.