By Coach Kevin Gartman
On a cold, windy, and rainy Tuesday evening, Seot, 8, at Ahrens Park in Grinnell, what was almost a weather cancellation turned into a great night of competition for the Montezuma cross country program.
The varsity girls race saw some high-end talent and a solid race from the Bravettes as they finished in 5th place.
Senior Elise Boulton placed 8th with a new course-best time for her of 21:11. Joining her with new best times on the Grinnell course were Mia Boulton, Carmen Klos, Beka Teumer and Haley Van Der Hart.
Similar to the varsity girls, there was a new top time on the varsity boys side of the record book as senior Brydon Henning finished with an 18:44 to surpass the top meet mark set by Paden Maschmann in 2016.
Freshman Carter McKee and senior Cam Johnson set new personal best 5K times in the meet, while sophomore Colton Benson made a big jump in a week, taking over two minutes off his performance time.
The first race of the meet was junior high competition where Ellen Cook took 5th overall with a new Montezuma-best time on the course of 8:18, which is a 6:39 mile pace.
Following Ellen and joining her in the top 10 leader board was fellow 8th grade runner Catelynn Coffin, who turned in a very strong performance.
On the junior high boys side, the team was led by Bryson Stockman, who turned in a time of 8:16. The team as a whole showed strong performances, with many runners surpassing their meet goals despite adverse conditions.
Jusiah Wetering showed a notable improvement from last year’s meet at Grinnell, shaving a little over two minutes off his time.
In the JV girls competition, freshmen Makenna Johannes and Ashlee Eilander both set new personal best times in the 5K.
UP NEXT – The junior high and high school teams all compete on Monday. Sept. 14 at South Tama, with a meet on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Lynnville-Sully.
