Marshalltown Bobcats

Marshalltown boys cross country made a statement on its home course with a 10th-place finish in the Bobcat Invite at the Marshalltown Community College campus on Thursday.

The Bobcats were led by sophomore Preston Johnson, who crossed the finish line in 10th overall in 15:27.

“This is a state-caliber meet and I think that’s been their goal these last two weeks to go out and perform like that,” MHS head coach Chad Pietig said. “I’m just ecstatic for them.”

John Moellers was 17th in 15:43, Carter Nunn placed 23rd in 15:51, Parker Gooding 77th in 16:49 and Isaac Cisneros was the last scorer in 124th in 18:32. Myles Goldman added an 18:34 for the Bobcats.

Some of the teams Marshalltown beat out in the standings were Ames — who finished ahead of the Bobcats at the Little Cyclones home meet last week — West Des Moines Valley, Urbandale and Waukee.

“We all could feel something like this brewing,” Johnson said. “We’re looking forward to what this year can bring.”

Cedar Falls ran away with the team title, scoring 64 points. Jaden Merrick of the Tigers clipped Ankeny’s Ethan Zuber at the finish line by a tenth of a second for the individual title.

Johnson finished second to Zuber at the Ames meet last week, but ended up just scratching by for a top-10 finish in a competitive field on Thursday.

“After last week, it wasn’t really where I wanted to be,” Johnson said. “I wanted to be closer to that lead pack, but they went out really quick and I kind of died towards the end. But I’m still happy with where I finished today. … It’ll take a lot to stick with those guys, knowing when to go, when to stay back, but it’ll come with more experience.”

Almost across the board, the Bobcats finished at least a minute faster than they did at this event last year.

“That just tells you how hard they worked all summer,” Pietig said. “Six days a week starting June 1. So they deserve to be happy for these results, but we’re not done. We keep saying, ‘Be happy, but be hungry,’ want more, don’t settle because the teams here aren’t settling. There’s probably some teams going home tonight ticked off that they got beat by Marshalltown. … But this group has done the work.”

East Marshall finished ahead of BCLUW in the boys team standings, placing 20th and 21st, respectively.

Chandler Curtis was 120th in 18:10 to lead the Mustangs and Austin Pansegrau was close behind in 122nd in 18:14.

Cayden White led BCLUW in 106th in 17:26. White is coming off a 26th-place finish in the 1A state meet last fall.

“His mile splits were really good,” BCLUW head coach Donna Fiscus said of White. “He’s been having a little issue with his back, but nothing too bad. … We’ve got two get a couple more guys down in the 19s with him but this is only our third race and we’ve done all three in the last week. We’re where we need to be, we just need to get some of those ailments and injuries taken care of.”

A pair of BCLUW girls led the area competitors on Thursday: Kalia Stover was 75th in 20:53 and Abby Kemp was 82nd in 21:17. The Comets were 16th as a team with 495 points; Marshalltown finished 18th with 562 points and East Marshall was 20th with 599 points.

Kemp was a state qualifier for the second time in her career in 2023, while Stover is looking for her first state berth.

“Kalia ran really well,” Fiscus said. “Abby ran well too but she’s having to work through a little bit of a problem with her calf. But I know she could run a little faster. And Chloe Switzer, our freshman girl, snuck in there as our third runner.

“When you can beat some 4A schools and another couple around your size, I think they’re doing really well, and I’m pumped for them.”

Anessa Morrison was the lead Bobcat, finishing the course in 22:01 for 96th place. Miller Heitmann was 106th in 23:44.

“Those two definitely get the girls motivated,” MHS girls head coach Kim Hurley said. “I know one day Anessa was running extra and the rest of the girls were done and admiring that about her. She’s a good friend and humble and leads the way and Millie is the same way, and that’s just what makes this team so positive. … We had eight lifetime PRs tonight for our girls and we’re really going to celebrate that.”

Rounding out Bobcat girls scoring were Emerson Eastman in 117th, Elyza Ceren in 118th and Kaitlyn Yepez Ramirez in 125th.

East Marshall’s Sydney Hull led the Mustangs in 24:01, scoring 108th place.

51st Bobcat Cross Country Invite

At Marshalltown

GIRLS

Team Standings — 1. Johnston 51; 2. Cedar Falls 113; 3. Waukee Northwest 118; 4. West Des Moines Valley 130; 5. Ankeny 174; 6. Dubuque Hempstead 181; 7. Indianola 195; 8. Dallas Center-Grimes 196; 9. Waukee 209; 10. Ames 209; 11. Dowling Catholic 213; 12. Southeast Polk 338; 13. Norwalk 364; 14. Des Moines Roosevelt 366; 15. Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR 471; 16. BCLUW 495; 17. Urbandale 502; 18. Marshalltown 562; 19. Des Moines Hoover 596; 20. East Marshall 599.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Charlee Gall, CF, 17:35; 2. Piper Messerly, DC-G, 17:59; 3. Marley Turk, AMES, 18:07; 4. Alyx Woodley, JOHN, 18:08; 5. Jordyn Brown, INDI, 18:14.1; 6. Evie Henneberry, DH, 18:26; 7. Drew Beason, ANK, 18:33; 8. Grace Beasley, JOHN, 18:40; 9. Maddy Stevens, DC-G, 18:49; 10. Ella Jones, WNW, 18:49.

BCLUW (495) — 75. Kalia Stover 20:53; 82. Abby Kemp 21:17; 101. Chloe Switzer 22:31; 113. Ceanna White 24:27; 124. Izzy Morris 25:34.

MARSHALLTOWN (562) — 96. Anessa Morrison, 22:01; 106. Miller Heitmann, 23:44; 117. Emerson Eastman 25:12; 118. Elyza Ceren 25:18; 125. Kaitlyn Yepez Ramirez 25:42; 128. Sophia Valdez Chavez 25:46.

EAST MARSHALL (599) — 108. Sydney Hull 24:01; 114. Ava Hendricks 24:30; 115. Aubrey Lambi 24:33; 130. Delaney Ryan 26:22; 132. Bailey Oetker 31:07.

——

BOYS

Team Standings — 1. Cedar Falls 64; 2. Indianola 126; 3. Norwalk 152; 4. Dallas Center-Grimes 153; 5. Ankeny 158; 6. Waukee Northwest 187; 7. Pleasant Valley 200; 8. Johnston 201; 9. Dubuque Senior 217; 10. Marshalltown 251; 11. Ames 267; 12. West Des Moines Valley 286; 13. Urbandale 297; 14. Waukee 333; 15. Dubuque Hempstead 382; 16. Southeast Polk 415; 17. Des Moines Roosevelt 440; 18. Des Moines Lincoln 563; 19. Fort Dodge 641; 20. East Marshall 647; 21. BCLUW 693; 22. Des Moines East 704; 23. Des Moines Hoover 708.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Jaden Merrick, CF, 14:40.0; 2. Ethan Zuber, ANK, 14:40.1; 3. Owen Marett, DMR, 15:09; 4. Isaiah Smith, ANK, 15:11; 5. Kieran DeGroote, 15:14; 6. Connor Martin, CF, 15:20; 7. Graham Ibeling, DC-G, 15:21; 8. Reed Robbins, INDI, 15:23; 9. Jack Crossland, JOHN, 15:27; 10. Preston Johnson, MHS, 15:27.

MARSHALLTOWN (251) — 10. Johnson 15:27; 17. John Moellers 15:43; 23. Carter Nunn 15:51; 77. Parker Gooding 16:49; 124. Isaac Cisneros 18:32; 125. Myles Goldman 18:34.

EAST MARSHALL (647) — 120. Chandler Curtis 18:10; 122. Austin Pansegrau 18:14; 129. Cael Curphy 19:17; 137. Nathan Frye 20:03; 139. Landen Shoeman 20:15; 143. Lars Dommer 20:45; 154. Maddux Bennett 22:59.

BCLUW (693) — 106. Cayden White 17:26; 145. Tommy Hinderhofer 20:49; 146. Jacob Castell 20:53; 147. Dominic Severa 21:17; 149. Olin Hupfeld 22:17; 156. Zack Morris 24:34.