By Becky Walz,
With the first two meets of the season cancelled due to heat and severe weather concerns, the Decorah girls’ and boys’ cross country teams finally got their time to shine Tuesday in Oelwein with the varsity and junior varsity sweeping the team titles.
The Class 3A No. 10 varsity boys won comfortably finishing with 65 points over Class 2A No. 14 Denver’s 81 who took runner-up. Class 2A No. 7 Oelwein rounded out the top three with 94. For the girls it was a closer race with the Class 3A No. 13 Vikes winning with 89 points, just four points ahead of Class 2A No. 14 Sumner-Fredericksburg. With 105 points, Class 3A No. 18 Center Point-Urbana was a distant third.
In JV action, the Decorah boys had a perfect scorecard with a 15, claiming the top five spots, while the girls won with 21 points over Crestwood’s 52. Complete junior varsity results will be posted online by the Decorah Leader.
Zilka leads boys
The top five Decorah harriers averaged 17:07 for their 5Ks with a spread of 55 seconds.
“This was a great start to the season as all the hard work was rewarded with great performances across the board,” noted Viking boys’ cross country coach Brad Johansen.
Grant Zilka picked up where he left off last season — as the Vikes leading harrier. The senior was the first Decorah runner to cross the finish line in 16:37.1, to take fifth. Davis Coppola toured the course in 16:55.1 to claim 10th. Producing a time of 17:11.5, D’mitry Lesser took 16th, while Landyn Hook came through in 17:22.2, good for 19th. Mitchell Stemper wrapped up the Viking scorecard in 20th with a time of 17:32.5. Thomas Hammel (21st, 17:34.6) and Garrett See (23rd, 17:37.8) were also on the course.
Girls on top
While the girls squeezed out the title by just four points, the top five Vikes had an average time of 21:37 with a spread of 1:52.
“We were excited to watch the girls interact with each other. They brought positive attitudes and competitiveness to their runs. It was a good starting point for the team,” said Decorah girls’ cross country coach Cristy Nimrod.
Crossing the finish line in 20:27.9, sophomore Olivia Volkmann was the first Viking to do so in seventh. Brinlee Courtney raced her way to 19th with a time of 21:24.9, while Amelia Wadsworth claimed 22nd. Wadsworth stopped the clock at 21:48.4. Lily Sandhorst and Deborah Hougen were close behind in 26th and 30th places, respectively. Sandhorst toured the course to a time of 22:05.2, while Hougen finished the 5K in 22:20.6. Also racing for the Lady Vikes were Natalie Stevens (49th, 23:00.1) and Grace Blikre (69th, 24:28.3).
Coming up
Decorah harriers now have time to recuperate and train before competing again at the Luther College All-American Race Saturday, Sept. 14, at 9 a.m.
Boys’ varsity team results
1. Decorah 65; 2. Denver 81; 3. Oelwein 94; 4. Waterloo West 121; 5. Jesup 139; 6. Vinton-Shellsburg 147; 7. Starmont-West Central 238; 8. Beckman Catholic 258; 9. West Delaware 262; 10. Columbus Catholic 262; 11. Sumner-Fred 288; 12. North Fayette Valley 321; 13. Center Point-Urbana 332; 14. Crestwood 345; 15. New Hampton 395; 16. Wapsie Valley 407; 17. Waterloo East 443
Girls’ varsity team results
1. Decorah 89; 2. Sumner-Fred 93; 3. Center Point-Urbana 105; 4. Denver 114; 5. Crestwood 137; 6. Jesup 150; 7. Union 194; 8. Wapsie Valley 224; 9. New Hampton 226; 10. West Delaware 239; 11. North Fayette Valley 247; 12. Vinton-Shellsburg 254; 13. Beckman Catholic 274; 14. Oelwein 338
Boys’ JV team results
1. Decorah 15; 2. Denver 56; 3. Oelwein 112; 4. Vinton-Shellsburg 139; 5. Center Point-Urbana 167; 6. Beckman Catholic 210; 7. Waterloo West 218; 8. Edgewood-Colesburg 225; 9. Sumner-Fred 226; 10. Starmont-West Central 227; 11. North Fayette Valley 276; 12. Wapsie Valley 277; 13. West Delaware 285
Boys’ JV individual results
1. William Fullhart 17:43.0; 2. Clarence Nimrod 17:57.7; 3. Oak Pashe 18:35.5; 4. Max Grimstad 18:38.3; 5. Oliver Bollinger 18:48.2; 6. Spencer Christiansen 18:54.7; 7. Kelton Casteron 19:04.9; 8. Liam Huang 19:05.8; 9. Oscar Grimstad 19:06.1; 10. Derek Hrdlicka 19:07.8; 11. Logan Nalean-Carlson 19:10.7; 12. Jack DeLaRosa 19:19.6; 13. Bennett Coppola 19:27.9; 14. Kyle Pattison 19:41.6; 16. Ezra Vorvick 19:49.0; 17. Riley Berns 19:52.7; 18. Carson Bohner 20:04.1; 21. Jayven Neubauer 20:06.9; 22. Max Goodner 20:11.8; 23. Reid Berns 20:13.4; 24. Colin Thompson 20:14.6; 27. Kyan Oftedahl 20:23.0; 34. Esteban Fernadez 21:15.0; 35. Evan Madsen 21:19.8; 36. Andrew Olson 21:21.4; 39. Owen Rix 21:26.0; 42. Beau Newhouse 21:43.5; 44. Will Robinson 22:01.1; 50. Nils Peterson 22:12.5; 56. Weston Cote 22:27.6; 75. Pranav Canon 23:40.3; 107. Dylan Brincks 26:47.3; 108. Oscar Swanson 27:00.6; 112. Wyatt Birdsell 28:42.7; 120. Noah Potvin 30:44.4; 121. Keagan Steines 32:10.0; 124. Gavin Wilkins 32:23.2
Girls’ JV team results
1. Decorah 21; 2. Crestwood 52; 3. Denver 68; 4. West Delaware 151; 5. Sumner-Fred 154; 6. New Hampton 178; 7. Jesup 198; 8. Waterloo West 207; 9. North Fayette Valley 248; 10. Wapsie Valley 255; 11. Beckman Catholic 312
Girls JV individual results
1. Riley Christopher 22:03.9; 2. Raelyn Newhouse 22:31.7; 3. Eva Hurley 23:00.7; 7. Nora Lesmeister 23:27.3; 8. Lulu Bellrichard 23:41.8; 10. Leah Garcia-Prats 23:50.6; 12. Claire Storhoff 24:00.0; 17. Vivian Searcy 24:28.3; 18. Natalie Goodner 24:29.4; 19. Elsa Johnson 24:32.0; 21. Morgan Miculinich 24:40.8; 26. Ellie Adams 24:58.1; 27. Lillian Dahlen 25:01.6; 28. Simone Downing 25:03.9; 31. Olivia Rissman 25:20.8; 37. Brinley Quandahl 25:42.7; 38. Natalie Holthaus 25:46.5; 40. Addison Quandahl 25:50.9; 43. McKenzie Riley 26:10.6; 44. Alandra Mercado-Arneson 26:13.5; 48. Jillian Volz 26:21.5; 49. Camryn Quandahl 26:22.3; 50. Willow Blair 26:23.1; 54. Regine Hougen 26:38.8; 58. Lauren Severtson 26:56.2; 60. Grace Huinker 26:57.2; 68. Marley Harmening 27:29.0; 69. Rachel Spilde-Maki 27:30.2; 70. Evelyn Opheim 27:30.3; 71. Nina Sessions 27:31.2; 72. Maggie Gavle 27:323; 74. Teagan Menke 27:34.4; 75. Sophie McGee 27:34.6; 81. Emily Myers 27:52.1; 84. Rachel Weis 27:55.8; 86. Kennedy Carlson 27:56.0; 94. Poppy Bellrichard 28:16.7; 107. Myle Leitz 29:31.8; 117. Kylie Lemke 30:30.5; 119. Kyra O’Hara 30:38.0; 129. Kathy Muj 33:19.4; 138. Ella Carlson 35:20.6; 141. Ava Hanson 37:50.6
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