Led by Handorf, Baxter boys make statement at Spartan Invitational

CAMBRIDGE — Baxter junior Max Handorf is a pretty accomplished runner.

He finished the 2024 cross country season on the deck in Fort Dodge and had a very strong track and field season last spring.

And even after starting the 2025 campaign ranked sixth in Class 1A, some folks still didn’t really know who he was at the Collins-Maxwell Spartan Invitational on Thursday.

But it may not take much longer for them to find out as Handorf ran to an impressive win in the boys’ 5K race and led the Bolts to the top of the standings.

“I think coaches definitely knew who Matt Richardson was,” Handorf said. “He’s the best to come out of Baxter. But here I am now. I’m out of his shadow.”

No. 6 Handorf won the boys’ race in 16 minutes, 57.8 seconds at Center Grove Orchard. That’s about 30 seconds off his career-best time, and it’s only the first meet of the season.

But he wasn’t the only Bolt to impress in the season opener. Baxter advanced to the state meet last season, but after losing its top runner to graduation, the Bolts did not begin the new year ranked in Class 1A.

Baxter though won the team title over No. 18 Lynnville-Sully and moved into the latest rankings that were released on Monday at No. 15.

The Bolts claimed the top two individual spots, put their top five runners in the first 14 positions and scored 35 points at the top of the standings.

Lynnville-Sully, which opened the season ranked 11th in 1A, scored 43 points in second. The rest of the 1A field included Collins-Maxwell (71), BGM (88) and Colo-NESCO (129). Colfax-Mingo had an incomplete team with only three runners.

“I think they did great. The course was really tough, and it was hot,” new Baxter head cross country coach Ian Thomson said. “But our guys went out and competed, and the results show that. The boys beat a really good team in Lynnville-Sully.”

The top 15 finishers in each varsity race received medals. Baxter’s seven varsity runners were given T-shirts and the Bolts took a home trophy after their team win.

Baxter’s Brecken Fisher came in after Handorf in second. He was clocked in 17:56.8. The rest of the top five included two more area runners in Colfax-Mingo’s Sullivan Wilkins (17:57.4) and Lynnville-Sully’s Colton Alberts (18:18.8), who were third and fifth, respectively.

It was the first time Wilkins went under 18 minutes in a race, and the third-place finish was his highest tally in a varsity race.

“I knew I could do it eventually, but at the same time, I was a little surprised I did it today,” Wilkins said about going under 18 minutes. “I had my eyes on the two Lynnville-Sully guys. I was sad I wasn’t ranked preseason because that was my last shot at that. But finishing ahead of a ranked runner is awesome. The preseason doesn’t matter, but this gives me confidence for sure.”

Fisher also finished ahead of Alberts, who began the season ranked 16th in 1A after qualifying for the state meet in back-to-back seasons.

Fisher missed the state cross country meet due to an injury and was sidelined for all of track and field season. He didn’t start running again until around June, but Thomson said he’s been as good as he’s ever been during the preseason practices.

“I felt pretty good. This was the best I felt after a run,” Fisher said. “I didn’t really do anything. This was all God’s protection allowing me to get second.

“I had a good kick at the end. And (Handorf) helps me every day. He’s someone I look up to. I want to be like him. He always starts out so strong, and that pushes me to go harder, too.”

Maddux Tuhn (19:48.3) and Dakota Parker (20:13.3) were 10th and 11th, respectively, for the Bolts, and Maddox Peters (20:34.9) grabbed one of the final medals in 14th.

Lincoln Russell (22:50.9) and Parker Bonney (23:07.7) were non-scoring runners in 25th and 27th, respectively.

It was the varsity debut for both Russell and Tuhn, who played football at Baxter last fall.

“I think we wanted to make a statement,” Thomson said. “Our No. 1 goal was to beat L-S, but we feel like we are a ranked team and should have been ranked. Based on the metrics, it makes sense we aren’t, but we feel like we should be and will show it by the end of the season. It felt good to go out and prove that today.”

The Hawks placed three in the top 10 and eight in the top 20. After Alberts was Blake Wilmesmeier (18:41.8) in sixth and Madden Gunsaulus (19:48.2) in ninth.

“It definitely wasn’t my best race, but it’s a good starting point to show where I’m at,” Alberts said. “Staying focused on the second mile and persevering through part of the race is what I need work on the most. That’s when you typically start to slow down.”

Ethan Dunsbergen (20:21.2) placed 12th and Dalton Winegar (20:44.9) was the final scoring runner in 16th. Evan Arkema (21:08.1), Sam Terlouw (21:13.7), Keegan Schnell (21:19.8) and Andrew Arkema (21:27.2) were non-scoring runners in 17th, 18th, 19th and 21st, respectively.

“The boys also had a state qualifying team from last season at this meet in Baxter,” L-S head cross country coach Darin Arkema said. “They have more guys out this season, and I wasn’t sure how they’d be after graduating their top runner and No. 5 runner from last season. But they clearly proved they will be a team in our area to contend with.

“We may overall be a deeper team than they are right now, but they had two guys up front finish 1-2 and their 3-4-5 were packed just closely enough together and in front of our 4th and 5th runner that we couldn’t overcome it. We will need our fourth through seventh runners to close down the gap, and we have races coming up that we will see them again and try to turn the table in our favor.”

Wilkins headlined a trio of Tigerhawks in their season opener. Willie Fitzgerald (23:23.6) placed 28th and Benjamin Faidley (25:28.5) took 36th in his varsity debut.

New Colfax-Mingo head cross country coach Michaela Graffunder expects more boys to compete in their next meet. She was happy with how her team performed in their first meet of the season though.

“I thought both teams competed well today, especially with the heat,” Graffunder said. “(Wilkins) has high goals for himself. He’s pretty stoked about breaking 18 minutes. He’s been working hard this summer, and he will just keep getting better.

“I think he made a statement today. Everyone else showed up and ran great today.”

While Handorf begins the season ranked sixth, one could argue he’s still not ranked high enough after placing 12th at the state meet last season.

“That’s fair. They are going off the state meet,” Handorf said. “I’m glad I’m the first junior in the rankings. I wanted to be sub-17 coming into the meet. That’s a good start. I think I executed the race perfectly.

“Coming into the meet, I think we all knew we could beat L-S as a team. They are a really good team, but (Fisher) and I knew we could go 1-2 and that gives us a boost. Our third, fourth and fifth runners are really tough this year. We just tried to get in front of as many L-S runners as we could. Hopefully this gets us ranked. It was a big day for our team.”

Notes: Coach Thomson won the Collins-Maxwell Spartan Invitational as a prep runner for Baxter in 2018. That was his junior year and the school’s first season as Bolts. ... Wilkins is several minutes faster as a senior than he was his first two seasons in the sport. He credits his track and field coach, Matt Barkalow, for developing him into what he is today. “He’s the biggest reason I’m becoming the best version of myself,” Wilkins said. “He saw me run a 2:40 800 as a freshman, and then I dropped it down to a 2:10. He’s supported me the whole way, even when I wasn’t as good as I am now.”