JEWELL — Prairie City-Monroe’s ranked girls cross country team faced a tough field at the Heart of Iowa Conference meet on Monday night.
Highly ranked North Polk and Gilbert proved to be the class of the conference, but the Class 2A No. 15 Mustangs were the next best finisher as they claimed a third-place finish at Jewell Country Club.
Two PCM girls earned all-conference honors. Senior Baylee Smith was the first non-North Polk or non-Gilbert runner to cross the finish line.
Smith was 10th overall and junior Kirstin Ives placed 12th as the Mustangs scored 109 points.
The top 14 finishers in each race earn all-conference honors.
Class 3A No. 4 North Polk won the meet by three points over 3A No. 6 Gilbert. The Comets scored 28 points with the Tigers next at 31.
PCM scored 109 points, which was eight points better than Roland-Story (117), a “team to watch” in the 2A rankings. Nevada rounded out the top five with 119.
Greene County (151), South Hamilton (172) and Saydel (238) completed the eight-team field.
The top finisher on the boys’ side for PCM was freshman Beau Webb in 28th. Sophomore Jason Stafford was three seconds back in 30th.
The first nine positions in the girls’ 5K race were occupied by either North Polk or Gilbert. North Polk’s Amelia Lesher, who is ranked 17th in 3A, won the race in 20 minutes, 0 seconds. The next closest finisher was Gilbert’s Maggie Pollard in 20:24.
Gilbert placed three in the top four, but North Polk won the meet because it had all five runners in the top nine.
Smith’s 10th-place finish was clocked at 21:45. Ives crossed the finish line in 21:57.
Sophomore Klaire Jungling was 26th overall in 22:51 and junior Megan Townley placed 29th in 22:59. The fifth and final counting runner was senior Ellie Steenhoek in 25:06.
Junior Paytan Schut did not run due to illness.
Class 3A No. 3 Gilbert cruised to the team title in the boys’ race.
The Tigers placed all five scoring runners in the first eight positions and all seven varsity runners hit the finish line in the first 11 spots.
Gilbert scored 23 points in first. Nevada was next with 65 points and 2A No. 5 South Hamilton scored 69 in third. Roland-Story (104) and North Polk (126) completed the first five followed by Saydel (163), PCM (195) and Greene County (244).
Gilbert’s Tyler Rees, who is ranked fifth in 3A, won the boys’ 5K in 16:52. He was 16 seconds better than 3A No. 3 Malachi Hornbuckle of Nevada.
PCM’s Webb finished in 19:04 to finish 28th. Stafford was 30th in 19:07.
Sophomore Jacob Cox (82nd), senior Brady North (83rd) and senior Caleb Peter (101) were the other three scoring runners.
The Mustangs have more than a week to prepare for a Class 2A state qualifier. The meet will start at 4 p.m. on Oct. 19, but the site is still unknown.
Heart of Iowa Conference
Cross Country Meet
Jewell Country Club
PCM Girls
10. Baylee Smith, 21:45; 12. Kirstin Ives, 21:57; 26. Klaire Jungling, 22:51; 29. Megan Townley, 22:59; 62. Ellie Steenhoek, 25:06; 65. Morgan Uhlenhopp, 25:38; 101. Katie Henkenius, 29:23; 117. Maddy Buys, 33:42.
PCM Boys
28. Beau Webb, 19:04; 30. Jason Stafford, 19:07; 82. Jacob Cox, 21:05; 83. Brady North, 21:09; 101. Caleb Peter, 21:32; 110. Ayrton Breckenridge, 21:47; 113. Colton St. Pierre, 21:50; 114. Cody Courtney, 21:52; 123. Brenden Vanderpool, 22:31; 126. Dylan Masterson, 22:46; 132. Carson Clark, 23:34; 133. Garin Padget, 23:27; 135. Bradley McClellan, 23:32; 151. Cooper Vandelune, 24:39; 164. Garrett Graber, 24:58; 166. Luke Kramer, 26:30; 168. Payton Konek, 27:05.