SAYDEL — The WCAC cross country meet will be held October 11 in Panora, but the Woodward-Granger harriers had one last competition in which to sharpen their skills as they competed Thursday in the Eagle Invitational at Saydel.
Ballard held off North Polk, 27-31, for the top team spot in the girls varsity race. Perry’s 99 points claimed third place, with Greene County (122), Woodward-Granger (131) and Boone (153) wrapping the field.
A total of 78 runners competed in the event, with Ballard’s Ellie Twedt claiming the top individual spot with a clocking of 19 minutes, 37.98.
Josie Noland’s 19th-place 23:24.13 led W-G. Placing 26-27-28 were Bella Milosevich (24:28.89), Natalie Helbling (24:47.67) and Ava Petersen (25:25.71), with Katie Grell’s 31st-place finish, in 26:01.4 completing the five scoring spots.
Makenzie Dresback (33rd, 26:15.67) and Kaitlyn Smith (34th, 26:21.43) also ran for the Hawk varsity, with Chloe David (26:42.56) and AnnaMae Hanson (29:38.57) running for the W-G JV.
Eleven teams competed in the boys varsity race, with Des Moines Christian (51), Ballard (64) and Des Moines Lincoln (65) winning the top three spots. W-G finished sixth with 181 points, one better than seventh-place Perry.
DM Lincoln’s Andrew Klein crossed in 16:49.67 to win the boys individual title.
Trevor Faltonson led W-G by finishing 16th in 18:32.14. Alex Bice (29th, 18:54.74) and Dylan Steele (38th, 19:26.28) were the second and third Hawks to finish, with Xavier Ibarra (40th, 19:27.02) and Caleb Jones (58th, 20:42.59) also scoring. Noah Gleason (62nd, 20:57.89) also competed for W-G.
