JEWELL — A strong field consisting of several Class 3A and 2A teams served as a challenge Thursday for the Class 1A Panorama boys and girls, who are ranked sixth, and ninth, respectively.
Class 3A No. 5 Gilbert won the boys event with 39 points, with 2A No. 4 South Hamilton second at 106 and 1A No. 4 AC/GC third at 117. East Marshall (119), Ogden (162) and Roland-Story (184) followed, with Panorama seventh in the 15-team field with 195 points. The girls crown went to 2A No. 5 CMB (40), with 3A No. 2 Gilbert (122) second. East Marshall (130) and West Marshall (148) were 3-4, with Panorama (156) fifth in a 13-team event.
Despite the tough competition, Panther head coach Greg Thompson hinted that he had hoped for better results.
“Many of our high school kids weren’t mentally engaged for this race,” he said. “Homecoming week and the threat of weather kept them distracted. Hopefully they will learn from this experience.”
Thompson was happier with the effort of his middle school squads.
“The junior high teams ran very well,” he noted. “They are a great group of kids to work with. They always look for ways to improve.”
Ogden’s Andrew Stumbo, ranked third in 2A, was the boys winner with a time of 16 minutes, 38 seconds. Gilbert’s Calvin Stewart was second in 16:57, with 1A No. 7 Sean McDermott of Madrid crossing third in 17:01.
Josh Carstens (25th, 18:06) led Panorama, with Danny Nordquist (29th, 18:18), Mitch Wagler (30th, 18:30), George Appleseth (53rd, 19:02) and Sam Webster (58th, 19:17) also scoring. Tyler VanHouten (19:18) and Kaleb Randal (19:50) also ran for the varsity.
Austin Behrends (20:26.23), Bryant Thompson (20:57.62), Lucas Wasson (22:12.07), Tanner Kuta (22:28.57) and Colton Stogdill (23:14.18) ran for the Panther boys junior varsity.
Class 1A No. 11 Kate Crawford and No. 16 Emma Swanson of AC/GC placed 1-2, in 20:22.59 and 20:35.96), in the girls varsity race, with CMB’s Brenna Thomson third in 20:46.78.
Devyn Kemble and 1A No. 22 Brianna Hoffman were fourth and fifth, respectively, in 21:15.53 and 21:17.33. Emily Smith (46th, 24:04.4), Lydia Lindstrom (49th, 24:14.99) and Brooklyn Behrends (52nd, 24:19.12) were the other Panther scorers, with Lydia Knapp (24:29.71) and Maggie Smith (25:07) also running for the varsity.
Bryn Steffen was the first JV finisher for Panorama after finishing in 25:20.29. Taylor Rishel (25:28.46), Maddie Knapp (25:40.17), Chloe Webster (26:41.06), Maisie Knapp (27:53.24), Mallorie Pittman (28:17.84) and Anna Holloway (28:27.96) were in action for the Panthers girls as well.
The Panorama junior high boys were 10th of 10 teams with 296 points, with Madrid (78) the winner and Roland-Story (90) the runner-up.
Logan Christe (14:49.56), Paul Hansen (16:02.18), Kevin Cogil (16:08.37), Alec Mills (16:08.69) and Avery Norman (17:28.49) competed for the Panthers.
A total of 11 harriers ran for the Panther girls, with placings of 1-2-14-15 and 20 helping the team best CMB for first place, 52-77, in the 11-team field.
Ella Waddle (12:34.34) and Angel Poldberg (13:20.64) were easy 1-2 finishers, with Gren Steffen (14:29.17), Laci Rishel (14:31.73) and Olivia Steffen (14:55.92) also scoring, with Grace Webner (15:39.99) and Abby Cobb (15:45.12) the top seven. Others running included Abbi Holloway (18:05.35), Gracie Phillips (18:30.52), Rachel Mardewel (18:32.55) and Kinsey Muyskens (19:56.6).
Panorama will host Thursday’s West Central Conference meet at the Panora Par-3 Golf Course.
