CENTER POINT
The hills were gone.
And the fast times arrived.
“A confidence boost,” HIllcrest Academy cross country coach Marty Gingerich said following the Ravens showing …
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CENTER POINT
The hills were gone.
And the fast times arrived.
“A confidence boost,” HIllcrest Academy cross country coach Marty Gingerich said following the Ravens showing in the Stormin’ Pointer Cross Country Invitational held September 21 in Center Point.
Leah Bontrager, a senior who is seeking her fourth state championship meet appearance, finished 19th in the girls race with a season-best time of 22:38.
Collin Miller, a senior, broke 20 minutes on a 5-kilometer course for the first time in his high school career and helped lead the Ravens to a ninth-place team finish. He placed 30th overall with a time of 19:53.
Jesse Blossom, a freshman, trimmed 90 seconds off his personal record. Quang Huynh, a senior, delivered a personal-best time of 25:38. Garrett Hurst, a freshman, chopped more than two minutes off his personal best. Morgyn Nafziger set a personal best. Julia Boller trimmed nearly two minutes off her season-best time.
“This is a flatter course than we’ve seen so far this year,” Gingerich said. “It reflected in our times. The girls were between one and two minutes faster than their season best. The boys, maybe a bigger range.”
Bontrager’s performance came just one week after she won the first race of her career at English Valleys.
Delaney Shaw finished 69th with a time of 26:56. Nafziger and Boller finished 80th and 89th, respectively.
Micah Gerber, one of three freshmen running for Hillcrest in the boys race, finished 48th with a time of 21:09. Blossom finished one minute after that, in 64th place. Four Hillcrest runners finished from 81st to 88th: Huynh, Jorge Canchola, Hurst and Isaac Lybeck. Canchola finished 82nd in his season debut, finishing one spot and 7 seconds behind Huynh with a time of 25:45. For Lybeck, it was his first varsity race ever. He finished 88th with a time of 28:45.
The boys race was dominated by Marion, which scored a perfect 15 points for the win. Shane Erb won the race in 16 minutes.
The event at Center Point-Urbana transitioned Hillcrest into a break of nine days before the Ravens headed into a busy stretch of three meets in eight days, beginning with the Iowa City meet September 30 at the Iowa City Kickers complex.
“In a lot of ways the times are more of a confidence booster,” Gingerich said. “We have little bit of a gap before our next meet, which is next Thursday.”
The Ravens host the Hillcrest Invitational on October 4. The Southeast Iowa Super Conference championship meet is October 7 in Wapello.
“It’s also a time when the races, and that time that they’re training, is helping to train them to race better later on,” Gingerich said. “It will help them two weeks later at the state qualifier.”
The Class 1A state qualifiers are scheduled for October 21 with the state championship race on October 30 in Fort Dodge.
