AMES — Marshalltown cross country sophomore Preston Johnson was the runner-up in the boys race at the Kirk Schmaltz Invite on the Iowa State University Cross Country Course in Ames on Thursday.
Johnson clocked in at 15:03; Ankeny’s Ethan Zuber, the defending state champion in Class 4A, crossed the tape in 14:56 as the champion.
The Bobcats finished eighth as a team in the 13-team field with a 166 team score, losing a sixth-runner tiebreaker to Waukee, who claimed the seventh spot.
Marshalltown senior John Moellers was ninth overall in 15:36; Carter Nunn placed 22nd in 16:14, Parker Gooding was 55th in 17:05 and Caleb Rasmussen was the last Bobcat scorer in 78th, running 18:18. Myles Goldman and Kager Kremer were 80th in 18:31 and 83rd in 19:47, respectively.
Norwalk won the team title with 104 points, Ankeny Centennial was second with 119 points.
Millie Heitmann led Marshalltown’s girls with a 67th-place run in 22:56 on Thursday. Mattea Wright was 71st in 23:31, Kaitlyn Yepez Ramirez 78th in 25:32, Emerson Eastman scored 78th in 26:51 and Elyza Ceren was the last scorer in 80th in 27:13. Jorja Janssen contributed a non-scoring 81st-place finish in 29:13.
The Bobcat girls finished 12th with a 375 team score. Ankeny Centennial won the team title with 54 points; Ames’ Marley Turk was the individual champ in 17:54.
Next up for Marshalltown cross country is the Bobcat Invite on the Marshalltown Community College campus next Thursday.