Smith, GHV boys win title at NI Conference Meet

Chase Smith captured first place at the North Iowa Conference Cross Country Meet Thursday at Belmond and helped his team easily outdistance Eagle Grove for top honors.  The Cardinals won with 46 points, followed by the Eagles with 84 and Osage with 88.  The remainder of the field included: Bishop Garrigan (129), North Iowa (142), Forest City (153), Lake Mills (174), Newman (202) and B-K (211).

“I was very proud with how both teams raced,” said Coach Erik Jolivette.  “Most of our athletes finished the season with their best race of the year.”

The GHV/WH girls team finished fourth with 118 points behind Osage (20), Newman (65) and North Iowa (99).  

Boys race

“We knew going in that the boys race was going to be tight with Osage and Eagle Grove, and to the credit of our guys they stepped up and ran a really solid team race putting themselves in a great position for the team title,” said Coach Jolivette.

Smith, a junior, won the race in 16:41.  Sophomores Logan Dalbeck and Derek Brown recorded top 10 finishes, placing fourth and ninth respectively in 17:17 and 17:42. Dalbeck’s effort was a personal best.  Freshman Ray Cataldo was next at 15th in a time of 18:11.  Sophomores Johnathon O’Connor and Austin Siegrist crossed the finish line in 17th and 18th place in 18:17 and 18:22.  Mason Wirtz, another sophomore, was 25th in 18:48.

“Winning conference was great, but I know these guys are not satisfied,” said the coach.  “They know that we still need their best race at New Hampton to get down to State and reaching our ultimate goal of placing well down there.” 

Girls race

“The varsity girls race was as competitive as it ever has been, so we knew going in we would probably finish anywhere from second to fourth place. Unfortunately, Osage, Newman, and North Iowa caught us at less than our best last night, but I am confident this girls team will bounce back and put themselves in a great position next week at the State Qualifying Meet in Perry,” said Coach Jolivette.

The Cardinal five finished tightly bunched, led by Kaylee Hudspeth in 17th in a time of 17:13.  Tiara VenGerpen was 18th in 17:20 and Rebekah Larson was 24th in 17:46.  Morgan Graham and Maria Gonzalez finished in 29th and 30th in 18:21 and 18:37.

Also running in the varsity race was Angela O’Hara, 41st in 19:26, and Taylor Vosburg, 44th in 19:50.

Junior varsity

Anthony Siegrist and Andrew Schreur finished second and third respectively for the Cardinals in the junior varsity conference race.  Siegrist, a sophomore ran a 19:33.  Schreur, a freshman, covered the course in 19:44. Theo Schoneman used a personal best to finish in 20:30 for ninth place.  Payton Stadtlander was 10th in 20:30.

As a team, the Cards were second with 35 points. Osage was the winner with 26 points.  Eagle Grove and Forest City followed with 84 and 115 points.

Other GHV finishers were: Derek Anderson, 11th, 20:38; Andrew Dornbier, 12th, 20:41; Jacob Meier, 13th, 20:45; Tyler Obermann, 15th, 21:05; Austin Case, 20th, 21:15; Jordan Babcock, 23rd, 21:39; Ryley Kozisek, 24th, 21:54; Daniel Schreur, 25th, 22:10; Patrick Terhark, 27th, 22:20; Dane Neuberger, 28th, 22:28; McKinley Hawe, 29th, 22:29;  Karson Grimm, 43rd, 25:32.  Times and placements were not available for Parker Schneiders, Julian Eashington, Alex Janssen, and Logan Rohlfing.

On the girls side, Elizabeth Zomago was 11th in 20:08, Melissa Rich was 16th in 20:48 and Shelby Scott ran a 21:28 to place 22nd.  Kayla Leerar was 41st in 24:23 and Elly Johnson crossed the finish in 25:48 to place 42nd.