X-C teams proving to be threats

Clear Lake’s cross country teams are proving they are a threat to win every meet they compete in this year.  The Clear Lake boys came away with a team title for the second time in two outings and the girls finished as runner-up at an invitational held at the Belmond Country Club.

Girls race

The girls race was up first, pitting the Lions against 11th ranked (2A) Roland-Story. 

“We thought we would match up well with them and have a good battle in the team points race,” explained Lion Coach Tyler Havens. “We raced very well and ended up second by just 15 points.  Roland-Story had some great performances by their top five girls.”

Four Roland-Story runners placed in the top seven and their fifth runner was 15th, helping them to a team score of 35 points.  

Clear Lake was second with 50 points.  The Lions were paced by freshman phenoms Addison Doughan and Reese Brownlee.  Doughan crossed the finish line in third place in 21:30 and Brownlee was fourth in 21:38.

Next for the Lions was Emily McLaughlin, finishing 10th in 23:10.  Clear Lake’s scoring was completed by Anna Feuerbach and Alexis Hauge, placing 16th and 17th.  Both were clocked in 24:19.  Also competing for the Lions was Jaydn Heesch, who was 18th in 24:33.

“I was really happy with how we approached the race mentally and competed against a team we knew was going to be tough,” said Coach Havens.  

This week the Lions will get to see Humboldt for the first time this season and will also have stiff competition with 4A  eighth-ranked Ames making the trip up to Clear Lake Thursday.

Boys race

All six Clear Lake runners finished in the top 20, helping the Lions to a commanding victory.  Clear Lake won the meet with a score of 46 points, topping second place Forest City by 36.  Hampton-Dumont rounded out the top three with 93 points.

“Our goal was to win by 30, so we surpassed our goal,” said Coach Tyler Havens.   “I loved the attitude and grit we showed to still go out and compete our hardest, even though there wasn’t a quality team for us to compete with.” 

Joe Faber and Leo Tolentino were top 10 medalists for the Lions.  Faber finished fourth in a time of 18:34 and Tolentino was fifth in 18:37.

Jaden Wright and Christopher Molander were 11th and 12th in 19:25 and 19:26, followed closely by Vladimir Starrett and Andrew Mixdorf, 14th and 16th respectively in 19:34 and 19:55.  Tanner Reimann also competed for the 

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Lions but did not figure in the scoring.  He was 21st in 20:28.

“The boys are looking forward to racing against Ames next week and we will try to keep them as close as possible,” added Coach Havens.  “Jack Crane will return to our lineup at the home meet, so I am excited to see what we can do with our whole varsity squad back together.

The Lions will host an Invitational Thursday, Sept. 16, at Veterans Memorial Golf Course.  Middle School action starts at 4:15 p.m., followed by JV and varsity races.

Junior varsity

No team scores were kept for junior varsity runners at Belmond.  Here are the results posted by Clear Lake runners:

Girls team: Olivia Fausnaugh (25:43), Emily Benitz (20:09), Ella Nielsen (29:24), Maddie Leisure (30:11), Kristina Miller (31:17).

Boys team: Ethan Evelsizer (20:52), Caleb Jones(21:43), Aiden Manemann (22:00), Ethan Zickefoose (23:05), Weston Conway (23:19), Liam Byrnes (23:22), Cody Hua (23:59), Hudson Uetz (24:21), Easton Goeman (24:23).

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