Boys capture title in Algona; girls place third

by Marianne Gasaway

If they didn’t already know it, they do now.  The Clear Lake cross country teams, which began the season unrated, are quickly becoming a well-known force.

Last week the teams competed at Algona Monday and Waverly on Saturday. A meet scheduled for Thursday at Perry was canceled due to wet course conditions.  Coach Tyler Havens was competing with a limited number of varsity runners at Waverly, as students involved in band were not allowed to come due to a marching  competition. “Next we will travel to West Delaware and North Linn, where we will see stout competition in the last week of the regular season,” said Coach Havens.

Girls races

Number 18 (2A) Clear Lake took third in the 12-team field in the girls race at Algona behind second ranked (3A) Spencer and fourth ranked (1A) St. Edmond. 

“We beat out 15th ranked Okoboji, who is ranked three spots ahead of us in 2A, so we expect to move up in the rankings again next week,” said Havens. “Our biggest goal was to take down Okoboji and we were able to accomplish that goal with a 32 point margin. We are also keeping our eye on the point gap to NCC rival St. Edmond, which was about the same as it was at Humboldt. We have one more full week of racing before we head to Goldfield for the North Central Conference Championships, where we are working towards being a contender for that conference title. These girls have been consistently improving and each meet seems to be getting better and better.”

Addison Doughan placed fourth at Algona in a time of 21.01.  Reese Brownlee was 10th in 21:57, followed by Jaydn Heesch (23rd, 23:19), Emily McLaughlin (30th, 23:57) and Alexis Hauge (34th, 23:37). Also competing for the Lions was Olivia Fausnaugh (41st, 24:14) and Anna Feuerbach (63rd, 26:59).

Clear Lake did not have enough runners to compete as a team in the junior varsity race, but Ella Nielsen crossed the finish line fifth in 23:54.  Emily Benitz posted a time of 27:19 and was 30th, while Kristina Miller was 55th in 30:28.

The Lions were running at Wartburg College in Waverly without their typical number three runner, Emily McLaughlin, as she participates in band.

“We finally got to compete on a fast course with temps in the 70’s and we exploded with personal records for our top five runners Addison Doughan, Reese Brownlee, Alexis Hauge, Jadyn Heesch and Olivia Fausnaugh.  Ella Nielsen had a huge personal record on Monday, running 23:54 to place fifth in the JV race and then followed that up with a 24:04 at Wartburg.”

Another highlight from Wartburg was that Addison Doughan broke the school record with her time of 20:13. The previous school record was held by Gretchen Jones with a time of 20:25 in 2015.  Doughan placed seventh in the race in a time of 20:13.79.  

Additional placements and times were: Brownlee (25th, 21:21.87), Hauge (52nd, 22:53.44), Heesch (53rd, 22:53.66), Fausnaugh (75th, 23:27.47), Nielsen (89th, 24:04.40).

Boys races

Clear Lake boys, ranked 14th in 2A, took the title in Algona by 40 points in a huge upset over fifth ranked Okoboji.  Also in the field was 4A Mason City, 3A 18th rated Charles City, and 2A 15th rated Spirit Lake. 

Coach Haven noted the Lions’ 20-second spread between runners one through five was a season’s best.

Joe Faber was Clear Lake’s top finisher.  The junior crossed the line in ninth place with a time of 18:12.  Leo Tolentino and Jack Crane were 11th and 12th in 18:16 and 18:18.  Vladmir Starrett placed 17th in 18:25 and Christopher Molander rounded out the scoring by coming in 21st in a time of 18:33.  Also running was Jaden Wright (30th, 18:53) and Andrew Mixdorf (34th, 19:05).

“It is obvious we are severely under ranked.  I expect to see a big jump when the new rankings come out on Tuesday,” said the coach.

Clear Lake’s junior varsity boys also won at Algona, topping North Central Conference rival Humboldt by 40 points. 

Ethan Evelsizer was the Lions’ top finisher, placing sixth in 19:58. Tanner Reimann and David Salem were 10th and 11th respectively in 20:40 and 20:43. Caleb Jones and Owen Smith were 13th and 14th in 20:46 and 20:47.  Rounding out the seven runners who figure in scoring was Aiden Manemann (50th, 22:17) and Liam Byrnes (63rd, 22:57).  Also running was Priyo Joty (23:53), Cody Hua (24:27) and Hudson Uetz (24:55).

On Saturday, five varsity boys competed at Wartburg and all earned a lifetime personal record. 

Joe Faber led the Lion pack, placing 25th in 17:36.64.  Jack Crane finished 30th in 17:44.45; Jaden Wright was 40th in 18:05.09; Christopher Molander, 42nd in 18:07.49; and Andrew Mixdorf, 55th in 18:24.04. 

“Like the girls, I know these guys have been waiting for the right conditions to drop some major time, as the temps have been unusually warm for September. I’m ready to get the whole team back together next week for a couple big time meets.”

Algona team scores

Boys: Clear Lake 70, Okoboji 110, Mason City 117, Charles City 167, Forest City 183, Spirit Lake 192, Spencer 203, Algona 225, St. Edmond 231, Pocahontas Area 255, Humboldt 264, Webster City 312, Bishop Garrigan 338, Eagle Grove 353, Fort Dodge 369, Estherville Lincoln Central 428, Emmetsburg 457, Emmetsburg 457, Graettinger 475 Girls: Spencer 46, St. Edmond 87, Clear Lake 101, Okoboji 133, Charles City 137, Spirit Lake 148, Pocahontas Area 160, Humboldt 175, Algona 208, Forest City 264, Emmetsburg 293, Fort Dodge 350