JEWELL — Once again facing some of the state’s top competition, the Collins-Maxwell/Baxter girls cross country team was up to the challenge Thursday.
The Raiders, ranked 12th in Class 2A, faced four other ranked schools and came out as the runner-up at the Jim Klein Cross Country Invitational hosted by South Hamilton.
CMB got top 15 performances from its top four runners and scored 75 points in second place. Class 3A No. 2 Gilbert ran away with the team title with 29 points, but the Raiders once again finished ahead of 2A No. 14 West Marshall and No. 15 East Marshall.
West Marshall was third with 83 points, while 1A No. 8 Panorama was fourth with 133 and East Marshall finished fifth with 138.
“Every one of our girls ran season-best times tonight,” CMB coach Jerry Meinerts said. “Gilbert is a great team, and I really challenged our girls to get our pack right in their with their No. 3 and No. 4 girls. That is right where they ran.”
Leading the way for the CMB girls was freshman Brenna Thomson in eighth.
Thomson hit the line in 21 minutes, 18.91 seconds, while junior Heather Jessen was 10th in 21:27.21 and freshman Shasta Moody was 11th in 21:28.19.
Freshman Lauren Ratliff also medaled in 14th, while senior Chasity Moody was the final scorer in 32nd.
Junior Anna Jones and senior Courtney Clapper also competed for the Raiders, finishing back-to-back in 55th and 56th, respectively.
East Marshall’s Haley Fye, ranked No. 9 in 2A, won the race in 19:47.14, while 3A No. 19 Maggie Pollard of Gilbert was second. Gilbert’s top five runners came in 2-3-4-7-13.
In the boys’ race, CMB was led by freshman Ian Thomson, who was 24th overall with a time of 17:57.25.
The Raiders were 12th in a 14-team field that featured four ranked squads. Class 3A No. 10 Gilbert won the meet with 62 points, while 2A No. 6 Eagle Grove was second with 95 points. East Marshall, ranked 11th in 2A, was third with 131 points, Madrid finished fourth and 1A No. 7 South Hamilton rounded out the top five.
After Ian Thomson for the Raiders was sophomore Max Van Maanen in 43rd. Sophomore Carter Fricke crossed the line in 50th, freshman Josh Bruntz finished 72nd and freshman Eric Wagner ended up 81st. Junior Brady Ross (86th) and sophomore Noah Rhoades (93rd) also competed as varsity runners.
“Most of our boys ran season-best times, but so did everyone else,” Meinerts said. “This was a tough meet just loaded with a bunch of good runners and good teams. We are doing a great job competing, and we look to finish the season on a strong note.”
Class 1A No. 3 Andrew Stumbo of Odgen won the race in 16:45.45, while 1A No. 15 Jordan Combes of Colo-NESCO was second in 16:54.97 and 2A No. 8 Nick Meling of East Marshall finished third in 16:55.17.
CMB will run in the Heart of Iowa Conference meet at 4 p.m. Monday in Ames at the Iowa State cross country course. Gilbert is the host school.
“Our goal now is to keep everyone healthy and just keep working hard and improving for the (state qualifier) that is coming up soon.”