March 29, 2024

C-M boys win first SICL cross country title

L-S freshman Gruver takes second in 5K race

NORTH ENGLISH — Colfax-Mingo's boys' cross country team felt like they had a shot at the South Iowa Cedar League championship last year. But C-M co-head coach Jacob Crouse said Belle Plaine just wanted it a little bit more.

One year later, the Tigerhawks were not about to let that again be the story.

Colfax-Mingo claimed its first-ever SICL boys cross country championship on Tuesday with what turned out to be a dominating effort. And the Tigerhawks did so without one of their best runners and their only senior.

Freshman Max VanDusseldorp was the Tigerhawks' only all-conference runner, but the first five C-M runners finished in the top 18 and the Tigerhawks won the meet with 51 points. It was 13 points better than runner-up Belle Plaine and 15 points in front of third place Lynnville-Sully.

"We had a chance last year to do this but we told the boys that Belle Plaine just wanted it more than we did," Crouse said. "This year we have been saying that the stage was set for us and we needed to follow through. It feels amazing."

Crouse and co-head coach Zach Tomas said it was the first conference championship for a C-M boys team in at least 15 years. And every Tigerhawk who ran the 5K course at Knoll Ridge Country Club will be back next season.

C-M senior Hunter Green did not compete because of an injury.

"To lose your senior, and still do what we did is huge," Crouse said. "(Hunter) was big behind the scenes with motivation and such. This sets the stage for what we have moving forward."

The top area finisher on the day was Lynnville-Sully freshman James Gruver, who was the runner-up with a time of 18 minutes, 52.33 seconds. Sigourney junior Mason Moore won his second straight SICL title in 18:33.02.

Gruver said he met both of his goals coming into the meet. He wanted a top-10 finish and wanted to run faster than some of the runners who beat him earlier in the season. He ended up getting redemption against four other SICL competitors.

"It feels pretty good. I still have some work to do though," Gruver said. "I need to work on getting up hills faster. I was able to reach my goals today."

L-S coach Darin Arkema knows Gruver was disappointed with second but hopes coming up close with serve as motivation for future seasons.

"He has nothing to hang his head about with a runner-up finish," Arkema said. "Hopefully it helps fuel the fire for the rest of the season and motivation for spring track and summer training for next year."

VanDusseldorp joined Gruver as a first-team all-conference finisher in fourth. He was clocked in 19:03.98. Lynnville-Sully freshman Gentry Walston earned honorable mention all-conference honors in 11th with a time of 20:19.

The top five finishers are first team, the next five are second team and the 11th and 12th finishers are honorable mention.

Colfax-Mingo's trio of junior Noah Strohmeyer, freshman Carter Gibson and sophomore Coleman Craig finished just outside all-conference in 13-14-15, respectively.

Strohmeyer was clocked in 20:40.16, Gibson finished in 20:46.45 and Craig hit the finish line in 20:48.88.

"I tried my best to catch up to anyone in front of me. We knew every spot was going to matter today," Strohmeyer said. "We have never done this before so it feels pretty good. We would have done even better with Hunter, but this team showed how strong it is today. Winning this thing without one our best was pretty cool."

Junior A.J. Gibson was the final scoring runner for C-M in 18th. His time was 21:05.22.

A.J. and Carter Gibson were promised a steak dinner by their father if the Tigerhawks won the SICL title on Tuesday. That wasn't on A.J.'s mind at all, but he was happy to be able to share the championship moment with his younger brother.

"This allows us to spend time with each other. I don't get a lot of time with him because of football," A.J. Gibson said. "We aren't home together a lot so to be able to do this with him is pretty special."

A.J. Gibson had a busy fall as he dual sported with football. The aches and pains were there, but the championship makes it all worth it.

"We have been working so hard since the summer. I really wanted to make this team cohesive," A.J. Gibson said. "This was a team win. And it feels amazing."

The other four runners for Colfax-Mingo were sophomore Cole Bracewell (22:05.11) in 25th, junior Avery Lees (22:53.79) in 28th, freshman Mason Edwards (23:17.70) in 30th and freshman Cale Duffy (24:14.49) in 37th.

"This feels amazing. This proves that cross country is a team sport," VanDusseldorp said. "Even if you are missing key runners, the other runners can do their best, run hard and we can still accomplish big things."

Finishing behind Gruver and Walston for the L-S boys were freshman Zach Morningstar in 16th with a time of 20:56.98 and junior Mason Jansen in 17th with a time of 20:57.97. Freshman Evan Fikse (26:08.68) was 42nd.

The team race featured five schools. Colfax-Mingo won the title with 51 points, followed by Belle Plaine (64), Lynnville-Sully (66), North Mahaska (81) and Sigourney (93).

"The boys knew they could be in a battle for placing as one of the top three teams if we ran well," Arkema said. "The boys finishing just two points out of third and only 15 points from first shows you the potential this group has. With a few more runners to help tonight, who knows, they might have been conference champs. They all return next year with another shot at that opportunity."

Both Colfax-Mingo and Lynnville-Sully next compete at state qualifying meets on Oct. 24. The Tigerhawks will be in Class 2A and the Hawks will compete in 1A but sites for those meets have yet to be announced.