Rams sweep Hawkeye 10 titles in Harlan


Glenwood’s Bryant Keller ran a personal -best time of 16:07 to place second and lead the Rams to the Hawkeye 10 Conference Cross Country title Thursday.

The wind, the chill in the air nor the rest of the Hawkeye 10 Conference could hold Glenwood back on this day.

The Rams’ girls’ and boys’ cross country team bested the field to sweep the team titles at the conference meet Thursday at the Harlan Golf and Country Club.

The Rams tallied 38 points to runner-up Council Bluffs Lewis Central’s 75 to run away with the team title. All seven of the Rams’ runners placed among the top 16 and each set a new personal best at the meet, which head coach Todd Peverill called a first for the program.

“It was a good day,” the coach said. “We knew we could have this pretty easy, so we talked a lot (before the meet) about how to race it since it was going to be windy. We wanted to be behind people when we went into the wind and run with the wind when it’s behind us. They did well. It was one of those days’ things went very well for us and I was very proud of them.”

Lewis Central’s Ethan Eichhorn picked up his second straight conference title with a blistering time of 15:40.

The Rams’ Bryant Keller was second overall with a time of 16:07. He was closely followed by teammate Andrew Smith’s time of 16:15.

Peverill said both of his top two runners are dialed in and targeting big post-season performances.

“Andrew was the big one, holy cow,” the coach said of the conference meet. “He finally looked like he got some confidence and closed the gap on Bryant. That’s huge for us going into districts and state. That’s puts them both up there in the top 10 probably in the state. Keller is so close to cracking off a sub-16. I can see them both doing it too.”

Liam Hays added and eighth place finish, with Kevin Coots finishing 11th and Preston Slayman 14th to round out the Rams’ scoring. Jackson Griffin added a 15th place finish and Dillon Anderson was 16th.

The Glenwood girls narrowly escaped with the team title with the hometown Cyclones nipping at their heels. The Rams finished with 57 points to Harlan’s 60.

A year after finishing as the runner-up at the conference meet, the Rams would have no such heartbreak this year. The group set a handful of personal bests of their own.

“We are so proud of the girls,” said Glenwood coach Marissa Klindt. “We kept telling them that they could still win a conference title even though Madelyn Berglund wasn’t running varsity. We gave them a game plan to try and stick close to each other, and they followed it to a T.”

The Rams won the team title despite running without Berglund, its top runner. The sophomore is still recovering from an injury and ran with the junior varsity runners at the conference meet.

She is expected to return for Wednesday’s state qualifying meet on the Rams’ home course at Glenwood Lake Park.

Harlan’s Lindsey Sonderman won the girls individual title with a time of 18:46. But the Rams had all five of their scorers’ place among the 18.

Lauren Hughes led the way with a  sixth-place time of 20:15. Breckyn Petersen added a seventh-place finish with Haylee Hughes (14th), Emerson Griffin (15th, 21:07) and Ryley Nebel (18th) rounding out the final scores.

Both teams will be back in action at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the state qualifying meet at Glenwood Lake Park. Both teams will also be seeking a second straight trip to the state cross country meet, held Oct. 28-29 at Kennedy Park in Des Moines.

Hawkeye 10 Conference Meet
Girls Team Results
    1. Glenwood, 57. 2. Harlan, 60. 3. Atlantic, 61. 4. Denison, 123. 5. Clarinda, 132. 6. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 155. 7. Kuemper Catholic, 180. 8. Creston, 200. 9. Shenandoah, 260. 10. Red Oak, 296.

Glenwood Girls Place Winners
    6. Lauren Hughes, 20:15. 7. Breckyn Petersen, 20:16. 14. Haylee Hughes, 20:56. 15. Emerson Griffin, 21:07. 18. Ryley Nebel, 21:19. 23. Brooklyn Schultz, 21:31. 42. Kate Hughes, 23:26.

Boys Team Results
    1. Glenwood, 38. 2. Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 75. 3. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 88. 4. Kuemper Catholic, 118. 5. Atlantic, 131. 6. Clarinda, 136. 7. Harlan, 163. 8. Denison, 174. 9. Shenandoah, 256. 10. Creston 266.

Glenwood Boys Place Winners
    2. Bryant Keller, 16:07. 3. Andrew Smith, 16:15. 8. Liam Hays, 16:50. 11. Kevin Coots, 17:08. 14. Preston Slayman, 17:12. 15. Jackson Griffin, 17:30. 16. Dillon Anderson, 17:31.

 

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