April 23, 2024

Hawk girls are SICL champions; boys finish third

By Jocelyn Sheets
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Lynnville-Sully's Canyon Kuhlmann (19) us right with leader Orie Brown of Belle Plaine (89) coming up a hill in the front pack of the boys' reace. Kuhlmann and Brown battled the whole 5K distance with Brown edging Kuhlmann at he finish line. (Jocelyn Sheets)

LYNNVILLE — Racing on their home course at Lynnville’s Diamond Trail Golf Course, Lynnville-Sully’s cross country athletes had a strong finish to the regular season. The Hawks hosted the 2013 South Iowa Cedar League cross country meet Thursday.

The Hawk girls were dominant at home. They placed seven runners in the top 12 spots and lifted the 2013 SICL championship trophy.

Lynnville-Sully scored 26 points with North Mahaska finishing second with 46 points. English Valleys placed third with 107 points, followed by Belle Plaine with 140, BGM with 166, HLV with 168 and Keota with 216.

Belle Plaine’s boys were just as dominant with a conference title win with 37 points. BGM edged out Lynnville-Sully for second, 67 to 69 points. Sigourney was fourth with 98 points and Montezuma finished fifth with 151 points.

“They added another accomplishment to their great season, and showing why they are one of the better teams in Class 1,” said Darin Arkema, Hawk head coach. “It's fun to know that championship trophy can just stay right here at Lynnville-Sully. I'd have to look back to be exact, but I know it's been a number of years since we've been conference champions, either boys or girls.”

Lynnville-Sully had seven athletes earn All-SICL honors for finishing in the top 10 in the races.

Tara Vos led the Hawk girls, claiming second in 16 minutes, 37 seconds for the 4K race. Alexa Vander Leest came in after Vos in third at 16:49. Cori Rice, who was the defending individual league champion, finished fifth in 17:25 followed by Karli Roozeboom in sixth at 17:27.

Elizabeth Van Manen led a 10-11-12 finish by the Hawk girls. Van Manen ran the course in 18:36 then Kasiah Ehresman crossed the line in 18:50 and Line Ascanius was 12th in  19:01. Ehresman and Ascanius received all-league honorable mention.

Megan Goemaat of North Mahaska is the individual champion, running the race in 16:14.

Lynnville-Sully’s Alexis Hardenbrook was 18th in 19:46. Kristine Jaennette placed 22nd in 20:06, and Kristy Sevcik was 32nd in 20:54.

“Our boys just narrowly missed beating BGM, who they had their sights set on after finishing behind them by 15 points last week at Montezuma,” Arkema said. “Belle Plaine has a strong group of boys and was the favorite coming in. We really thought if we raced well we could jump BGM for second place. It certainly wasn't because of a lack of effort from our guys, and credit to BGM for also racing well. Lots of the guys ran season-best times tonight, which is a boost in confidence for them going into the state qualifying meet next week.”

Canyon Kuhlmann paced the Hawk boys. Kuhlmann, who had the highest finish for Lynnville-Sully last year at 11th place, ran second Thursday at home. He made a strong bid for the league individual championship, battling Belle Plaine’s Orie Brown.

Brown won the 5K race in 18:04. Kuhlmann was second in 18:09. Ben Trettin was the No. 2 runner on the day for Lynnville-Sully, finishing ninth in 19:33. Talon Woods placed 15th in 20:06, followed by Jake Brand in 20th at 20:32.

Luke Jones ran 23rd in 20:32. Nic Lirio finished in 28th at 21:41, Jim Trettin was 35th in 22:46, and Bayley Morvant was 38th in 23:04. Lauri Ryyppo placed 48th in 31:11, Lucas Smith was 49th in 31:40, and Kordell Mueller was 50th in 32:36.

“It was a great privilege for us to host the SICL meet this year, especially since our home invitational earlier in the season was cut short by bad weather. We had a beautiful fall day today that was great for cross country,” Arkema said. “Our team was looking forward to prove themselves as one of the best in the league, especially on our home course. I was so proud of their efforts in representing their school and community tonight in front of a home crowd.”

Arkema said it was great to see so many people who came out to support the Hawk runners, including the Hawk football coaches and players, who changed practice plans to come to the meet.

“It was awesome to hear them cheer, encourage, and bring energy to the races for their friends and classmates,” he said. “We're looking forward to getting as ready as we can over the next week to race our best in Ottumwa in the state qualifying meet.”

Arkema also wanted to thank all those involved in running Thursday’s league meet at Diamond Trail Golf Course.