Panorama cross country runs at Nodaway Valley

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The Panorama girls cross country team, now ranked seventh in Class 2A, awaits the start of the Little Dutch Invitational in Pella earlier this season. Photo courtesy Greg Thompson.

GREENFIELD — A course featuring several hills and a steady wind faced the cross country teams from Panorama Monday as they took part in the Nodaway Valley Invitational.

The conditions did little to hamper the Class 2A No. 7 Panther girls, who won the meet with 55 points. Van Meter was second at 65 points, with Nodaway Valley placing third in the 11-team field with 115 points.

The Panther boys had only three runners in action and did not generate a team score. A total of 10 squads tallied points, with Nodaway Valley (39), Tri-Center (79), and Interstate-35 (100) claiming the top three spots.

Seventh-ranked Ella Waddle won the girls race in 20 minutes, 36.56 seconds. The senior bested Class 1A seventh and eighth-ranked sophomore sisters Clare and Mary Kelly of Van Meter, who finished 2-3 in 20:53.1 and 21:01.26, respectively.

“I was pleased with the mental toughness of each athlete,” Panorama head coach Greg Thompson said. “They didn’t perform as well as I thought they would have, but the course was very hilly and the wind was very strong, and we were also coming off Homecoming Week, which effected their performances on a Monday meet.”

“Those things combine to cause our runners to physically struggle, but they battled mentally,” he added. “Leah (Fett) did a great job of fighting through some nasal congestion and picking up her effort once she was aware that Olivia (Steffen) had dropped out of the race due to some tight hamstrings, so Leah ended up the fifth scorer for the team.”

Payton Beckman was seventh for the Panthers in 22:20.16, and Mia Waddle ninth overall in 22:55.49. Gwen Steffen placed 11th, in 23:16.84, with Fett 27th in 25:16.26. Also running for the varsity, but having their places used for the team score, were both Deana Solorzano (43rd, 27:18.42), and Avery Bahrenfuss (47th, 27:44.09).

Avery Norman (22:27.13), Ryan McCaulley (22:53.06), and Paul Hansen (23:50.66) were in action for the Panther boys varsity.

Panorama did not have any entrants in the boys middle school race, but three Panthers competed in the girls two-mile race.

Mary Fett, Maggie McCaulley, and Ella Carico posted times of 15:33.29, 16;17.12, and 18:06.19, respectively. All are in seventh grade.

“Hopefully we can get some rest over the next two days and be ready to go on Thursday when we run at South Hamilton,” Thompson concluded. “That course is ideal for some good performances and should allow for some new personal bests.

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