Smith leads GHV cross country team to another first place finish

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura boys cross country team continued its winning ways with another first place team finish and three runners finishing in the top 10 at the Hampton-Dumont Meet.

The boys claimed championship honors with 28 points in the 11-team field.  Humboldt was second with 44 points, followed by Eagle Grove with 77 and West Fork with 103.

GHV’s Reece Smith was the individual winner of the meet with a time of 16:24.  Logan Dalbeck wasn’t far behind with a third place finish in a time of 16:56.  Rounding out the top 10 was Ray Cataldo with a fifth place finish in 17:34.  Austin Siegrist just missed the top 10, finishing in 11th place with a time of 17:50.

Derek Brown was 12th with a time of 17:56, while Nathan Larson was 30th with a time of 19:18.  Andy Schreur finished in 34th place with a time of 19:39.

“So many of our runners ran personal records, which is very exciting to watch,” said Assistant Coach Emberly Albertson.

Girls

The GHV girls placed in the middle of the pack at the Hampton-Dumont meet, with a fifth place finish out of 10 teams.  Osage won the meet with 42 points, followed by Humboldt with 61 and St. Edmond with 80.  The Cardinals had 127 points.

Hannah Whelan led the girls team with a 15th place finish in 22:05.  Rebekah Larson finished in 22:44, good for 20th place.  Other top runners included Rachel Sokol, 31st, 22:39; Sadie Oulman, 33rd, 23:52; Nicole Upmeyer, 37th, 23:55; Elexis Carrison, 45th, 25:15 and Emma Whelan, 58th, 26:13.

“I thought both the JV and varsity boys and the girls teams ran great,” said Coach Jeff Short.  “I think that we are right where we should be at this time of the year, the runners are improving every meet.”

The GHV boys and girls run again on Monday, Oct. 10, at Forest City.  The meet begins at 5 p.m.