By Coach Kevin Gartman
MORAVIA – The Montezuma cross country high school teams traveled to Moravia for the 3rd Annual Mohawk Invitational on Thursday, September 26th.
Running at Moravia was a replacement meet for Colfax-Mingo which was canceled earlier in the season, the Braves and Bravettes got to check out a new course for the first time, running at Honey Creek Resort and Golf Course.
The Bravettes made a statement off the gun with junior Elise Boulton claiming the individual meet title, her first of her high school career.
Freshman Madison Johannes placed third, her highest finish in her young high school career and fellow freshman Mia Boulton came home with a sixth-place medal.
The Bravettes had two more runners finish in the top 10 as junior Carmen Klos finished 9th and sophomore Haley Van Der Hart finished 10th.
In all, five Bravettes brought home individual hardware. The strong performances, as well as strong runs from senior Carissa Van Zee and junior Katie Probasco, carried the Bravettes to their third straight meet victory, leaving memories of a 30-year meet drought in the past.
The Braves also competed at a high level on Thursday.
Juniors Brydon Henning and Brayden Stockman battled throughout the entirety of the course, climbing from the 10th and 11th place marks early on all the way to finish 4th and 5th, respectively.
With two top five performances, the meet could be argued as the strongest individual performance of the season.
Senior Zach Templeton and freshman Colton Benson also carried themselves quite well as both runners surpassed individuals who they had finished behind in the previous meet and the crowd let out a cheer as both runners showcased strong kicks through the finish line.
COMING NEXT – Both the high school and junior high cross country teams will be in action on Monday, September 30th at Clear Creek Amana. The meet itself is held at the Iowa City Kickers Complex. Races will begin at 4:30 in what will certainly be a competitive field with runners and teams from 1A through 3A, headlined by previous individual and team champions.