March 29, 2024

Newton’s Mace-Maynard scores top-10 finish at Fort Dodge

Cardinals finish 18th in loaded field at site of state meet

FORT DODGE — The Fort Dodge Cross Country Invitational was on the site of the state cross country meet. And it felt like a mini state meet on Thursday.

The boys’ 26-team field included 15 ranked teams and a plethora of ranked runners and Jackson Mace-Maynard held his own with a ninth-place finish at Lakeside Golf Course.

The Class 3A No. 11 Cardinals were 18th as a team with 479 points. They trailed No. 10 Glenwood by 22 points and No. 15 Carlisle by 87 points.

“We went into Thursday night’s race chasing after Glenwood, and to fall just 22 points behind them was very frustrating, but it does give validity to the state’s ranking of our two teams,” Newton boys cross country coach Steve Weeks said. “The real surprise was we believed Carlisle was ranked way too low for their talent and they proved me right.”

The boys’ field included 10 ranked teams in 4A, four ranked teams in 3A, the top ranked team in both classes and the top ranked runner in 3A.

Class 3A No. 1 Aidan Ramsey of Dallas Center-Grimes won the 5K race in 15 minutes, 29.1 seconds. Mace-Maynard’s ninth-place finish was clocked in 16:13.7, which is one of the fastest times of Mace-Maynard’s career.

Class 4A No. 1 Sioux City North, whose team features three of the top five ranked runners in 4A, won the meet with 41 points. Class 4A No. 2 Dowling Catholic (73), 4A No. 5 Johnston (114), 4A No. 7 Norwalk (153) and 3A No. 1 DCG (159) completed the top five.

“Ultimately, tonight we did not run to our full potential,” Weeks said. “There were many factors that played a role, but we’re not in the business of excuses. We have our goals set, and we have two more meets to see if we can send the first Newton boys cross country team to state to run the 5K race.

“Let’s just hope this doesn’t hurt our ranking and ultimately our seeding in district placements.”

Treycen Garton, who is ranked 25th in 3A, finished 72nd in the race. He finished in 17:22. Landon Menninga (18:16) was 136th, Leo Friedman (18:41.4) finished 156th and Derek Beiner (19:09.6) came in 184th as the final scoring runner.

Jared Smith (19:21.8) returned to the varsity lineup and finished 188th and Collin Buchli (19:49.4) was 197th. Presley Arnold (19:58.5) also finished the 5K in less than 20 minutes and finished 200th.

“Times were slower than last weekend, but that was expected to happen with less rest and the different course,” Weeks said. “The times and placing is not what we planned on, but after having a career day last Saturday this may be the humbling experience we need right before conference and districts these next two weeks.”