March 19, 2024

Tigerhawk harriers test themselves against big-school competition

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MARSHALLTOWN — Colfax-Mingo coach Zach Tomas expects senior Dakota Hostetter to compete for a medal in late October in Class 1A state cross country meet in Fort Dodge.

After watching his three-time state qualifier run against Class 4A competition on Thursday, Tomas’ expectations have not waivered.

Hostetter ran to a sixth-place finish in the 8th Annual Bobcat Early Bird Invitational. The senior crossed the finish line in 21 minutes, 38 seconds. She was defeated by four 4A runners and a 3A runner.

“It’s great to see that she’s ready to go,” Tomas said. “I think this was a good mental boost for her right away.”

The Tigerhawk girls finished seventh in the nine-team field.

Colfax-Mingo, which also got a 13th-place finish from freshman Abbey McConeghey, edged South Iowa Cedar League rival Belle Plaine by seven points.

Des Moines Roosevelt (26) won the girls title with ease, finisihing 2-3-4-7-10-16. Urbandale (67) was next followed by Grundy Center (118), Waterloo West (120), Ottumwa (138), South Tama County (154), Colfax-Mingo (177), Belle Plaine (184) and Marshalltown (187).

Colfax-Mingo senior Cameron Warner led the Tigerhawk boys with a 34th place finish. The Tigerhawks were 11th overall with 305 points.

Urbandale’s boys won the team title with 37 points. The J-Hawks went 1-2-7-13-14. Waterloo West (72) was next followed by Webster City (80), Grundy Center (142), Ottumwa (143), Belle Plaine (223), Sigourney (227), Marshalltown (230), Waterloo East (299) and Colfax-Mingo.

Hostetter and McConeghey ran together for most of the race before the elder runner pulled away in the final mile.

“There were a lot of big schools, so I wasn’t expecting to win,” Hostetter said. “That helps me just kind fo relax and run my race. It was a good day.

“I love running with (McConeghey). She is usually right with me. She’s pushing me. It will be fun running with her all year. She’s awesome.”

McConeghey was clocked at 22:47 in her first high school race. Sophomore Delaney Underwood was the next Tigerhawk to cross the finish as she ended up 55th. Sophomore Ilia Hostetter came across in 57th, junior Morgan McKinney-McGill was 59th, sophomore Mollie Greve finished 60th, sophomore Payton Rhone was 62nd and freshman Jodine Woods hit the line in 63rd.

“It was a good first meet for Abbey. We need to celebrate that finish,” Tomas said. “We are really out of shape as a team. I had two girls that are coming off a week of not practicing. One had driver’s ed and one was on vacation.

“We need to get some more girls in the under 25 minute range to reach our goals. That’s doable though. No excuses. We’ll use this to get better. This is a stepping stone.”

Warner jumped out to an early lead in the boys race. He faded in the final mile, but Tomas liked his aggressiveness this early in the season.

“Cameron went out a little hot. For under 20, that was pretty good,” Tomas said. “I would like to see him dial it down a bit and have more at the end. But I like the aggressiveness. It shows us where we are. If you run as hard as you can for as long as you can, you hope that continued training will take care of the finish.”

Warner ended up with a time of 19:39. Freshman Cyden Fitch was the next Tigerhawk to finish, and he hit the line in 78th. Sophomore Nic Duffy was 80th, senior KC Huffman finished 86th and junior Jacob Frier was 89th.

“Tonight was not a true testament of what we can do and what we will do this year,” Tomas said. “We have had a lot of kids missing time for various things. We just need to get into better shape.”