GHV boys finish third at Ballard Meet

Girls finish in eighth place

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura cross country teams faced some tough competition at the Ballard Meet held on Monday, Sept. 12.  The boys team finished third out of 10 teams with 67 points.  Gilbert won the meet with 42 points, followed by Nodaway Valley with 63 points.  The girls finished seventh out of 10 teams.  Gilbert won the meet with 35 points.

After resting the top five boys at the Belmond meet on Tuesday, Sept. 6, the Cardinals were ready to run at Ballard.  Reece Smith and Logan Dalbeck took the top two places in the boys race.  Smith claimed championship honors with a time of 16:50, while Dalbeck was runner-up in 16:33.8.

“It was good to rest the boys last week,” said Coach Jeff Short.  “The next five runners stepped it up at Belmond to fill their shoes.”

Rounding out the score for the boys was Ray Cataldo who finished in 11th place with a time of 16:58.  Austin Siegrist and Derek Brown finished in 23rd and 30th place respectively.  Siegrist ran the race in 17:58, while Brown finished in 17:37.9.  Also running was Andy Schreur, who finished in 49th place with a time of 18:45, and Nathan Larson who was 57th with a time of 19:27.

Hannah Whelan led the girls team with a time of 23:36, good for 22nd place.  Rebekah Larson was the next Cardinal to cross the line for a 31st place finish in 24:25.  Rachel Sokol and Sadie Oulman finished together in 40th and 41st place.  Sokol ran the race in 24:50 and Oulman finished in 25:00.  Nicole Upmeyer wasn’t far behind in 48th place with a time of 25:49.  Elexis Carrison finished in 26:34, good for 51st place. Emily Howke also ran and finished in 57th place with a time of 28:13.       “I’m proud of Hannah Whelan and Elexis Carrison who both ran personal bests on a tough course,” said Short.

The Cardinals compete in Clear Lake’s home meet on Thursday, Sept. 15.  The meet will be held at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp, in Ventura.  The meet begins at 4:15 p.m.