Leah Bontrager saved her best running for the final portions of the Stormin’ Porter Invitational on Sept. 22 in Center Point.

Picking up her pace in the final 1.1 miles, Bontrager, a Hillcrest Academy junior, finished seventh in a time of 22:04 to post her third consecutive top-10 finish this season.

“Leah really turned it on after the first mile, running her second mile faster than the first and running the final 1.105 miles at an even faster pace,” Hillcrest coach Marty Gingerich said.

Bontrager’s finish helped the Ravens post a team score for the first time this season, placing fifth and topping Edgewood-Colesburg by nine points.

Julia Boller finished 28th with a time of 26:28. Three other Hillcrest runners finished among the top 40: No. 34 Taryn Leichty, No. 35 Kennedy Roth and No. 38 Hannah Chalupa.

Collin Miller led Hillcrest in the boys race, finishing 35th with a time of 21:13.

Also finishing among the top 50 were No. 44 Will Kolck and No. 47 Jorge Canchola.

Marion won both the girls and boys team titles.

THOMANN WINS GRADE RACE: Madi Thomann of Highland won the Grade 12 girls race held last week at Waterworks Park in Fairfield. She completed the run with a time of 23:01.

Other Highland runners finishing among the top 10 in the event were Fiona Mahler, 7th place, Grade 12 girls; Carlos Valenzuela, Ethan Paisley and Brendan Schnoebelen, who finished 7th, 9th and 10th in the Grade 10 boys race; and Chase Hickenbottom, who finished 7th in the Grade 7 boys race.

TAKING ON THE BEST: Jordan Stock, a sophomore at Mid-Prairie, improved his personal time by 20 seconds after making the field for the Sept. 19 Heartland Classic in Pella via a Mid-Prairie team time trial.

“He really wanted to try running against this stacked field and ended up in last place for most of the race, which can really get discouraging for a lot of kids,” Mid-Prairie assistant coach Aaron Fleming said. “Jordan showed a lot of guts. He kept pushing in that difficult circumstance and ended up with a nice improvement even though he didn’t have anyone to race against.”

CONWAY SCORES TOP 10 FINISH: In a JV meet held Sept. 21 at BGM, Grace Conway, a Mid-Prairie freshman, finished ninth in the girls race with a time of 25:40. Greta Sieren, a junior, was 11th.

Also finishing among the top 30 were No. 21 Lilou Beachy, No. 23 Sarah Meader and No. 27 Anna Nafziger.

Robert Nagy and Stock finished 17th and 18th, respectively, in the boys JV race. Five Mid-Prairie runners finished among the top 24. Following Nagy and Stock were No. 21 Blake Creed, No. 23 Sam Yoder and No. 24 Dalton Miller.

The meet was held on a hilly course that Fleming remembers during his running days in the 1990s.

“One of my favorite moments was when Zebi Kimani reached the top of “Cardiac Hill” the second time and flashed me a huge grin and I was just so proud of her attitude in that moment,” Fleming said. “Seeing a kid take on a challenge and grin through the pain is really what the sport is all about and really embodies what we hope is the Mid-Prairie spirit.”

STATE QUALIFIERS: In order to cut down the numbers at state qualifying meets, a COVID-19 precaution, the number of qualifying meets in Class 1A has gone from five to eight.

As a result, only the top 10 runners from each meet (instead of 15) will qualify for the state championships.