HIGH SCHOOL XC: GO BIG OR GO HOME

Rams host largest field yet in annual cross country invite at Spring Lake Park
“We are very thankful to the Greene County Conservation Board for allowing us to use Spring Lake. Since moving the meet back out there last year we have heard nothing but good responses about this 5K course.” - Greene County XC coach Kelly Simpson

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor 

sports@beeherald.com

@BrandonJHurley

Spring Lake – 

Led once again by senior Olivia Hansen and a top-10 finish, the Greene County girls’ cross country team placed sixth overall at the biggest Greene County Invitational to date last week at Spring Lake State Park. 

Twenty-six teams in two divisions (both boys and girls) made up the most expansive field in the 33-year history of the meet Thursday, Sept. 8. With Spring Lake and a sunny and calm 75 degree evening as the back drop,  947 runners (including middle school) competed in five races.   

Hansen cruised to seventh individually with a time of 21:52.2 giving the Rams their lone runner in the top 30 on either the boys or girls side. 

The Greene County boys did not have enough runners compete to qualify for a team score but were led by Nick Killion and Brian Hardaway, who finished 73rd and 74th respectively. 

Freshman Bailey Cunningham was the next highest Ram girl as she came in 31st with a time of 23:53.3. While the weather may have seemed perfect to those not running, Greene County head coach Kelly Simpson said it was a bit warmer than then his runners had hoped. 

“I thought Olivia Hansen, Ashlee Harmeyer, and Brian Hardaway all had their best races of the young season in a competitive 3A field,” the coach said. “It was a beautiful night to spectate, but a little warm and humid to run which slowed some of our times down from the prior week.”

Harmeyer, a fellow freshman, wasn’t far behind Cunningham as she came in 41st with a time of 25:07.6. 

Another pair of freshman, Izzy Bravard (63rd, 27:00.61) and Kassie Lamoureux (69th, 27:29.24) rounded out the Rams’ top five runners. 

Tenth-ranked Denison-Schleswig (Class 3A) took home the team title with 30 points behind the dominating one-two performance of 12th-ranked Ellie Mendlik (20:50.11) and 22nd-ranked sophomore Raegan Anderson (20:56.07) who captured the top two individual spots. 

Monarchs’ sophomore placed fourth overall (21:22.37) giving Denison-Schleswig four runners in the top-five and six in the top-15. 

Greene County totaled 178 points, just ahead of Kuemper Catholic for the sixth spot, who finished with 191 points. 

Winterset’s Sydney Kaufman rounded out the top three individual runners with her time of 21:09.05.

The Huskies (54), Algona (105), Creston (121) and Nevada (142) made up the top five in the team standings. 

The unranked Winterset boys secured the team championship with 55 points behind two top-10 runners (Just Dalrymplee, fourth and Tanner Johnson, sixth) in addition to six overall individuals in the top-25. 

Nevada’s Malachi Hornbuckle (ranked 18th in Class 3A) took home top individual honors with a time of of 17:13.77 besting 19th-ranked  Ben Grote of Kuemper (17:19.87) and Denison-Schleswig’s David Salazar (17:20.95).

Denison-Schleswig was second in the team standings with 70 points followed by Algona (75), Nevada (79), and Kuemper (79) in a fierce battle for the third through fifth spots. 

This fall was the second-straight year the Greene County Invite returned to Spring Lake State Park in cooperation with the Greene County Conservation Board. 

With the new year, meet officials introduced a new scoring system. There were no hiccups as far as results or with organization, everything went on without a hitch, with competitive races all night long, free of rain or wind. 

The success is a testament to all the volunteers that help out, Simpson said. 

“Once the races begin the meet pretty well runs itself,” Simpson said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to have excellent workers over the years that keep this machine moving forward, and with each year we try to add or tweak something to make it run even better. This year, we introduced a new bib number that allowed us to record the results faster."

All proceeds from the event (each car is charged a $5 admission fee) are split between Greene County High School and the Greene County Conservation Board. The Rams donated $1,000 in 2015 to the conservation board and Simpson expects this year’s check to be even more impressive. 

“We are very thankful to the Greene County Conservation Board for allowing us to use Spring Lake,” the coach said. “Since moving the meet back out there last year we have heard nothing but good responses about this 5K course.”

Paton-Churdan sophomore Jack Bryson finished 52nd overall in the A division with a time of 20:19.73 while Rocket freshman Jon Thede raced to a 69th place finish with a time of 21:15.28 rounding out the local Jefferson Herald participants.

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