Mace-Maynard leads Newton harriers at state meet

FORT DODGE — Top-five finishes are becoming the norm for Newton senior Jackson Mace-Maynard.

But he’s hoping he can breakthrough even more at some point this spring.

For now, another top-five finish will have to do as Mace-Maynard used an impressive kick in the final stages of the Class 3A boys’ 5K race to place fourth at the Iowa High School State Cross Country Championships in Fort Dodge on Friday afternoon.

“It felt pretty good. I was proud of that,” Mace-Maynard said. “I’m a little frustrated because I got fourth in the 3,200 at state track, fourth in the 1,600, fourth in the 4x800, fifth in the D-med and now fourth at state cross. But I consider myself a mid-distance runner so to get fourth at state in this sport is pretty awesome.”

Mace-Maynard’s fourth-place finish is believed to be the school’s best individual 5K placing ever at the state cross country meet.

He ran down a few runners on the final straightaway to move into the top five. That helped the 12th-ranked Cardinals finish right where they came in ranked at in the final teams standings.

“I just wanted to get the highest finish possible for my teammates and my city,” Mace-Maynard said. “I would have liked to have finished second or third. But I’m happy and I think I gave my absolute best. I didn’t throw in the towel even at the end.”

Newton was 12th in the team race with 251 points. The Cardinals edged ninth-ranked ADM (257) by six points. Class 3A No. 11 Mount Vernon-Lisbon was eight points better in 11th.

“As a coach it was phenomenal to see these guys meet their goal,” Newton boys cross country coach Steve Weeks said. “They’ve talked about the state meet almost non-stop for the past year. With a build up like that, there’s hiccups expected along the way, but going into this we were ranked 12th in the state and to finish in 12th I believe is a validating finish.”

Senior Treycen Garton and sophomore Landon Menninga both finished in the upper half of the boys’ 3A race at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.

Mace-Maynard’s fourth-place time was clocked at 16 minutes, 6.47 seconds. Garton was 34th in 17:15.2 and Menninga was 67th in 17:45.06.

“I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I was proud of myself at the end of the race though,” Garton said. “I caught quite a few people. I’m usually the one getting caught. It was my last race so I just wanted to push it hard.”

Both Mace-Maynard and Garton ran at the state meet as individuals last year.

Menninga was a first-time participant this fall along with senior Derek Beiner and juniors Leo Friedman, Jared Smith and Collin Buchli.

“The experience was pretty good. I think I went out too hard though,” Menninga said. “I had it in my mind that I wouldn’t do that, and then I did it anyway.”

Newton senior Alyssa Shannon also competed at the state meet for the first time. She was 58th in the girls’ 5K race.

“To make state in her first time out is a big accomplishment, and she made her goal of finishing in the top half of runners,” Newton girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton said.

Mace-Maynard came into the state meet ranked ninth in the 3A rankings. The only runners who were faster than him on Friday were top-ranked Aiden Ramsey of Dallas Center-Grimes, third-ranked Eli Larson of Center Point-Urbana and sixth-ranked Shane Erb of Marion.

Ramsey won the state title in a time of 15:36.08. Larson and Erb both were faster than 16 minutes, too.

Seventh-ranked Jedidiah Osgood of Marion was fifth. Mace-Maynard ran down Osgood just before the two runners crossed the finish line with the Cardinal senior winning by .39 seconds.

“Over the years, Jackson has grown so much,” Garton said. “Working his way up to fourth was so awesome to see. He’s worked hard and deserves it.”

Friedman was the Cardinals’ fourth finisher in 109th place. He finished the 5K in 18:21.32. Smith was 126th in 18:50.27, Beiner came in 131st in 19:34 and Buchli crossed the finish line in 133rd with a time of 20:07.42.

Shannon competed in cross country for just one season. Her goal for her only state race was to finish in the top half of the field and accomplished that in 58th with a time of 20:49.88.

“It went all right. I expected to be more up there, but there are a lot of good runners here,” Shannon said. “I didn’t finish as hard as I wanted to. That’s what I’m mad about. I let a lot of girls pass me. I don’t know what happened.”

Mace-Maynard and top-ranked Ramsey became good friends over the years competing inside the Little Hawkeye Conference. After the race, the two friendly rivals embraced with a hug and a conversation.

“I told him congrats and that he deserves every bit of it. I know Aiden has worked his butt off,” Mace-Maynard said. “And then he said to me ‘we’re going crazy in track.’ I feel like I’m built better for the track and of course Aiden is an absolute monster.”

After the race, Buchli needed extra attention as he competed with knee tendinitis during the final stages of the season.

Garton was super proud of his teammate for even stepping to the start line and finishing the race.

“He was hurting. Collin gets on himself too hard. You can push through an injury, but it’s so hard to excel with the injury,” Garton said. “So the fact that he finished the race and went as hard as he could, I’m just so proud of him for doing that.”

Ramsey led top-ranked DCG to another state title. The Mustangs scored 60 points and were two points better than second-ranked Marion.

Third-ranked North Polk (153) was third, fourth-ranked Pella (161) finished fourth and sixth-ranked Solon (190) ended up fifth. Tenth-ranked Carlisle (205) finished seventh.

“All words that can describe this event — ‘glory,’ ‘pride,’ ‘competition,’ — I would say the most important one our boys got to experience was ‘respect,’” Weeks said. “Not just from the community and fellow students, but the state as a whole witnessed what these boys were accomplishing.

“I’m beyond proud of these guys. There are no other words to describe what these boys mean to me and to this program. This was such a special team.”

Newton’s harriers had a state send-off Friday morning and plenty of fans and friends were at the finish line to greet each and every Cardinal who came through.

Mace-Maynard said the support from the community was awesome.

“The support we got this morning when we left and the fans who came up to cheer us on, I couldn’t be more grateful for that,” Mace-Maynard said.

Top-ranked Paityn Noe of Ballard won the 3A girls’ 5K race in 18:12.74. Second-ranked Geneva Timmerman of ADM was the runner-up in 19:06.41 and fourth-ranked Ainsley Erzen of Carlisle came in third in 19:13.86.

Ninth-ranked Raegan Snieder, a freshman from Pella, finished sixth in 19:27.26.

Shannon broke out on the oval last spring. She used her only cross country season to prepare for an even bigger track and field campaign this upcoming spring.

She’ll get one more shot at the 5K distance during the senior all-star meet on Saturday in Pella, according to Tipton.

“I’m proud of how Alyssa kept pushing through this season,” Tipton said. “She wasn’t quite sure what she was getting into, and while track is still her thing, I think cross country grew on her.

“She stepped in not only leading the team from the front but also through the support she provided her teammates.”