March 28, 2024

CMB girl harriers notch another team title

STATE CENTER — The Collins-Maxwell/Baxter girls’ cross country team celebrated another team title Tuesday at the West Marshall Invitational, but the Raiders weren’t completely satisfied.

Four CMB harriers crossed the finish line in the top six positions, and the final scorer was 11th as the Raiders knocked off Class 2A No. 11 West Marshall by 11 points.

Freshman Brenna Thomson came in second behind West Marshall’s Ashlee Johnson, while junior Heather Jessen, freshman Lauren Ratliff and freshman Shasta Moody finished third, fifth and sixth, respectively.

Thomson crossed the line in 21 minutes, 41 seconds, while Jessen was clocked at 22:04. Ratliff finished in 22:34, Moody hit the line in 22:34 and senior Chasity Moody was the final counting runner in 11th with a time of 23:19 as the Raiders scored 27 points.

“I’m really pleased with our team’s efforts tonight,” CMB coach Jerry Meinerts said. “Our girls were really focused and set some really lofty goals and accomplished all of them.

“One nice thing about our team this year is that they are still not satisfied. They know there is more they can do and little improvements still to make. We’ll enjoy this victory, but we’ll get back to work tomorrow and continue to make improvements.”

The other two varsity runners were Anna Jones (25:11) and Stephanie Twohey (25:18).

The CMB boys were once again led by freshman Ian Thomson and sophomores Carter Fricke and Max Van Maanen. And that trio’s three top-15 finishes helped CMB finish in fourth place with 79 points.

Ian Thomson was fifth overall with a time of 18:19, while Fricke and Van Maanen were 13th and 14th, respectively. Fricke crossed in 19:30 and Van Maanen hit the line in 19:40.

“Five of our varsity boys ran their best times of the year,” Meinerts said. “The boys were excited to finish fourth tonight. They were only three points away from third. They are improving.”

Brady Ross (22:24), Curtis Jones (23:09) and Addison Swaab (23:40) also ran for CMB, which trailed West Marshall by three points in the team race.

South Hamilton won the meet with 38 points and Colo-NESCO was second with 61. Ankeny Christian (92) and Meskwaki Settlement School (NTS) also competed.

Colo-NESCO (88) trailed CMB and West Marshall in the girls’ team race.

South Hamilton (90) was fourth while Ankeny Christian and Meskwaki Settlement School also competed but did not have enough runners for a team score.