State-ranked Mustangs finish second at Chariton

CHARITON — The PCM girls’ cross country team had another shot to prove it belongs in the state rankings on Thursday.

The Class 2A No. 17 Mustangs faced two more ranked squads and came out in the middle as they placed second at the Charger Invitational at Lake View Golf & Country Club.

Tiffani Koonce and Lila Milani both finished in the top 10 and six Mustangs ended up in the top 25 as PCM scored 60 points in second place.

The PCM boys also faced a pair of ranked teams and Coby DeRaad once again led the way with a top-20 finish.

Class 2A No. 4 Albia won the girls’ team title with 33 points. The Lady Demons placed three runners in the first four positions and 2A No. 4 McKenna Montgomery won the 5K race in 19 minutes, 2.9 seconds.

The Mustangs placed three runners in the top 11 positions and edged 1A No. 10 Martensdale-St. Marys for second. PCM scored 60 points, while the Blue Devils were third with 68.

The rest of the seven-team field included Davis County (75), Pleasantville (147), Wayne (166) and Chariton (208). There were six incomplete teams.

Martensdale-St. Marys’ Karson Oberender was the race runner-up in 20:28.1.

Koonce finished fifth in 21:08.8, Milani was eighth in 21:33.1 and Ali Hilsabeck finished 11th in 21:54.5.

Abi Teeter (22:59.1) and Bailey Wheeler (22:59.1) were the final scoring runners in 22nd and 23rd, respectively. Makayla True (23:06.8) and Raegan Vannoy (23:08.2) were non-scoring runners in 25th and 26th, respectively.

Lexi Fagg (27:36.5) placed 56th and Alyssa Buckingham (36:34) was 77th as non-scoring runners.

DeRaad finished 18th in the boys’ 5K race. He hit the finish line in 18:21.2. Leighton McClure also was in the top 30 as he placed 28th in 19:19.1.

The final three scoring runners were Gabe Nessa (19:30.2) in 32nd, Joe Shaver (19:40.2) in 38th and Kolby Clark (20:24.2) in 46th. Charlie Ford (20:32.1) was a non-scoring runner in 48th.

Class 2A No. 4 Chariton won the boys’ team title with 25 points. The host Chargers secured six of the top 11 positions, led by race winner and 2A No. 21 David Crabb.

Crabb’s winning time was clocked in 17:03.2. The runner-up was Martensdale-St. Marys’ Christian Choate in 17:11.8.

Albia (81), Davis County (84), 1A No. 13 Martensdale-St. Marys (92) and Clarke (139) completed the top five.

PCM (140), Wayne (192), Cardinal (218) and Moravia (239) finalized the nine-team field and there were four incomplete teams.