Raiderettes take third at POI, first at home, ahead of State Qualifier Thursday
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It was a busy couple of days for the Mount Ayr cross country teams as they competed in the Pride of Iowa meet in Afton last Tuesday where the Raiderettes took third overall before hosting their own home meet, the Ron Landphair Cross Country Invitational, on Thursday, where they captured the championship.
Pride of Iowa
The hills at the Lakeshore Golf Course in Afton were plentiful and difficult, but the Raiderettes overcame the tough terrain, placing two runners in the top 10 with Anne Newton finishing seventh with a time of 23:58.48 and Makenna Jones finishing ninth with a time of 24:28.81.
“The hills were crazy and I’m lucky we have been training for hills,” said Newton. “My family comes from a long line of cross country and my dad went to State, my aunt went to State, so it’s really cool to bring on the tradition of running and I think possibly I can go to State and I hope I can go to State.”
The Raiderettes had four runners in the top 20, including Newton and Jones, with Karlie Larsen finishing 11th with a time of 24:33.09, Kacie Larsen finishing 17th with a time of 25:37.1.
Natalie Schaefer was just outside the top 20 with a 21st place finish in a time of 25:53.15, while Aubree Clark and Karly Elwood were 23rd and 24th with time of 26:05.6 and 26:17.56.
The Raiderettes had plenty of junior varsity runners in good positions as well, but were unable to add points.
Ava England finished 16th with a time of 25:23.99, Ashlyn Byer finishing 31st with a time of 27:34.43.
Lauren Triggs finished 25th with atime of 28:30.27 to place 35th.
Kaylun Victor finished 45th with a time of 32:17.54, while Lillie Fuller rounded out the Raiderettes with a time of 45:29.2 to finish 50th.
Martensale-St. Marys took first overall, followed by Central Decatur, Mount Ayr and Wayne.
The Raiders saw Ashtyn Benesh finish the course in 23:03.35 to place 30th, while Braylon Greenwell finished 32st with a time of 23:27.45.
Central Decatur won the boys team score, followed by Nodaway Valley, Martnesdale-St. Marys, Wayne, Southeast Warren and Southwest Valley.
“The last three weeks we have embraced the hills and tried to turn that into a strength, something that we embrace instead of something we are afraid of,” said coach Dustin Larsen. “They have done a great job of taking that on and getting into an attacking mindset.”
Ron
Landphair Invite
The Raiderettes were home last Thursday, where they took first place out of eight teams participating.
The Mount Ayr girls led Grandview Christian, Savannah, Tarkio – East Atchison, Martensdale-St. Marys, Wayne, Ankeny Christian Academy and CAM.
Anne Newton finished first for the Raiderettes, while placing 11th overall in a time of 22:28.99.
Karlie Larsen finished 19th, ahead of sister Kacie Larsen in 25th with times of 23:17.98 and 23:41.81, respectively.
Makenna Jones was 26th overall with a time of 23:46.32.
Ava England finished 31st with a time of 24:11.96, Natalie Schafer finished 34th with a time of 24:22.3 and Aubree Clark finished with a time of 24:30.04.
The Raiders saw Ashtyn Benesh finish 52nd with a time of 20:49.97 and Braylon Greenwell finish 68th with a time of 21:27.69
The teams will travel to Lake Icaria near Corning on Thursday for the State Qualifying Meet.
