The Oskaloosa Herald
OSKALOOSA —
The Little Hawkeye Conference held its conference meet Monday at Edmundson Park with Grinnell and Pella winning the team titles.
The Indians had three top-10 finishes in the varsity divisions while getting an individual champion and a third-place finish in the Middle School divisions.
Oskalosoa was fifth in the girls class with 120 pints as Grinnell won the team title with 40 points.
Pella won the boys title with 33 points as the Indians placed fourth with 95 points.
Bailey Blythe and Skylar DeJong both recorded third-place finishes in their respective divisions. Blythe ran 116:05 while DeJong had a time of 16:43. Spencer DeJong was ninth in the time of 17:13.
“We ran really well tonight. It was cooler and very windy, but I was very happy with the way we competed as individuals and as a team,” Oskaloosa coach Keith Comfort said. “We have made great strides as a team this season and ended up about where we expected we would finish.
“All the kids showed great improvement since we ran at our invitational about a month ago. Almost everyone ran faster by anywhere from 30 seconds to over a minute. That shows the work that the kids have put in paid off. We have worked them hard this year and it has paid off in the improvements that they achieved tonight.”
Blythe and the DeJongs were accorded all-conference honors by placing in the top 15.
“We had some good performances, but also had a couple that were a little off their game tonight,” Comfort said. “I was really hoping to squeeze into the third-place position. We are still a young team and need to run a little smarter in the big races.
“It was a good effort by the girls. We still need to be a little more consistant and close the gap between Bailey and the rest of the team.”
The Indians run at West Marshall on Thursday and Comfort will use that meet to solidify the final spots on the district team that will run in the state qualifing meet next week.
“We have to settle some spots on both the boys and girls teams,” he said.
Sienna DeJong ran a great race to win the middle school girls race in the time of 19:10. Anna Jones and Lexi Randau both had top-10 finishes with Jones placing seventh and randau recording a 10-place finish.
“Sienna has had a very good season,” Comfort said. “Anna has a a good finish to her season and has shown some real promise. Lexi has battled some injuries and it was good to see her finish strong. The girls finished second in the team race.
“Colton Berg had a 3rd place finish for the boys, He has been a strong runner all year leading the boys this year. The boys team finished fifth in the team race.”
Little Hawkeye Conference
At Edmundson Park
Monday’s Results
Girls
Varsity
Team standings — 1. Grinnell 40, 2. Pella 50, 3. Newton 68, 4. Norwalk 116, 5. Oskaloosa 120, 6. Knoxville 142, 7. Pella Christian incomplete.
Oskaloosa — 3. Bailey Blythe 16:05, 20. Kelsey Roquet 17:45, 26. Lesley Roquet 17:59, 35. Riler Berg 19:08, 36. Brey Hill 19:11, 41. Natalie Whitis 19:56, 42. Julia Coniglio 20:08.
Junior Varsity
Oskaloosa — 23. Meghan Toubekis 19:10, 63. Angela Hyland 21:10, 64. Morgane Cloesen 21:13, 78. Kenzie Gunter 22:35, 80. Brooke Beers 23:04.
Middle School
OSkaloosa — 1. Sienna DeJong 12:06, 7. Anna Jones 13:30, 10. Lexi Randau 13:45, 14. Melissa Moorman 13:55, 19. Allie Hafner 14:05, 32. Kamryn Beers 14:50, 51. Claire Fiechtner 16:22, 53. Gillian Gross 16:31, 58. Jessabelle Opheim 16:47, 67. Emily Grahek 17:37, 69. Marta Iverson 17:47.
Boys
Team standings — 1. Pella 33, 2. Grinnell 66, 3. Knoxville 87, 4. Oskaloosa 95, 5. Newton 96, 6. Norwalk 162, 7. Pella Christian 185.
Oskaloosa — 3. Skylar DeJong 16L43, 9. Spencer DeJong 17:13, 20. Kamron VanHulzen 18:16, 25. Jared Boggess 18:36, 38. Gerrit VanMaanen 19:54, 40. Caleb Fisher 20:00, 43. Johannes Hartman 20:17.
Junior Varsity
Oskaloosa — 30. Jared Buckallew 19:49, 50. Logan Gross 20:41, 62. Graeme Kuba 21:12, 77. Tiki Anderson 22:01, 112. Devion Versendaaal 24:34, 115. Cole Oscarson 24:48.
Middle School
Oskaloosa — 3. Colton Berg 11:48, 26. Assison Vandewall 13:18, 33. Spencer Nelson 13:36, 49. Aaron Bowie 14:17, 52. Nickolas Schaffner 14:27, 54. Garrett Gilliland 14:29, 58. Jack Miller 14:48, 71. Jacob Spears 15:47, Jordan Diggins 16:28.
