PANORA — The Panorama girls , ranked ninth in Class 1A, squeaked past seventh-ratred AC/GC to win their fifth consecutive West Central Conference cross country championship Thursday at the Panora Par-3 Golf Course. The fifth-ranked Panther boys tried to keep pace, but were soundly edged by fourth-rated AC/GC, 38-92, for the boys league title.
“All of our athletes ran well,” Panorama head coach Greg Thompson said. “There were several personal-bests for the conference meet, and congratulations go to Devyn (Kemble) and Brianna (Hoffman) for earning all-conference honors. For the girls, the number 3-7 (runners) finally had a race that matched what they have been showing in practice. They looked strong.”
Panorama (59) and AC/GC (60) were followed by West Central Valley (106), Earlham (107), Madrid (117), Ogden (128), Woodward-Granger (130), and Van Meter (185) in the final girls team standings.
The top five individual spots went to ranked, or previously ranked, harriers. Kyla Crawford (10th) and Emma Swanson (15th) of AC/GC were 1-2, in 20 minutes, 43.87 seconds and 20:59.6, respectively, with Earlham’s Eva Fish (18th) third in 21:10.84. Kemble (22nd) was fourth in 21:22.06, with Hoffman (ranked for much of the season) fifth in 21:36.99. The top 10 individual finishers earned all-WCC honors.
Lydia Lidstrom (15th, 23:27.87), Chloe Webster (17th, 23:41.85) and Brooklyn Behrends (18th, 23:46.67) helped deliver the WCC crown, with Emily Smith (24:02.85) and Lydia Knapp (24:16.79) also running for the varsity girls.
Molly Simmons (24:32.15), Maddie Knapp (25:22.77), Bryn Steffen (25:24.83), Maggie Smith (26:28.63), Maisie Knapp (28:09.72), Mallorie Pittman (28:30.51) and Anna Holloway (28:41.69) ran for the Panther girls junior varsity.
Thompson would obviously have liked to see his boys squad also claim a league title, but said the Panthers were focused on a larger prize.
“The boys didn’t run as well as they were hoping to, but our main focus is on next week,” the coach said, referring to Thursday’s state qualifying meet, which the Panthers will host. “They are extremely motivated to run well (Thursday).”
AC/GC (38), Panorama (92), Ogden (104), Des Moines Christian (115), Earlham (118), WCV (134), Woodward Academy (149), Madrid (159), W-G (264) and Van Meter (272) competed in the boys team event.
Second-ranked Andrew Stumbo of Ogden won the boys race in 16:58.52, with DMC’s Tyler Ketchum second in 17:12.33 and AC/GC’s Cale Billheimer third in 17:19.92.
Josh Carstens (13th, 18:19.85), Danny Nordquist (14th, 18:29.6), Mitch Wagler (15th, 18:32.83), George Appleseth (19th, 18:52.69) and Sam Webster (31st, 19:24.03) were the five Panther boys to score, with Tyler VanHouten (19:33.14) and Kaleb Randol (19:48.79) also in action for the varsity.
Austin Behrends (20:27.09), Bryant Thompson (21:05.24), Drew Hafner (22:06.29), Colton Stogdill (22:22.44), Tanner Kuta (22:28.1), Lucas Wasson (22:44.03) and Jared Stagg (23:45.31) navigated the course for the Panther boys JV.
Earlham won a tiebreaker (faster sixth runner) by three spots to top Panorama — both had 32 points — the girls middle school team title. AC/GC was third at 71; only three schools had the five runners required for a team score. It was the first loss of the season for the Panther girls.
The two-mile middle school race has boys and girls on the course at the same time, and only two boys finished ahead of Panther eighth grader Ella Waddle, who won the girls title in a Panorama school record 12:57.22.
Angel Poldberg was second in 14:03.84, with Laci Rishel (8th, 15:19.59), Gwen Steffen (9th, 15:22.55) and Olivia Steffen (12th, 16:18.77) also scoring. Others running included Grace Webner (16:23.82), Abby Cobb (16:40.23), Abbi Holloway (18:25.1), Kinsey Muyskens (18:51.86), Rachel Marwedel (19:09.51) and Gracie Phillips (19:09.85).
Five boys team had official scores, with Madrid winning on 36 points while Panorama was fifth at 111.
“The junior high boys are showing improvement,” Thompson noted. “I look forward to watching them get stronger and faster over the next few years.”
Logan Christe (16th, 15:16.2), Paul Hansen (22nd, 16:30.15), Alec Mills (23rd, 16:38.5), Kevin Cogil (24th, 16:55.9) and Avery Norman (26th, 17:29.94) ran for the Panther boys.
