ANKENY — Woodward-Granger re-established their cross country program only a few months ago, and although no Hawk harriers qualified for the state meet, the improvement shown over the season by two young teams reveal promise for the future.
Woodward-Granger ran Thursday at Ankeny Centennial, with Newman Catholic (68), Colo-NESCO (89) and West Fork (92) claiming the top three girls team spots, all of which advanced to state. The Hawks finished with 221 points and in ninth place in the 14-team meet.
The top 15 individuals also advanced, but no Hawk placed as high. Dakota Hostetler of Colfax-Mingo won in 20 minutes, 5.2 seconds, with North Mahaska’s Cheyanne Shaw (20:21.5) and Newman Catholic’s Chloe Nelson (20:23.1) finishing second and third.
W-G sophomore Josie Noland was 19th in 22:56.8, with junior Kaitlyn Peters 42nd in 24:08.1 while freshman Natalie Helbling was 43rd in 24:09.1. Seniors Regan Kaufman (25:00.8) and Savannah David (26:04.7) were 52nd and 65th, respectively.
Nodaway Valley (33) easily won the boys team competition, with Eagle Grove (98) second and West Fork (125) third. W-G (382) was 17th in a 19-team field.
West Fork’s Jake Hanson was the winner in 16:38, with Nodaway Valley’s Shane Breheny (16:54.5) and Brycen Wallace (16:59.9) finishing 2-3.
Cody Garland (55th, 19:34) led W-G, with Alex Bice (61st, 19:51.1), Luke Brittain (75th, 20:32.6), Kaya Bowlsby (83rd, 20:53.8) and Andrew Anderson (108th, 22:55.2) also scoring for the Hawks. Brittain is a senior; the other four Hawks are freshmen.
The Hawks were coached by Dave Smeltzer.
