Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Runners compete at West Lyon, Sioux Central
A pair of Top 20 finishers led the way for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn at the West Lyon Wildcat Invitational on Sept. 12. The cross country meet was held at the Lake Pahoja Recreation Area near Inwood.
In the girls' varsity race, Lexi Croatt finished 19th with a time of 25:34. Gracie Knobloch placed 26th in 26:41, Kamryn Ebel was 34th in 27:46, Juliana Pasillas was 38th in 28:22 and Clara Funk finished 42nd in 34:00.
George-Little Rock/Central Lyon won the team title with 29 points and West Lyon was runner-up with 35. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley scored 59, Sheldon scored 122 and H-M-S was fifth with 123.
George Vargas finished 16th in the boys' varsity competition, running a time of 20:17. Bryce Dodge's time of 21:28 put him in 25th place. Other H-M-S finishers were Damian Dodge, 40th, 23:37; Aiden Bush, 46th, 24:27; Ryan Grotluschen, 47th, 24:31; and Blaine Finster, 51st, 24:43.
GLR/CL completed the team title sweep with 50 points, edging MVAO/COU with 54. Third-place West Lyon scored 92 points, followed by Sheldon 98, Akron-Westfield 122, H-M-S 136 and Trinity Christian 148.
• Chris Smith Invitational
The Hawks ran again on Sept. 15 at the Chris Smith Invitational. Sioux Central hosted the meet at the Little Sioux Golf and Country Club.
Vargas led the H-M-S boys with a 25th-place finish, running a time of 18:25. Other competitors were Bryce Dodge, 51st, 19:30; Grotluschen, 65th, 21:05; Damian Dodge, 67th, 21:15; Finster, 68th, 21:20; and Bush, 79th, 22:37.
Okoboji won the team title with 40 points, finishing ahead of Spirit Lake with 101 and MVAO/COU with 119. Other team scores were East Sac County 122, Sibley-Ocheyedan 143, Sioux Central 147, Manson Northwest Webster 191, South Central Calhoun 231, Ridge View 233, Alta-Aurelia 248, H-M-S (11th) 267, Sheldon 278, OABCIG 302 and South O'Brien 353.
H-M-S did not have enough runners for a complete girls' team. Croatt finished 45th, 24:05; Knobloch was 47th, 24:18; Pasillas was 69th, 26:14; and Funk came in 83rd, 29:30.
Alta-Aurelia edged Sibley-Ocheyedan, 58-60, to win the girls' team title. Okoboji finished third with 119.
The Hawks will run at the Alta-Aurelia Invitational on Sept. 26 and the South O'Brien Invite on Sept. 29.