MONROE — Colfax-Mingo senior Dakota Hostetter has a busy fall schedule.
She runs on the cross country team, plays hitter on the volleyball team and is a football cheerleader. That doesn’t even include all the homework she has to complete every night.
Thursday, Hostetter had a lot less on her plate and it showed with one of her best performances of the season at the PCM Cross Country Invitational.
Hostetter, who is ranked 21st in the latest Class 1A girls individual state rankings, did not have a volleyball match to get to and the football team didn’t need to be cheered on until today. While the homework was still there, Hostetter’s night began with an individual championship on a hot and muggy night at Gateway Recreation Golf Course.
“It was kind of nice to be just one and done. I get to leave and go home from here,” said Hostetter, who won with a time of 21 minutes, 38.08 seconds. “I have a lot of homework to do. This race was much better than my last few races. I wasn’t tired at the beginning of the race so that helped.”
While Hostetter was winning the race, the host Mustangs were taking several of the other top 10 positions. All seven of PCM’s varsity runners earned medals, which went to the top 25 finishers.
Sophomore Paytan Schut, who qualified for the state meet last season, was the top Mustang finisher. She came in after Hostetter but trailed by nearly a full minute. Schut crossed the finish line in 22:33.09 and bounced back from a week of illness.
“I have been sick for a while. I had to step off the course at our last race, but when I lined up today, I felt good,” Schut said. “I felt like it was going to be a good race. It wasn’t a PR, but it felt good coming off being sick.
“It’s amazing to do this on my home course. The fact that we won makes it even better. I am really proud of the girls on my team, too.”
Schut and her teammates occuppied seven of the first 20 positions. Sophomore Kirstin Ives finished fifth in 22:57.94, senior Jayci Vos was sixth in 23:16.29 and sophomore Megan Townley crossed in 12th with a time of 23:54.09.
The final scoring Mustang was junior Baylee Smith, who finished the race in 15th with a time of 24:20.81. The other two varsity runners were junior Ellie Steenhoek and senior Rachel Stafford, who came across the line in 18th and 20th, respectively.
“We were second place last year to Knoxville. I know they are down a little bit from last year, and we are better, so it was one of those things where we knew we’d have a chance to win,” PCM coach Eric Karr said. “When is it going to click to make us look like a legitimate team? I think tonight was that night. They ran incredibly well.”
PCM won the meet with 33 points. The Mustangs bested runner-up West Marshall by 24 points. Hostetter helped Colfax-Mingo to a third-place finish, while Lynnville-Sully ended up fourth.
The Hawks were led once again by freshman Abby Gruver, who finished 11th in 23:52.07.
“I think I have done pretty well so far. I am getting used to runnng the 5K, too,” Gruver said. “My pace is getting better with each race.”
The Tigerhawks placed four runners in the top 30. Freshman Abbey McConeghey was 26th in 25:09.19, sophomore Ilia Hostetter collected a 28th-place tally with a time of 25:15.10 and sophomore Delaney Underwood crossed the line in 30th in 25:21.13.
“Tonight was a big step forward for us,” Colfax-Mingo coach Zach Tomas said. “I am super excited about placing third tonight. To get four in the top 30 is just great.”
Dakota Hostetter has run in three state cross country meets. While she is chasing her fourth this fall, she hopes her teammates will be right there with her.
“I feel like if we can get a little bit better, it will be much easier, but all we have to do is bring it on that day,” Dakota Hostetter said. “I hope we can. It is a lot more fun when we go together as a team.”
Lynnville-Sully’s Gruver was joined in a medalist position by teammate Christine Nikkel, who placed 22nd with a time of 24:47.59. Emily Van Gorp crossed the line in 35th in 25:42.13 and Hailey Breeden was 46th in 27:12.79. The final scoring runner was Ashton Thompson, who placed 53rd in 27:44.04.
The final two varsity runners were Hailey Scandridge and Lydia Akergren, who placed 54th and 55th, respectively.
The Mustangs won the meet despite not having one of their top runners in freshman Klaire Jungling. Karr said Jungling is battling soreness and was held out as a precaution.
“I am worried about their bodies right now,” Karr said. “We have run some meets with some killer hills. We need to make sure we are healthy. We’ll start to think about districts here soon. We need to get past the Knoxville meet first.
“Oct. 20 is when we need to be fast. Right now, we just need to stay healthy and be positive.”
PCM has dealt with injuries and sickness all season. Schut hopes her illness is in the rear view mirror so she can now focus on returning to the state meet.
“This is obviously the race that starts my build up,” Schut said. “Hopefully I can get back there because I like those (state meet) tags hanging from my bag.”
PCM, Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully all run at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in Knoxville.