PCM girls finish second, boys fourth at home meet

MONROE — The situation for the PCM girls’ cross country team leading into its home meet on Monday didn’t exactly favor the Mustangs.

Returning state qualifier Abi Teeter had an ear infection and Bailey Wheeler was under the weather.

The Mustangs also were coming off Homecoming week and there was no school on Monday.

But being able to compete head-to-head with another ranked squad doesn’t happen every week and head coach Eric Karr made sure his squad knew what was at stake.

“We need to show what we can do,” Karr said. “I have a ton of respect for Pella Christian and their coach, but it is a competition and we need to show that we can beat them and show the committee that we are that team.”

The Mustang girls came into the meet ranked 14th in Class 2A and Pella Christian was 15th.

When the two teams finished the 5K race at Gateway Recreation Golf Course, PCM was 12 points better than the Eagles.

Class 4A Urbandale won the meet with 35 points and the J-Hawks placed five runners in the top 12.

But, Tiffani Koonce and Lila Milani both earned top-10 medals for the Mustangs and that led the home team to a runner-up finish.

PCM scored 55 points in second, Davis County finished third with 65 and Pella Christian was close behind in fourth with 67. The rest of the six-team field included Pleasantville (149) and Des Moines Hoover (171).

“I was really happy with how both teams competed today,” Karr said. “Sometimes you don’t have it and sometimes you’re under the weather. I just told them to give me what you have.”

On the boys’ side, 2A No. 15 Pella Christian won the meet with 25 points and five Eagles finished in the top 11 positions.

The rest of the five-team field featured Davis County (54), North Mahaska (82), PCM (95) and Des Moines Hoover (114).

The Mustang boys were without one of their top runners in Charlie Ford due to an illness.

Neither PCM squad was at full strength as Jacob Buys also competed under the weather.

“Homecoming, sicknesses and not having school today are just excuses,” Karr said. “We still have to show up and compete. But I know some of them were absolutely miserable. I know that. I loved how they competed though.”

The top 10 finishers in both varsity 5K races earned medals. Koonce placed fifth and Milani was ninth in the girls’ race, while Coby DeRaad ended up eighth in the boys’ race.

Koonce’s top-five finish was clocked in 22 minutes, 22.5 seconds. Milani hit the finish line in 23:09.8.

The other three scoring runners were Raegan Vannoy (24:08.7) in 13th, Teeter (24:19) in 15th and Ali Hilsabeck (24:32.3) in 18th.

Makayla True (25:10.4) and Wheeler (26:01.8) were non-scoring runners in 22nd and 27th, respectively. Lexi Fagg (28:25.7) and Alyssa Buckingham (37:08.1) also competed and finished 42nd and 61st, respectively.

“Tiffani is running really, really well,” Karr said. “She’s gotten herself physically and mentally healthy. Hopefully, it continues on from there.

“Lila had an incredible night. Raegan had an incredible race, too.”

Pella Christian’s Bailey Vos won the girls’ race in 21:24.6 and Urbandale’s Victoria Martinez-Lohf was the runner-up in 21:33.2.

DeRaad’s eighth-place finish was clocked in 19:00.2, which was two minutes faster than he ran on his home course last year.

“Any way you look at it, he’s having a fantastic season.” Karr said about DeRaad. “He’s really believing in himself.”

Leighton McClure finished as the team’s No. 2 runner for the first time this season as he was 17th in 20:42.6. The other three scoring runners were Joe Shaver (21:30.2) in 28th, Kolby Clark (21:51.8) in 30th and Buys (21:59) in 31st. Gabe Nessa (22:11.4) was a non-scoring runner in 35th.

Aside from not having Ford and Buys competing under the weather, Shaver also dealt with significant knee pain during the race.

That’s something Karr said he will have to work through all season.

“I think all of them got to a point tonight where they didn’t want to do it anymore,” Karr said. “But they did what I asked them to do. I reminded them that on state qualifying night, they may not be feeling their best, too. The boys fought hard though.”

Pella Christian’s Sawyer Meinders won the boys’ race in 18:04.9 and North Mahaska’s Brayden Veiseth was the runner-up in 18:22.

Karr appreciates being able to have the Mustangs’ home meet at the golf course but would prefer a less challenging spot.

“This course is terrible when it comes to hills. If I could find a flatter surface to help the kids out, I would,” Karr said. “There aren’t any steep hills. It’s just constant up and down throughout. It’s not an easy course.”

Notes: The latest state rankings that were released on Tuesday has the PCM girls up to 12th and Pella Christian down to 19th. “There was a coach on the rankings committee here, and we wanted to show them what we could do,” Karr said. … The Pella Christian boys were ranked 11th on Monday but dropped to 15th on Tuesday.