NEWTON — The Oskaloosa cross country teams competed in the Little Hawkeye Conference meet Monday at Newton.
On a cold and rainy day, Sara Dickinson ran away with the conference individual championship running a time of 14:27. Brooke VanHouweling also earned all-conference honors with her fourth-place finish in a time of 16:12.
“Sara and Brooke ran really well in leading the team to a sixth-place finish with a score of 131 points,” Oskaloosa coach Keith Comfort said. “Jess Grahek (27th), Lyric Morris (47th) and Courtney Converse (52) rounded out the scoring for the Indians with Paige Walter (54th) and Dana VanRenterghem (60th) also running for the Indians.
“Sara has had an outstanding season and I believe she is the first Oskaloosa girl to win a conference cross country title. I am very proud of her accomplishment. The other girls on our varsity team have had solid seasons as well and we have improved throughout the year. I thought Jess Grahek ran with a little fire tonight and had a nice race. Courtney and Paige have been solid contributors all year long in their first cross country seasons. This team has the makings of being a very strong team, if we can just put the pieces all together on the same night.”
The boys team finished in eighth place with a score of 191 points. John Andersen was the top finisher with an 18th-place finish in 18:15. The other scorers for the boys team were Ryan McPherren (36th), Bryan Kunz (44th), Ryan Wells (46th) and Isaiah Thompson (47th). Shannon Koski and Max Holle also ran for the Indians.
“The boys ran pretty well, although I thought that the weather affected our performance a little,” Comfort said. “To be more competitive, we have to learn to run past the point of being comfortable and feel the pain a little. We are not quite at that point yet. Our effort is good, we just have to take another step if we hope to be competitive at the district meet next week.”
In the JV races, the girls finished in third place with 101 points. Alisha Poncy led the way with a 15th-place finish in a time of 20:05. Avery Whitis (18th), Anthea Anderson (20th), Megan Adams (23rd) and Amanda Stefanik (25th) rounded out the scoring. Ginny Lane also ran for the Indians.
“I thought Alisha and Avery had strong races,” Comfort said. “They are both seniors, as is Mica Doolan, who was unable to run tonight, and are winding down their cross country careers and they both looked really strong. The other girls are all freshman and did a real nice job for us this year. They have showed some good potential and will be key contributors next season.”
In the boys JV race, the Indians ran to a fifth-place finish with 150 points. Martin Hassel and Jon Fash led the way with 24th- and 25th-place finishes. Alex Gile, Matt McLellan and Alex Hyland rounded out the scoring.
“We have had a big group of JV boys this year and they have all worked hard and showed steady improvement through the year,” Comfort said. “There are a couple of seniors in this group as well, Jon, Matt, Brandon Wickenkamp, Chris North and Ben Waters who all wound up their cross country careers tonight. They have been good leaders and hard workers and I appreciate their efforts with the team.”
The middle school teams completed their seasons tonight. The girls ran a great race and finished second with a score of 66 points.
Sarandyn Curtis led the team again tonight with a fifth-place finish, with Riley Berg in eighth. Angela Hyland (16th), Stephanie Smith (18th) and Natalie Whitis (19th) finished the scoring for the Indians.
“We have a great group of middle school girls and they will be instrumental in helping improve the high school team as they move up in the next couple of years,” Comfort said. “We have some very nice talent in the middle school right now. They have shown steady improvement and I am very happy and proud of their second-place effort tonight.”
The boys finished in seventh place with 171 points. Adam Genskow led the way with an 18th-place finish with Ben Rurup (20th), Bryan Herr (35th), Braden Diggens (46th) and Andrew Busse (52nd).
“We did not have a lot of depth on the team, but had some fine efforts all year long,” Comfort said. “The boys showed improvement and I think they have the potential to be good high school runners as they move up the ranks. Adam did a nice job for us this year and I see some real potential in him. I thought they did a really good job tomight.”
Little Hawkeye Conference
Cross Country Meet
Monday’s Results
Girls
Team standings — 1. Pella 56, 2. Newton 77, 3. Knoxville 96, 4. Pella Christian 100, 5. Grinnell 125, 6. Oskaloosa 131, 7. Norwalk 166, 8. Boone 182, 9. South Tama 268.
Oskaloosa — 1. Sara Dickinson 14:27, 4. Brooke VanHouweling 16:12, 27. Jessica Grahek 17:44, 47, Lyric Morris 18:58, 52. Courtney Converse 19:22, 54. Paige Walter 19:23, 60. Dana VanRenterghem 20:02.
Pella Christian — 5. Sara Brandsen 16:13, 10. Leah Dykstra 17:21, 15. Michaela Martin 17:11, 24. Emily Van Hal 17:33, 37. Heatrher Brand 18:21, 44. Kelsie Van Kooten 18:50, 50. Abigail Fincel 19:09.
Pella — 2. Madison Davis 15:35, 3. Amanda Dunkin 16:01, 10. Mariah Vande Lune 16:31.
Junior Varsity Results
Oskaloosa — 15. Alisha Poncy 20:05, 18. Avery Whitis 20:42, 20. Anthea Anderson 21:10, 23. Megan Adams 22:08, 25. Amanda Stefanik 22:32, 31. Ginny Lane 26:44, Mica Doolan did not run.
Middle School Results
Oskaloosa — 5. Sarandyn Curtis 14:37, 8. Riley Berg 14:57, 16. Angela Hyland 15:42, 18. Stephanie Smith 15:44, 19. Natalie Whitis 15:46, 21. Kelsie Tomlin 15:49, 22. Meghan Taubekis 15:49, 36. Hannah Grahek 16:24, 38. Brook Beers 16:29, 60. Emily Boxler 18:50, 72. Paula Busse 22:47, Audrey Netton did not run.
Boys
Team standings — 1. Grinnell 49, 2. Pella 56, 3. Boone 98, 4. Newton 119, 5. Knoxville 137, 6. Pella Christian 166, 7. Norwalk 166, 8. Oskaloosa 191, 9. South Tama 219.
Oskaloosa — 18. John Andersen 18:15, 36. Ryan McPherren 19:20, 44. Bryan Kunz 19:59, 46. Ryan Wells 20:13, 47. Isaiah Thompson 20:21, 49. Shannon Koski 20:36, 54. Max Holle 21:07.
Pella Christian — 19. Josh Meyer 18:17, 33. Conner Van Walbeek 19:03, 27. Skyler Giddings 19:26, 38. Devin Veenstra 19:27, 39. Jacob Dahm 19:40, 53. Jon Lensing 21:00, 59. Micah Spoelstra 21:32.
Pella — 2. Zach Wittenberg 17:01, 5. Jon Klein 17:32, 9. Andrew Bentz 17:38.
Junior Varsity Results
Oskaloosa — 24. Martin Hassel 21:15, 25. Jon Fash 21:20, 32. Alex Gile 22:05, 34. Matt McLellan 22:26, 35. Alex Hyland 22:26, 37. Caden Smith 23:14, 40. Pat McPherren 24:33, 72. Joel Buckallew 24:36, 83. Brandon Wickenkamp 26:38, 84. Chris North 27:26, 85. Jacob Slobe 27:27, 87. Charlie Comfort 28:20, 88. Nathan Korell 28:49, 89. Jae Hoon Park 31:41, 90. Ben Waters 31:54.
Middle School Results
Oskaloosa — 18. Adam Genskow 13:47, 20. Ben Rurup 13:56, 35. Bryan Herr 14:55, 46. Braden Diggins 16:05, 52. Andrew Busse 20:32, Tony Nimitz did not run.
