The Griswold girls’ cross-country team claimed their first team title of the
year at Swan Lake in a meet hosted by Kuemper Catholic. It took outstanding
performances from all the runners to defeat the field of nine teams
including 4th ranked 2A North Polk. Rebekah Topham and Jodan Sindt provided
a big one-two punch for the Lady Tigers as they captured first and second
place in the race. It was Topham’s third individual win in three outings.
She took the lead almost immediately and left the chase pack within the
first 800 meters of the race. Topham crossed the finish line in 14:49. Her
time was the best among all classes on the day by over a minute.
Sindt had to work harder to seperate from the lead pack after getting behind
a pair of North Polk runners on the narrow course. She went around them
about a mile into the race and used her ability to run hills to distance
herself from the field. Sindt, an outstanding sprinter, used her speed to
finish in 16:57 and secure the second place spot.
All five of the scoring runners for the Lady Tigers placed in the top 15.
Alyx Flippin had a tremendous race. She picked up her pace in the last 1000
meters to pass the chase pack and crossed the finish line in 17:22 for 4th
place, her highest finish of the season. “Alyx is only a freshman and she is
still learning race strategy, but is easy to see has an incredible amount of
raw talent and huge potential for being at top finisher ” according to Coach
Jane Chaillie. “She is still pretty timid at the start line and is finding
herself blocked in at the beginning of the race. Today we saw what an
incredible job she could do once she got around the field and was able to
take advantage of her natural stride.” All three of the top Griswold
runners finished in front of North Polk’s Sears who is ranked individually
in 2A.
Larissa Backhaus (12th ) and Allison Young (16th ) also had great runs for
Griswold. The pair of juniors both ran well on the rough terrain. They did
an excellent job of positioning themselves and capitalized on the
long-downhill leading to the finish line to move up.
Although only the top 5 runners score, Bailey Powers (26) and Bridget Mauer
(29) had strong performances. “It takes all seven runners to make a strong
team. We have Rebekah and Jordan working to pull everyone up to the front of
the pack and today our freshman, Bridget Mauer to added to our effort with a
push from behind. She ran a 19:08. “Her goal is to be in the 18’s by mid
season and she is right on target.”*
*
Griswold had three runners in the junior varasity race that featured all
four classes: Melodee Anstey (37), Molly Sindt (39), and Kinzey Nicklaus
(50th).*
*
Xavier Olivio led the way for the boys’ squad. He finished in 10th place in
the team competition with a time of 18:51. Olivio has medaled at every
competition this year. Also helping the boys earn 6th place out of 10
complete teams were Jacob Maass (38th), Tyrel Peters (40th), Mason Anstey
(44) and Zak Doty (46th). Also running for the Tigers were Logan Potter
(61st) and Grant Haynes (63rd).*
*
“The boys did a great job. All the teams that placed ahead of us were 2A
schools. Xavier just keeps improving. I was especially pleased with Jacob
Maass’ performance. He is running with lots more confidence,” according to
Coach Chaillie.*
*
Girls Class B Results: 1st Griswold-33; 2nd North Pok-52; 3rd OA-BCIG-88;
4th IKM/Manning-99; 5th Underwood-118; 6th Southeast Webster-Grant-132; 7th
Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto-184; 8th South Central Calhoun-213; 9th
Ar-We-Va-236. NS Coon Rapids-Bayard, East Sac County, Exira/EHK, Woodward
Academy*
*
Boys Class B Results: 1st North Polk-18; 2nd South Central Calhoun-87; 3rd
OA-BCIG-87; 4th MVAO-90; 5th East Sac County-170; 6th Griswold-178; 7th
Southeast Webster-Grand-179; 8th Woodward Academy-193; 9th Underwood-201;
and 10th Ar-We-Va-234. NS Coon Rapids-Bayard, Exira/EHK, and IKM/Manning.*
-Jane Hall Chaillie
Griswold Head Cross Country Coach *
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