Crestwood boy harriers second at home invite, girls place third

CRESCO - Outlined against a crisp early fall morning, the Crestwood girls’ and boys’ cross country teams proved their mettle at their home meet on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Cresco Country Club.

In the team standings, the Cadet varsity boys’ squad took second place with 61 points while the Crestwood girls’ team was third with 55 points. 

In the Junior Varsity and Varsity girls’ and boys’ races, a total of 19 Cadets finished in the top 15 individually to earn medals. In the Junior High races, four Crestwood harriers nabbed medals.

“(On Sept. 20 at Waukon), we didn’t have our best outing overall as a team,” Cadet Head Coach Cassie Lichty said. “We used (last) week to really refocus, re-energize and re-group, as well as work to get people healthy. 

“This was very evident at our home meet. I couldn’t be more happy with  our kids and how they stepped up for each other and their home crowd. We earned lots of medals and had many kids run personal records which made it so fun to see that fight pay off. 

“I am so impressed with freshman Jack MacDuff. He ran a personal best time (19:08.80) by over a minute and continues to work, improve and be coachable every single week. 

“Blaire Cummings, Ryleigh Myers, and Cloey Horns also made a huge difference on our girls team. For us to reach our goals, we know our difference-makers are our number four and five girls. Blaire and Ryleigh both ran personal bests this week, have outstanding attitudes and have fought really hard to be where they’re at. 

“Dominic Bigalk, Nathan Ahern and Kinze Shea also had phenomenal performances. Kinze ran two seconds shy of a personal record (19:49.62) coming off an injury while the two boys ran personal bests. These three are paramount leaders for us. I appreciate their consistency. 

“Overall this was the kind of meet we needed to have leading into a big time of year for us. We will use this as fuel to continue to work for the end of season outcomes we want and the kids have worked for,” the coach said.

 

Girls shine

In the Varsity girls’ meet, Crestwood’s Kinze Shea earned a medal as she finished third in a season best time of 19:49.62. Hillary Trainor of Sumner-Fredericksburg took first in 19:30.26. Cadets Laney Peter (sixth, 21:35.49, SB) and Olivia Ollendick (seventh, 21:39.55, SB) also captured medals.

The Junior Varsity girls’ race saw nine Cadets place in the top 15 to earn a medal. Payton Ruppert took second place in a personal best time of 24:21.21. Grace Arthur of S-F was first in 23:21.95.

Other Cadets who grabbed medals in the JV girls’ race included: Tara Koshatka (fifth, 24:45.84), Heidi Mahr (sixth, 24:49.29), Ella Bergan (eighth, 25:56.27), Addie Isaacson (ninth, 26:12.77), Alexis Pankow (10th, 26:15.02), Allison Ferrie (11th, 26:17.41), Elise Church (13th, 26:33.28) and Ana Gibbs (15th, 26:54.91).

 

Boys excel

The Varsity boys’ meet saw three Cadets finish in the top 15 as all three recorded personal best times. Dominic Bigalk took third in 18:00.45. Peyton Anderson of New Hampton was first in 17:28.53. Crestwood’s Nathan Ahern placed fourth in 18:12.28 and Jack MacDuff finished 13th in 19:08.80. 

In the JV boys’ meet, four Crestwood harriers grabbed medals. Ethan Holthaus was fifth in 22:35.03, Lucas Wemark took seventh in 22:49.54, Colten Knight placed 10th in 23:15.46 and Collin Rice was 11th in 23:41.44. Holthaus, Wemark, Knight and Rice recorded personal bests. Eddie Arnold of New Hampton was first in 21:09.