Gross earns Hawkeye Ten runner-up medal
DENISON (Oct. 15) -- Atlantic’s Craig Alan Becker and Harlan Community’s Trey Gross put on another great show at Thursday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference Cross Country Meet in Denison.
And even though Gross was still unable to beat his top southwest Iowa rival, the Cyclone senior posted his best time of the season and secured a third consecutive top-two conference finish.
Gross held a slight lead for much of the five-kilometer race, moving into first one last time on a steep uphill climb before Becker passed him on flat ground and outsprinted him to the finish.
The Atlantic senior, ranked 11th in Class 3A by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, won his first Hawkeye Ten title with a time of 16:25 on the Denison High School grounds. Gross, ranked 12th in 3A, placed second in 16:32. One week earlier, he finished just six seconds behind Becker at the Atlantic Invite.
“I won (Hawkeye Ten) my sophomore year and I got second last year [to Bennett Heisterkamp of St. Albert]. It’s my second time getting second, but I got second to two very talented runners so I’m not upset at all,” Gross said.
The HCHS boys placed fourth as a team Thursday with a score of 122. The Cyclone girls, meanwhile, were gunning for a third straight conference team title but fell short against Glenwood.
The 7th-ranked (3A) Rams, led by Emma Hughes’ runner-up finish and six girls in the top 18, won the meet with a score of 42. The 8th-ranked Cyclones, paced by Kaia Bieker in fifth place and Brecken Van Baale in sixth, placed second with a 57. Atlantic took third at 75.
Abi Albertsen gave the Cyclones a third girl under the 21-minute mark in 13th place while the remaining four runners - Olivia Anderson, Ellie Gross, Liv Freund and Kennedy Kjergaard - came in between 21st and 27th.
“Some girls struggled a little bit, but we had other girls step up too,” said HCHS head coach Doug Renkly. “Now we see what’s possible and once we get everybody feeling good, hopefully on Wednesday [at the 3A state qualifying meet] we’ll really run well.”
The Glenwood boys made it a Ram H-10 sweep by outlasting Lewis Central and Atlantic in a tight three-team race. The Cyclones finished a distant fourth, but Renkly was pleased with what he saw. HCHS freshman Ian Shelton edged senior Mitchell Rueschenberg by less than a second for the 20th and final all-conference spot.
Hawkeye Ten Conf. Cross Country Meet • Oct. 15 • Denison High School
Girls Team Standings - 1. Glenwood 42, 2. Harlan Comm. 57, 3. Atlantic 75, 4. Creston 114, 5. Lewis Central 120, 6. Shenandoah 159, 7. Red Oak 185, 8. Kuemper Catholic 221, 9. Denison-Schleswig 233.
Top 5 Individual Girls - 1. Braelyn Baker (Creston), 19:51; 2. Emma Hughes (Glenwood), 19:55; 3. Taylor McCreedy (Atlantic), 20:00; 4. Mayson Hartley (Clarinda), 20:06; 5. Kaia Bieker (HCHS), 20:14.
HCHS Individual Results - 5th: Kaia Bieker, 20:14.62; 6th: Brecken Van Baale, 20:19.28; 13th: Abi Albertsen, 20:45.57; 21st: Olivia Anderson, 21:28.64; 22nd: Ellie Gross, 21:44.80; 24th: Liv Freund, 21:49.56; 27th: Kennedy Kjergaard, 22:10.16. (5-kilometer times; 70 runners)
Boys Team Standings - 1. Glenwood 63, 2. Lewis Central 70, 3. Atlantic 77, 4. Harlan Comm. 122, 5. Kuemper Catholic 137, 6. Clarinda 147, 7. St. Albert 161, 8. Denison-Schleswig 192, 9. Red Oak 196, 10. Shenandoah 238.
Top 5 Individual Boys - 1. Craig Alan Becker (Atl.), 16:25; 2. Trey Gross (HCHS), 16:32; 3. Ethan Eichhorn (LC), 16:45; 4. Nathan Sell (LC), 17:05; 5. Baylor Bergren (RO), 17:07.
HCHS Individual Results - 2nd: Trey Gross, 16:32.69; 20th: Ian Shelton, 18:08.06; 21st: Mitchell Rueschenberg, 18:08.76; 37th: Brennon Munch, 19:06.58; 46th: Kaiden Milliken, 19:23.53; 48th: Reed Boardman, 19:32.96; 53rd: Joseph Bragg, 19:40.55. (5-kilometer times; 74 runners)