March 29, 2024

Storm cuts Lynnville-Sully Invitational short; girls complete race

C-M’s D. Hostetter wins girls’ race

Image 1 of 3

LYNNVILLE — Storyline of the day — lightning, thunder, wind, and rain.

A severe thunderstorm moved into the Diamond Trail Golf Course area at the tail end of the girls’ 4K race of Thursday’s Lynnville-Sully Invitational cross country meet. The girls completed their race.

The storm shut down the meet. First, it was going to be a 30-minute delay, then it became clear that the storm was not going to pass that quickly.

“The varsity boys and the middle school runners might return at a later date. That has to be determined,” said Darin Arkema, Lynnville-Sully cross country coach. “We were happy to again be hosting a home cross country meet at the golf course in Lynnville. It gives the kids the opportunity to race without having to get on a bus and travel some distance, plus teachers, community members, family, and friends can get to watch a meet close by.”

So, the weather won, but so did Coflax-Mingo’s  Dakota Hostetter.

Dakota Hostetter ran a season-best time of 16 minutes, 3 seconds in winning the varsity race. She pulled away from North Tama’s Abi Watson and Davis County’s Addie McKee. Those two battled for second place with Watson edging McKee out in 16:26 to 16:28.

Kennedi Hostetter and Iva Moore claimed medals for the Tigerhawk girls. Kennedi Hostetter placed 17th in 18:25, and Moore was 19th in 18:43. Sara Lahart was 41st in 21:12, followed by Donita Fatland in 22:07, Kenzie Cogley in 66th at 23:05, Breanna Schroeder in 69th at 23:18, Cassie Craig in 70th at 23:27, and Carley Hodgson in 82nd at 25:36.

“Dakota has been a runner-up twice this year, so it was good to see her win this one,” said Zach Tomas, Colfax-Mingo head coach.  “It was a tough course, and I know the kids were concerned about the weather. I was proud of them for their efforts.”

Davis County won the team title with 60 points. Lynnville-Sully scored 69 points, followed by North Tama with 94 points. Colfax-Mingo ended up fourth with 128 points. Pella Christian scored 172 points to take seventh.

Arkema said he did not receive runner scorecards with results on them from Prairie City-Monore or Twin Cedars.

Lynnville-Sully’s Tara Vos led the Hawks in claiming the sixth-place medal in 16:59. Three other Hawk runners earned medals. Alexa Vander Leest was eighth in 17:07. Cori Rice finished 10th in 17:42, and Karlie Roozeboom ran 15th in 17:55.

Lynnville-Sully’s Alexis Hardenbrook, Line Ascanius and Lizzy Van Manen crossed the finish line in a bunch. Hardenbrook was 30th in 20:01, followed by Ascanius in 31st at 20:02, and Van Manen in 32nd in 20:03. Kasiah Ehresman placed 37th in 20:40. Kristine Jaenette was 39th in 20:55.

“It was a tough race for the girls with the warmer temperatures and the humidity. The wind stopped shortly before the start of the race and the air was just heavy,” Arkema said. “I’m sure if we had had cooler and less humid conditions, times would have been faster. All that being said, I was very pleased with the performance of all our girls.”

“They finished second to Davis County, which is a ranked and very good 2A team. Our first four (Tara, Alexa, Cori, Karli) once again were pushing each other, racing close, which led to all of them being in the top 15. Alexis, Line, and Lizzy followed by Kasiah and Kristine were all pretty tight together throughout the race as well, battling to finish out our top seven. We race all the girls together for this reason, so that if there are teammates who are close in terms of being JV or varsity, they can all be together racing for the spot,” Arkema said.

Morgan Anderson captured the 21st medal, leading Pella Christian, and running the 4K course in 19:08. Darmaris Worthington finished 27th in 19:44. Andreea Carballo placed 35th in 20:34, followed by Abby Van Soelen in 44th at 21:20, Marina Shannon in 53rd at 21:56, and Brianna Van Donselaar in 85th at 26:32.

“The girls did very well on Thursday,” said Jocelyn Meinders, Pella Christian head coach.