The Oskaloosa Herald
EDDYVILLE —
The Oskaloosa cross country teams swept not only the team titles at the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Invitational Tuesday, but the individual titles as well.
The Indians won the boys and girls individual crowns in the varsity, junior varsity and middle school divisions as the teams combined for 29 top-10 finishes.
“As a whole, we ran really well,” Oskaloosa coach Keith Comfort said. “The weather was the best we have had and the kids responded very well. We were aggressive and raced hard.
“We did a much better job of finishing the race from top to bottom, which we have been working on in practice. We can still do a better job though.”
Bailey Blythe won the girls race in the time of 14:59 as Lesley Roquet, Kelsey Roquet, Brey Hill and Melanie Harvey all collected top-10 finishes. The girls had 30 points as a team as North Mahaska was second, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont finished third in the four-team field.
“Bailey dominated the field and ran a great time,” Comfort said. “She was much faster than we anticipated before the race. She has been working really hard and it is paying off now. As a whole, we had a much better team performance. The course was an easier course and the kids responded to that. We had five girls in the top 10 and that is how you win these meets. Now we need to translate that to all our races. Our freshman girls, Bailey, Brey, Melanie and Julia (Coniglio) continue to run well and with veterans like Lesley, Kelsey, Riley and Meghan are jelling into a good team.”
Coniglio won the junior varsity division in 18:32.0 as the Indians took the top seven spots in the event.
Skylar DeJong earned another win this season as he ran 15:57 while his brother, Spencer, was runner-up in 16:31. Kamron VanHulzen and Caleb Fisher also placed in the top 10 for Oskaloosa.
“Skylar and Spencer ran away from the boys field as well. They looked really strong,” Comfort said. “Spencer has been working really hard and we are starting to see the fruits of that work now. Skylar continues to be our leader and does a good job of setting the tone for the team. I was really happy with our improvement in the bottom half of the varsity team. We are getting better each week. As we look toward conference now, we need to continue to make progress there Kamron has been solid and Caleb and Logan continue to show that they belong in the mix as well.”
Jared Buckallew captured the junior varsity race in the time of 20:04 as teammates Johannes Hartman, Tiki Anderson and Devion Versendaal followed him in the race.
“The junior varsity kids had good races as well, with several picking up season best times. They are really improving. and pushing some of the varsity runners now,” Comfort said.
Sienna DeJong and Colton Berg picked up wins in the middle school race.
“There were lots of good performances by the middle school team. We are trying to get a little better each week,” Comfort said.
The Indians compete in the Knoxville Invitational on Tuesday.
Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Invitational
Girls
Varsity
Team standings — 1. Oskaloosa 30, 2. North Mahaska 51, 3. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 89, 4. Wayne 98.
Oskaloosa — 1. Bailey Blythe 14:59, 5. Lesley Roquet 16:56, 7. Kelsey Roquet 17:18, 8. Brey Hill 17:29, 9. Melanie Harvey 17:35, 11. Riley Berg 17:57, 16. Meghan Toubekis 18:23.
Junior varsity
Oskaloosa — 1. Julia Coniglio 18:32, 2. Natalie Whitis 18:58, 3. Lauren Gorski 20:04, 4. Brooke Beers 20:14, 5. Morgane Cloesen 20:16, 6. Angela Hyland 20:48, 7. Kenzie Gunter 21:11.
Middle School
Oskaloosa — 1. Sienna DeJong 12:08, 2. Melissa Moorman 13:21, 3. Allie Hafner 13:36, 4. Anna Jones 13:37, 6. Lexi Randau 13:48, 10. Kamryn Beers 14:41, 17. Claire Fiechtner 15:17, 20. Gillian Gross 15:56, 22. Marta Iverson 16:43, 23. Emily Grahek 17:02, 24. Jessabelle Opheim 17:53.
Boys
Varsity
Team standings — 1. Oskaloosa 32, 2. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 35, 3. Wayne 89.
Oskaloosa — 1. Skylar DeJong 15:57, 2. Spencer DeJong 16:31, 34. Kamron VanHulzen 17:32, 10. Caleb Fisher 18:30, 14. Logan Gross 19:03, 15. Gerrit VanMaanen 19:10, 20. Graeme Kuba 20:10.
Junior varsity
Oskaloosa — 1. Jared Buckallew 20:04, 2. Johannes Hartman 20:47, 3. Tiki Anderson 21:43, 4. Devion Versendaal 22:57.
Middle School
Oskaloosa — 1. Colton Berg 11:43, 7. Spencer Nelson 12:45, 8. Maddison Vandewall 12:47, 12. Aaron Bowie 13:28, 15. Nickolas Schaffner 13:39, 16. Jack Miller 13:47, 17. Garrett Gilliland 13:55, 22. Jacob Spears 14:08, 29. Jordan Diggins 15:58.
