Poage takes 11th, Findlay returns with best time
JEWELL — The Collins-Maxwell-Baxter boys cross country team got a strong individual performance from senior Nathan Poage, while the girls team got another runner back but also lost one just before the start of the race.
Poage took 11th overall in the boys race and the CMB boys placed ninth as a team at South Hamilton’s invite Thursday. On the girls side, sophomore Katelyn Findlay returned to action and turned in her best time of the season, but sophomore Sarah Galbraith did not run after sustaining an ankle injury minutes before the race.
“Nathan Poage ran a great race tonight,” CMB coach Jerry Meinerts said. “His last mile was really good. He was in 18th place at the two-mile mark, and then worked his way up to finish 11th. He just ran a real smart race.”
Poage’s time of 18:09 was the best recorded time of the year. The Raiders scored 209 points as a team on the day. East Marshall won the team title with 62 points, while Nevada had 92, Roland-Story 93 and Hudson 103. Gilbert was fifth with 122.
The CMB girls were led by Findlay as she returned to the lineup for the Raiders. Like Poage, she ran her best time of the season and placed 25th overall.
“It was just a good, solid race for Katelyn,” Meinerts said. “She had a good start and kept that momentum going throughout the race. She also had a good finish.”
Following Findlay for the girls was freshman Kayla Hennick, who finished 56th with a time of 19:47.
For the boys, junior Jacob Ross was 41st overall, while junior Jon Reinhold was 44th. Derek Morrison and Dylan DeJong were the final two counting positions as they finished 56th and 57th, respectively. Thomas Howell and Terry Young came in 66th and 67th, respectively.
The Raiders will next run in Ames at the Iowa State University course. The meet is the Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference meet.
PCM bests Jefferson-Scranton in five
JEFFERSON — In a five game thriller, PCM took down Jefferson-Scranton Thursday night for a 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 14-25, 16-14 victory in Heart of Iowa Conference play.
Junior Jordan Wood led PCM with 13 kills, nine digs, eight blocks and was 12-of-13 serving with two aces. Junior Erica Neideigh has 11 kills, eight blocks and was 14-of-15 serving with two aces.
Senior Bri Zerley had 30 setting assists and was 18-of-19 serving with three aces, while senior Ashley Nolin had nine digs and was 28-of-29 serving with three aces.
Junior Stephanie Hayden collected eight digs in the win, senior Kelsey Maggard scored eight kills and freshman Alex Samson collected five blocks at the net.
PCM (8-12, 2-4) is back in action Saturday at the Pella Tournament.
Colfax-Mingo falls to Defenders
DES MOINES — Grandview Park Baptist kept control of its conference title hopes Thursday night with a 25-12, 25-12, 25-17 victory over Colfax-Mingo.
“Grandview Park Baptist is a 1A school, but they spend the year going to tournaments playing 3A and 4A schools,” Colfax-Mingo coach Brian Warrick said. “They are a good team.”
Colfax-Mingo was led by five digs, four kills and 10-of-10 serving from junior Vannessa Ginther. Senior Brooke Berkey was 10-of-11 serving with two aces, adding six setting assists.
Junior Danielle Beals was 6-of-6 serving, while junior Logan Wilson, junior Breanna Trainor and senior Meranda McKinney each collected five digs.
“Vannessa played very well last night all around,” Warrick said. “Brooke and Danielle did a nice job of getting to the ball. They had some pretty good hitters.”
Colfax-Mingo (3-18, 0-4) is back in action Tuesday at home against South Hamilton.
