Glenwood girls win third H-10 title in four years

Led by Grace Berglund’s top finish, the Glenwood girls had six runners place in the top 20 to capture the Rams’ third Hawkeye 10 Conference Cross Country Meet title in four years at last Wednesday’s meet held at Glenwood Lake Park.

The meet, originally schedule for the Carroll Country Club Thursday, was moved to Glenwood due to expected severe weather. The Rams seemed just fine with the switch up to their home course. In addition to winning the girls team title, the Glenwood boys finished second in the team standings behind a pair of top five finishes from Andrew Smith and Bryant Keller.

The Glenwood girls wouldn’t be denied the title – actually their fifth in the last seven seasons – on a day Coach Marissa Klindt said her team gave an “amazing” performance.

“Our top five varsity girls were all under 21 minutes,” Klindt said. “Grace broke 19 (minutes) and Lauren and Breckyn were both under 20 for the first time this year. We’re loving how all our girls raced today. Most of our girls ran their season best times. This puts us in a great place for the state qualifying race in Winterset next week.”

The Rams tallied 49 points for first, easily out pacing runner-up Council Bluffs Lewis Central. Berglund, who posted a personal-best time of 18:54.36, led wire-to-wire for her first conference title.

Following Berglund, Breckyn Petersen was ninth, Lauren Hughes 10th, Caitlin Hebel 15th, Madelyn Berglund 16th and Megan Hughes 19th.

The Glenwood boys got a third-place finish from Smith and a fourth-place medal from Keller, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch team champion, Lewis Central. The Titans, who tallied 41 points to the Rams’ 57, were led by individual champion Ethan Eichhorn. Eichhorn’s time of 15:14 edged Clarinda’s Treyton Schaapherder by 20 seconds.

Glenwood boys coach Todd Peverill said his team ran well but he couldn’t hide the slight disappointment they weren’t able to overtake the Titans.

“Andrew Smith, Maverick (Mixan), Bryce (Keller) and Bodhi (Langille) all ran personal bests,” he said. “Bryant was a little under the weather. Lewis Central is a good team. We’re hoping to get there soon. We’re still closing the gap so that’s good news. It’s going to be a tough battle at districts with them.”

Smith and Keller were neck-and-neck with both Eichhorn and Schaapherder for much of the first half of the race before Eichhorn pulled away from the pack the last mile. Just four seconds separated Smith, Keller and Schaapherder.

“There was a ton of tough competition up front,” Peverill said. “You’re just a little off one day and everything looks different.”

Peverill said this conference race was up there with the most competitive he’s seen in his tenure. Eichhorn had been rated as the top runner in Class 3A for much of the season, Keller is currently ranked second and Smith seventh. Schaapherder is ranked No. 1 in 2A.

“I looked back at Andrew’s freshman season and mid-16:30s won it (the Hawkeye 10) and now look at it,” Peverill said. “The competition had never been better.”

Maverick Mixan added had a strong day for Glenwood, placing 11th in 16:53.

“He cut 20 some seconds off his personal best so whenever you do that, that’s a good race,” Peverill said. “He’s getting more confident which will help us out.”

Liam Hays picked up a 19th place finish and Bryce Keller was 20th.

Glenwood is next in action Wednesday at the Class 3A State Qualifying Meet in Winterset. The top three teams and top five individuals advance to state at districts.

Klindt said she feels like her team is peaking just at the right time.

“The last few years it’s been right around this time that our girls show their hard work and dedication has paid off,” she said.   

Peverill took feels like his team too is primed for the state qualifier.

“We’re ready,” he said. “We’ll have a few more workouts and build some of that confidence in our last three guys and I think we’ll be ready to go.”

The Iowa State Cross Country Meet will be held Oct. 27-28 at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge.

Hawkeye 10 Conference Meet
Girls Team Results
    1. Glenwood, 49. 2. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 71. 3. Atlantic, 91. 4. Clarinda, 105. 5. Harlan, 110. 6. Denison, 148. 7. Kuemper Catholic, 185. 8. Creston, 208. 9. Red Oak, 231.

Glenwood Girls Place Winners
    1. Grace Berglund, 18:54. 9. Breckyn Petersen, 19:57. 10. Lauren Hughes, 19:57. 15. Caitlin Hebel, 20:55. 16. Madelyn Berglund, 20:57. 19. Megan Hughes, 21:15. 24. Katelyn Harms, 21:36.

Boys Team Results
    1. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 41. 2. Glenwood, 57. 3. Clarinda, 99. 4. Kuemper Catholic, 113. 5. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 116. 6. Atlantic, 128. 7. Harlan, 197. 8. Shenandoah, 212. 9. Red Oak, 257. 10. Denison, 278. 11. Creston, 282.

Glenwood Boys Place Winners
    3. Andrew Smith, 15:37. 4. Bryant Keller, 15:46. 11. Maverick Mixan, 16:53. 19. Liam Hays, 17:25. 20. Bryce Keller, 17:38. 24. Bodhi Langille, 17:55. 49. Ethan West, 18:49.