CL runners gaining on the competition

by Marianne Morf

With the cross country season entering its final weeks, Clear Lake cross country runners are steadily gaining on the competition.

Saturday, Lion varsity runners competed at the 4th Steve Johnson Invite on the Wartburg cross country course in Waverly.  Several Lions posted personal best efforts in the race.

“In my opinion, the boys had their best meet of the season at Wartburg,” said Coach Tyler Havens.  “We ran a very smart race and ended up being the highest finishing non 4A team.”

The Lions were only three points behind Mason City, who topped the Lions by 19 points on Monday in Algona.  Davenport Assumption topped the field with 101 points.  Cedar Rapids Washington was runner-up with 106, followed by Waterloo with 112 and Mason City with 145.  Clear Lake was fifth among 17 teams competing with 148 points.

“Even though we were racing tired from a hard workout on Thursday, less than 48 hours before our race at Wartburg, our top five finishers all had lifetime personal records,” said Havens.

Justin Wright paced the Lion runners with a seventh place finish in 17:01.6.  Next was Leo Tolentino, placing 19th in 17:49.3.

“Justin is a great number one for us and Leo is continuing to prove to be a reliable number two,” said the coach.

The remainder of Clear Lake’s runners finished within 33-seconds of each other.  Jack Crane (37th, 18:21.7), Jaden Wright (40th, 18:24.6), Christopher Molander (45th, 18:30.7), Andrew Mixdorf (18:51.0) and Joe Faber (60th, 18:54.7) pushed each other to a strong finish.

“Jack, Jaden, Mixy, and Chris are continuing to close the gap on Justin, making us a more competitive team,” added Havens. “Joe has emerged as a strong number seven as of the last few weeks, but we are lucky to be a deeply talented team.  There are nine guys capable of running varsity right now, which makes us a very well rounded team.”

This week, the Lions are ready to turn their attention to Eagle Grove, where they will find Humboldt, Webster City, and St. Edmond in a conference meet preview.

“We are exactly where we need to be 10 days before the conference meet,” said the coach.

Girls race

Clear Lake girls ran their best race of the season at Wartburg, according to Coach Havens.

“After some big personal records on Monday, we decided to try something different and it paid off big!   We had four girls with huge lifetime PR’s and we were still racing tired from a workout on Thursday,” said Havens.  “I knew the potential in this team

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was big, and I am now starting to see some of that become reality.”

The Lions ran as a pack, with Jadyn Heesch leading the charge.  She was 58th in 24:25.8.  Jillian Enke ran a 24:32.8 to place 60th and Emily BEnitz was 65th in 25:49.1.  Also competing for the Lions was: Olivia Fusnaugh (67th, 25:52.2), Haley Jackson (70th, 26:19.9), Ella Nielsen (75th, 27:52.8) and Gretchen Guetzlaff (76th, 30:25.3).  Varsity runner Emily Roberts was out of the Lion lineup for non-disciplinary reasons.

“These girls have really bought into the process over the last month and we have started our climb,” said Havens.  “We have identified some teams in our conference that we want to compete with and I am excited to see how we get after those teams. However, I do not expect us to be at full strength at Eagle Grove (Tuesday, Oct. 6) for the sake of getting rested and prepared for the conference meet.”

Clear Lake will host the North Central Conference meet Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Veterans Memorial Golf Course.

Algona Invitational

     On Monday, Sept. 28, the girls and boys cross country teams traveled to Algona. Nineteen teams raced in the boys varsity race. The Clear Lake team placed fourth with 130 points. Taking the first place finish was Humboldt with a mere 60 points, followed by Webster City with 105 and Mason City High School, 111 points.

Finishing first for Clear Lake and third overall was senior Justin Wright with a time of 17:02.  The second finisher for the Lions was Leo Tolentino in 18:01 and 16th place. Coming in together were Jack Crane and Jaden Wright, 18:33 and 18:35, 36th and 37th respectively. Andrew Mixdorf rounded out the Clear Lake score in 38th place in 18:38. Also finishing in the pack of Lion boys was Christopher Molander in 18:44, good for 41st place. Joe Faber followed in 52nd place in a time of 18:58.

     The girls team finished in 15th place with 356 points. Spencer High School won the meet with 56 points. Mason City High School took second with 80, and Charles City followed in a close third with 82 points.

Finishing first for the girls team was Jadyn Heesch in 58th place in a time of 23:52. Jillian Enke raced to 67th in a time of 24:27. Sticking together were Emily Roberts and Ella Neilsen, 74th and 75th, 25:18 and 25:30. Emily Benitz finished 82nd in 26:10 to round out the Lion score. Olivia Fausnaugh also finished for the girls, taking 83rd place with a time of 26:14. Gretchen Guetzlaff placed 94th in 30:39.

     The JV boys took home a fourth place finish. Five boys raced including second place Tanner Reimann, 19:07; fifth place Vladmir Starrett, 19:18; 19th place Elijah Mock, 20:29; 46th Ethan Zickefoose, 22:12; and 68th Ethan Evelsizer, 25:10.

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