Prairie Girls Cross Country

Gaster leads Hawks to 2nd at Linn-Mar Invitational

Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans is not merely the top cross country runner in the Mississippi Valley Conference anymore.

He's now one of the best runners in the state and has been ranked No. 1 by the Iowa Track Coaches Association the past two weeks.

Evans showed why Tuesday when he won the Linn-Mar Invitational at the Tuma Soccer Complex by 29 seconds.

Evans vaulted to the No. 1 spot in the state rankings after a strong second-place showing Sept. 17 at the Heartland Classic in Ames, where he beat runners who had been ranked 1-2 in Iowa.

Evans climbed from No. 3 to No. 1 in last week's rankings based on that strong performance in Ames and stayed No. 1 in this week's poll. He's just a sophomore and still only 15 years old, yet he's already considered the top distance runner in Iowa.

"It's pretty cool to see that," he said Tuesday after winning the Linn-Mar Invitational in 15 minutes, 34 seconds over the flat 5-kilometer course. "It will be fun the next couple of years."

Cole Decker of Dowling Catholic had been ranked No. 1 in the state, but Evans beat him by 16 seconds at the Heartland Classic.

"I was pretty amazed," Evans said. "I'm figuring he probably had some kind of an off-day. I did not see that coming. I figured he'd be right with me.

"I was really nervous," he said. "I was thinking he was going to run away with it. I kept waiting for him to make a move. He's going to be right with me at state, I know that much."

The state meet is scheduled for Oct. 29 in Fort Dodge.

Ben Anderson of West Des Moines Valley was ranked No. 2 in the state prior to the Heartland Classic, but Evans beat him by eight seconds. Anderson stayed No. 2 in the rankings and Decker fell to No. 3.

Evans finished second in the Heartland Classic, finishing behind a runner from Minnesota. It became a battle for second place among Evans, Decker, Anderson and a few others.

"It was a lot of fun," Evans said. "It was a great course. We had a good battle going between me and Cole and Ben Anderson for 2 1/2 miles.

"I just pulled away around one turn and the guy from Minnesota caught me, but it was really a lot of fun. It was a great course to run on."

Evans has won all of his races this fall against Iowans, mostly by wide margins.

"At the start of the season I didn't see this coming," he said. "But now I'm just thinking I need to be with the front group and I just go from there."

He's looking forward to competing for a state title next month and possibly winning the race.

"I hope so," he said. "I'm definitely looking to contend for that, for sure."

There were only five schools in the Linn-Mar Invitational Tuesday, and all the guests ended up chasing Linn-Mar.

The Lions won the boys title with 37 points, trimming Prairie (45) and Washington (52). Jacob Aune of Prairie finished second and Robert Hogg of Washington was third.

Carolyn Newhouse led the Linn-Mar girls to their title by winning her 4-kilometer race in 14 minutes, 56 seconds. She beat teammate Rachel Perry by 22 seconds. The Lions finished 1-2-3-4-6 to run away with the team title.

LINN-MAR INVITATIONAL
Tuma Soccer Complex

Boys Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 37, 2. Prairie 45, 3. Washington 52, 4. Marion 92, 5. Xavier 141.

Girls Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 16, Prairie 58, 3. Washington 66, 4. Xavier 95, 5. Marion 142.

Boys Top 10
5K

1. Josh Evans (LM) 15:34, 2. Jacob Aune (CRP) 16:03, 3. Robert Hogg (CRW) 16:08, 4. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 16:08, 5. Chase Grabau (LM) 16:23, 6. Lukas Mees (MAR) 16:28, 7. Laurent Hakizimana (CRW) 16:34, 8. Daniel Murphy (LM) 16:37, 9. Zach Waite (CRP) 16:39, 10. Bryce Poellet (LM) 16:42.

Girls Top 10
4K

1. Carolyn Newhouse (LM) 14:56, 2. Rachel Perry (LM) 15:18, 3. Morgan Uridil (LM) 15:18, 4. Brooklynn Kascel (LM) 15:20, 5. Shannon Gorman (CRW) 15:24, 6. Maddie Saville (LM) 15:33, 7. Bree Gaster (CRP) 15:50, 8. Caitlin Novak (LM) 16:13, 9. Beth Heims (CRP) 16:21, 10. Anastasia Jordan (CRP) 16:26.

Boys Teams

Linn-Mar: 1. Josh Evans 15:34, 5. Chase Grabau 16:23, 8. Daniel Murphy 16:37, 10. Bryce Poellet 16:42, 13. Kyle Read 17:05, 14. Tanner Rathje 17:06.

Prairie: 2. Jacob Aune 16:03, 4. Mitch Pritts 16:08, 9. Zach Waite 16:39, 12. Isaiah Vlasek 17:03, 18. Christian Counts-Chopli 17:20, 23. Walker Thompson 17:42, 25. Derek Wheatley 18:03.

Washington: 3. Robert Hogg 16:08, 7. Laurent Hakizimana 16:34, 11. Joe Berry 16:44, 15. Matt Wittman 17:07, 16. Jon Rockwell 17:12, 17. Trevor Luebe 17:13, 24. Blair Burdt 17:48.

Marion: 6. Lukas Mees 16:28, 19. Cole Kuethe 17:25, 20. Greg Sam 17:32, 21. Peter Rethwisch 17:37, 26. Isaac Smith 18:22, 28. Jordan Garthwaite 18:45, 30. Colton Forster 19:05.

Xavier: 22. Luke Koechner 17:42, 27. Hunter Wille 18:36, 29. Evan Bednar 18:59, 31. Brandon Gradoville 19:27, 32. Bryce Volk 19:33, 33. Jacob Herndon 19:43.

Girls Teams

Linn-Mar: 1. Carolyn Newhouse 14:56, 2. Rachel Perry 15:18, 3. Morgan Uridil 15:18, 4. Brooklynn Kascel 15:20, 6. Maddie Saville 15:33, 8. Caitlin Novak 16:13, 13. Sydney Johnston 16:37.

Prairie: 7. Bree Gaster 15:50, 9. Beth Heims 16:21, 10. Anastasia Jordan 16:26, 15. Amanda Wever 16:46, 17. Maddie Rainey 16:55, 22. Brittney England 17:27, 27. Anna Rubsam 17:43.

Washington: 5. Shannon Gorman 15:24, 11. Katie Karamitros 16:28, 14. Morgan Stuckenschneider 16:45, 16. Madison Stuckenschneider 16:52, 20. Anna Kline 17:06, 24. Kylie Coutentos 17:31, 28. Taylor Temple 17:46.

Xavier: 12. Sarah Chicchelly 16:30, 18. Ann Glavan 17:00, 19. Marinna Schroud 17:00, 21. Lauren Smith 17:27, 25. Haylee Burns 17:32, 29. Kim Leskovec 17:47.

Marion: 23. Ellen Cannon 17:30, 26. Tara Zumwalt 17:36, 30. Alexis Timp 18:02, 31. Grace Ehlinger 18:11, 32. Michaela Jacobs 18:12, 33. Sam Livingston 18:27, 34. Abby Kolarick 18:28.

Prairie girls 17th at Heartland Classic

AMES - Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans beat the top-ranked runners in Iowa Saturday and finished second at the prestigious Heartland Classic cross country meet in Ames.

Josh Thorson of Wayzata, Minn., won the race in 15 minutes, 31 seconds. Evans placed second in 15:44, making him the top finisher among all Iowans in the meet.

Dowling Catholic senior Cole Decker, the top-ranked runner in Iowa, placed fifth Saturday. West Des Moines Valley junior Ben Anderson, who is ranked second in the state, finished third.

Evans was ranked third in the state this past week but could vault to No.1 with his impressive showing Saturday.

Linn-Mar finished fifth in the boys standings out of 25 teams. Dowling Catholic won the title, followed by Wayzata (Minn.), Edina (Minn.), Shawnee Mission South (Kan.) and the Lions. Teams from five states competed in the meet.

Jacob Aune of Prairie placed ninth out of 171 runners in 16:18. Mitch Pritts of Prairie finished 12th in 16:25, helping the Hawks place ninth in the team standings.

The Linn-Mar girls finished in second place out of 27 teams in their race Saturday. Dowling Catholic won the title with 45 points, followed by the Lions (87) and Bettendorf (112). Prairie was 17th.

Linn-Mar senior Carolyn Newhouse finished fifth out of 185 runners in 14:34. The Lions placed five runners in the top-25 with Brooklyn Kascel 18th, Morgan Uridil 19th, Maddie Saville 22nd and Rachel Perry 23rd.

6TH ROOSEVELT HEARTLAND CLASSIC
Iowa State Course

Boys Team Standings

1. Dowling Catholic 122, 2. Wayzata (Minn.) 155, 3. Edina (Minn.) 155, 4. Shawnee Mission South (Kan.) 159, 5. Linn-Mar 175, 6. Liberty (Mo.) 200, 7. Ames 214, 8. Iowa City West 220, 9. Prairie 257, 10. Fremont (Neb.) 264, 11. Waukee 299, 12. West Des Moines Valley 304, 13. Pella 309, 14. Indianola 326, 15. Shawnee Mission Northwest (Kan.) 362, 16. Millard North (Neb.) 405, 17. Bettendorf 427, 18. Shawnee Mission North (Kan.) 441, 19. Johnston 464, 20. DM Roosevelt 478, 21. Ankeny 509, 22. Blue Valley North
(Kan.) 575, 23. Lincoln North Star (Neb.) 625, 24. DM Lincoln 804, 25. DM Hoover 823.

Girls Team Standings

1. Dowling Catholic 45, 2. Linn-Mar 87, 3. Bettendorf 112, 4. Wayzata (Minn.) 147, 5. West Des Moines Valley 185, 6. Waukee 188, 7. Shawnee Mission Northwest (Kan.) 200, 8. DM Roosevelt 213, 9. IC West 221, 10. Cedar Falls 274, 11. Ankeny 278, 12. Johnston 300, 13. Liberty (Mo.) 383, 14. Dallas Center-Grimes 411, 15. Ames 421, 16. Pella 458, 17. Prairie 461, 18. Millard North (Neb.) 507, 19. Eastview (Minn.) 519, 20. Indianola 535, 21. Blue Valley North (Kan.) 570, 22. Fremont (Neb.) 616, 23. Shawnee Mission North (Kan.) 652, 24. Lincoln North Star (Neb.) 684, 25. Shawnee Mission South (Kan.) 722, 26. Omaha Marian (Neb.) 730, 27. DM Hoover (876).

Top 15 Boys

1. Josh Thorson, Wayzata (Minn.)           15:31
2. Josh Evans, Linn-Mar                         15:44
3. Ben Anderson, WDM Valley                15:52
4. Danny Aldaba, Fremont (Neb.)            15:55
5. Cole Decker, Dowling                    16:00
6. Connor Olson, Wayzata (Minn.)           16:02
7. Mohamed Hamden, Lincoln (Neb.)          16:12
8. Zach Buchheit, Pella                    16:17
9. Jacob Aune, Prairie                     16:18
10. Shannon Hall, Liberty (Mo.)            16:19
11. Kirk Bado, Shawnee Mission (Kan.)      16:22
12. Mitch Pritts, Prairie                  16:25
13. Scott Leonard, Shawnee Mission (Kan.)  16:25
14. Arturo Garcia, Fremont (Neb.)          16:25
15. Ryan Cox, Millard (Neb.)               16:26

Top 15 Girls

1. Madison Waymire, Dallas Center-Grimes   14:06
2. Karissa Schweizer, Dowling              14:25
3. Mahnee Watts, Bettendorf                14:32
4. Emma Huston, DM Roosevelt               14:33
5. Carolyn Newhouse, Linn-Mar              14:34
6. Anna Peer, Bettendorf                   14:36
7. Pombie Silverman, IC West               14:40
8. Vanessa Miller, Dowling                 14:41
9. Jeralyn Poe, Lincoln (Neb.)             14:43
10. Grace Gibbons, Dowling                 14:48
11. Anna French, Wayzata (Minn.)           14:48
12. Alexandra Vaughan, Dowling             14:50
13. Hannah Thomas, Dowling                 14:51
14. Megan Nickles, Bettendorf              14:55
15. Grace Vander Welde, WDM Valley         14:55

Linn-Mar Boys Results

2. Josh Evans 15:44, 22. Chase Grabau 16:36, 43. Kyle Read 16:51, 53. Bryce Poellet 16:59, 55. Daniel Murphy 17:00, 72. Matt Simon 17:16, 125. Keegan Cook 18:01.

Prairie Boys Results

9. Jacob Aune 16:18, 12. Mitch Pritts 16:25, 46. Zach Waite 16:53, 92. Christi Counts-Choplick 17:31, 98. Walker Thompson 17:39, 143. Juan Loera 18:31, 153. Sean Koopman 18:58.

Linn-Mar Girls Results

5. Carolyn Newhouse 14:34, 18. Brooklyn Kascel 14:59, 19. Morgan Uridil 15:00, 22. Maddie Saville 15:07, 23. Rachel Perry 15:08, 63. Caitlin Novak 15:48, 130. Haley Berry 16:43.

Prairie Girls Results

53. Bree Gaster 15:38, 79. Amanda Weyer 16:01, 98. Beth Heims 16:12, 112. Maddie Rainey 16:21, 119. Katie Costigan 16:26, 132. Anastasia Jordan 16:44, 174. Anna Rubsam 17:53.

Prairie girls 8th at PV meet

BETTENDORF - Linn-Mar's Carolyn Newhouse finished third and two teammates placed in the top 10 Saturday at the Spartan Invitational girls cross country meet.

Linn-Mar finished in second place behind Naperville North of suburban Chicago. The Lions beat Iowa City High by one point.

Linn-Mar's Brooklyn Kascel was seventh and Morgan Uridil ninth. Rachel Perry finished 26th and Caitlin Novak 31st.

Bettendorf's Anna Peer won the race in 14 minutes, 45 seconds. Newhouse finished in 15:07, Kascel in 15:22 and Uridil in 15:25.

Prairie was eighth, Xavier ninth and Jefferson 12th.

SPARTAN INVITATIONAL

Teams - 1. Naperville North, Ill., 45, 2. Linn-Mar 76, 3. Iowa City High 77, 4. Pleasant Valley 105, 5. Edina, Minn., 132, 6. Bettendorf 144, 7. Dubuque Senior 167, 8. CR Prairie 209, 9. CR Xavier 260, 10. North Scott 286, 11. Davenport West 342, 12. CR Jefferson 377.

Top 10 Individuals
1. Anna Peer (Bettendorf) 14:45
2. Addie Royer (PV) 14:59
3. Carolyn Newhouse (Linn-Mar) 15:07
4. Kimber Meyer (Naperville North) 15:14
5. Maria McDaniel (Naperville North) 15:17
6. Piper Bain (Edina) 15:21
7. Brooklyn Kascel (Linn-Mar) 15:22
8. Alex Moxon (Naperville) 15:24
9. Morgan Uridil (Linn-Mar) 15:25
10. Mahnee Watts (Bettendorf) 15:30

LINN-MAR (76)
3. Carolyn Newhouse 15:07
7. Brooklyn Kascel 15:22
9. Morgan Uridil 15:25
26. Rachel Perry 16:14
31. Caitlin Novak 16:24
32. Hannah Grissel 16:32
38. Sydney Johnston 16:45

PRAIRIE (209)
15. Bree Gaster 15:41
36. Beth Heims 16:44
50. Maddie Rainey 17:10
51. Amanda Weyer 17:11
57. Anastasia Jordan 17:42
64. Ashley Hawkins 18:08
66. Brittney England 18:23

XAVIER (260)
41. Sarah Chicchelly 16:53
46. Allison Pitz 17:03
56. Ann Glavan 17:35
58. Marinna Schroud 17:43
59. Kim Leskovec 17:48
61. Lauren French 17:52
62. Rachel Sigmon 17:58

JEFFERSON (377)
65. Michelle Zikes 18:15
74. Bethany Polansky 19:08
77. Rachel Broghammer 19:43
80. Jennifer McDowell 20:38
81. Kim Crain 21:58
82. Sarah Fehlberg 1:19:19

Carolyn Newhouse takes 3rd at Prairie Invy

Linn-Mar senior Carolyn Newhouse appears to be in considerable pain when she's running, her face contorted in seeming agony, arms pumping as she strains to keep moving along.

Don't be deceived. Running a 4K race is certainly hard work, especially on a hot day, but Newhouse insists she's having a good time while she motors along the course.

"Yeah, I love running," she said Saturday morning after a strong performance at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational.

Armstrong placed third on the gently sloping course at Prairie in 15 minutes, 23 seconds in a good race with some of the top cross country runners in the state.

Lauren Benzing of Solon won the race in a course-record time of 15 minutes, 4 seconds, then needed help from a meet official when her legs got wobbly after she crossed the finish line.

Allison Gregg of Cedar Falls took second in 15:13, then Armstrong finished 10 seconds later.

"It's not as good as I wanted to, because I wanted to be up there with Benzing and Gregg," Armstrong remarked, "but I'm still pretty happy with it."

Cedar Falls nipped Linn-Mar, 57-59, for the team championship even though the Lions had three runners finish in the top-7. Brooklynn Kascel placed fifth for Linn-Mar in 15:42 and Morgan Uridil was seventh in 15:56.

Cedar Falls won the race with slightly better depth.

Newhouse knows how it looks when she's running, with the pained expression on her face, but she actually wishes the races were longer than the standard 4K for girls cross country. "Yeah, that's true," she said.

She prefers 5K races and longer, and put in hundreds of miles over the summer in preparation for the season.

There were a total of 15 teams in the girls race Saturday, including six teams from the Metro area.

Katie Wampole, Allison Culver, Aliza Lichty and Alyssa Averhoff helped Kennedy finish third with good performances. Wampole was 11th, Culver 12th, Lichty 15th and Averhoff 17th in a cluster of Cougars.

Shannon Gorman finished in eighth place as the Washington Warriors took fifth in the team standings. Anna Kline ran 14th and Colby Bjornsen was 16th.

Bree Gaster finished in 13th place to help the Prairie Hawks take seventh in their own meet.

Xavier finished in ninth place and the Marion Indians were 14th.

PRAIRIE INVITATIONAL
Girls Team Standings

1. Cedar Falls 57, 2. Linn-Mar 59, 3. Kennedy 93, 4. Iowa City West 96, 5. Washington 107, 6. Solon 131, 7. Prairie 163, 8. Mount Vernon 233, 9. Xavier 259, 10. Southeast Polk 279, 11. Monticello 316, 12. Benton Community 341, 13. Columbus Community 363, 14. Marion 416, 15. Anamosa 419.

Top 10 Individuals
(4K race route)

1. Lauren Benzing, Solon, 15:04
2. Allison Gregg, Cedar Falls, 15:13
3. Carolyn Newhouse, Linn-Mar, 15:23
4. Brianna King, Cedar Falls, 15:26
5. Brooklynn Kascel, Linn-Mar, 15:42
6. Pombie Silverman, I.C. West, 15:52
7. Morgan Uridil, Linn-Mar, 15:56
8. Shannon Gorman, Washington, 15:58
9. Ashlynn Yokom, I.C. West, 16:01
10. Mariah Kauder, Cascade, 16:01

LINN-MAR
3. Carolyn Newhouse 15:23
5. Brooklynn Kascel 15:42
7. Morgan Uridil 15:56
20. Rachel Perry 16:40
24. Caitlin Novak 16:48
27. Hanna Grissel 16:54
35. Sydney Johnston 17:00

KENNEDY
11. Katie Wampole 16:12
12. Allison Culver 16:16
15. Aliza Lichty 16:32
17. Alyssa Averhoff 16:32
38. Tara Mittelberg 17:10
44. Carolyn Stone 17:27

WASHINGTON
8. Shannon Gorman 15:58
14. Anna Kline 16:32
16. Colby Bjornsen 16:32
26. Katie Karamitros 16:50
43. Jackie Hughes 17:26
59. Joslyn Ross 17:51
62. Kylie Coutentos 17:58

PRAIRIE
13. Bree Gaster 16:25
22. Amanda Wever 16:46
25. Beth Heims 16:50
49. Maddie Rainey 17:34
54. Anastasia Jordan 17:36
65. Ashley Hawkins 18:10

XAVIER
36. Allison Pitz 17:02
45. Kim Leskovec 17:27
57. Rachel Sigmon 17:46
60. Ann Glavan 17:52
61. Marinna Schroud 17:56
67. Lauren French 18:11

MARION
70. Tara Zumwalt 18:16
72. Ellen Cannon 18:17
90. Kaitlin Church 19:30
91. Sara Mork 19:30
93. Abby Kolarick 19:35
96. Alexis Timp 19:50
102. Sam Livingston 22:12