Lady Indians Strong in Season XC Opener
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The Clark County Indian Cross Country Team had varied results in their season opener at Keokuk as they competed against Kirksville, West Burlington, Fort Madison, WACO, Central Lee, Keokuk, and Holy Trinity. Despite having no senior runners on the team, all the high school runners ran on the varsity squad, and the spread was wide.
The Varsity Girls Squad had the strongest showing, with all runners coming in at 15th of 28 or above. Grace Buschling and Candy St. Clair took 1st place and 3rd place, respectively, split only by Amanda Gilpin of Central Lee. Junior runner Buschling hit her stride, finishing 17 seconds above the next runner, at 20:57. St. Clair pulled down a respectable 23:06 for the sophomore runner. Freshman Mia Johnson and Sophomore Peyton Franke finished just ahead of the middle of the pack, only a second apart at 25:15 and 25:16. Johnson came in at 11th, and Franke at 12th. Rounding out the Varsity Girls Squad was Delana Hess, coming in at 15th, with a time of 26:02. Hess finished 5:05 after Buschling, and the final runner of the spread finished a full 16:41 past Buschling. Despite their strong showing, Clark County only pulled down a second-place score overall, at 44pts. They were beat out by Ft. Madison at 41 pts, while Kirksville and Central Lee followed at 78 and 117 pts, respectively.
The Boys Varsity Squad struggled to stick together as their run times and rankings ranged from 11th-43rd of 44 total runners. Junior Ethan Nelson placed highest at 11th, with a run time of 19:10, coming in 1:18 after the 1st place runner Jack Marlin of Kirksville. Freshman Landon Arnold pulled down the 19th spot with a time of 21:24. Junior Colin Nichols hit the center of the pack with a run time of 22:34 at 27th place, followed soon after by Sophomore Landon Toolate, who came in 30th, at 23:46. Filling out the varsity boys squad were Freshman Carter Harper, 36th place, with 24:48.05, Sophomore Jadden Kellum at 41st with 26:31, and Junior Carter Plenge at 43rd with 27:38. The Clark County boys varsity team came in 5th place overall with a total 123 pts.
The Clark County Middle School boys’ team exhibited mixed outcomes, ranging from 2nd-31st of 32 runners, in the fairly narrow time spread of only 4:52 between first and last place. Mason McDaniel ranked 2nd place with a run time of 9:29, only 6 seconds after the first-place runner. He was followed by Harrison Parker at 13th and Isaiah Hardin at 17th, with times of 10:53 and 11:16.17. Austin Ray narrowly beat the runner following him, coming in at 21st, with 11:42.50, while Issac Exner finished 24th with 12:22. Closing out middle school boys runners were Braydon Thompson in 27th and Axell King in 31st with times of 13:23 and 14:14.80.
The Middle School girls’ team is considerably smaller than the boys team with only three competitors this year: Irelyn Plenge, Emery Goings, and Maci Cochenour. Plenge and Goings stuck close together finishing in the 19th and 20th positions with times of 12:51 and 13:09. Cochenour rounded out the middle school runners at 28th with a time of 15:53, 6:20 after the first-place finishing time.
The cross country teams compete at Highland on Tuesday.