State-ranked Mustangs place third at Williamsburg

WILLIAMSBURG — The PCM girls cross country team came into the season with high expectations.

And after the first meet of the season, those expectations may have actually gotten higher.

The Class 2A No. 13 Mustangs put all seven varsity runners in the top 27 positions and took third at the Williamsburg Raider Invitational on Tuesday.

PCM scored 71 points in the third. Class 2A No. 9 Mid-Prairie won the meet title with 32 points and 3A No. 16 Williamsburg scored 54 points in second at the Williamsburg Recreation Center.

Newton finished sixth in the 11-team field as freshman Audrey Muckler led the way in 10th place.

“After the heat and a cancelled meet last week, today was definitely about getting the jitters out and a meet under their belts, and the team still came out and gave a tremendous start,” Newton head girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton said. “I think we already need to re-evaluate a couple team goals and set them higher.”

The rest of the field featured Oskaloosa (103), Davis County (164), Newton (171), Grinnell (192), Benton Community (193), Mediapolis (227), Montezuma (263) and Waterloo Christian (321).

There were no seniors in the PCM lineup as Abi Teeter and Lila Milani were seventh and eighth, respectively.

Mid-Prairie’s Brooklyn Stutzman won the girls’ varsity 5K race in 19 minutes, 52.9 seconds. Williamsburg’s Channing Becker was the runner-up in 20:12.3.

Teeter’s seventh-place time was clocked in 21:24.3. Milani was not far behind in eighth as she crossed the finish line in 21:25.7.

Darby DeRaad placed 14th in her prep debut. She finished the race in 22:36.5. Bailey Wheeler (23:03.2) and Annie Ford (23:43.8) completed the scoring runners in 20th and 22nd, respectively. It also was Ford’s prep debut.

The two non-scoring runners were Ali Hilsabeck (23:43.8) and Raegan Vannoy (23:44.7) in 26th and 27th, respectively.

Muckler finished 10th in her prep debut at Newton. Her time was clocked in 21:40.9. Meghan Trout (24:15.1) was next for the Cardinals in 32nd and Talia Friedman (24:53.3) placed 39th in her prep debut.

Alivia Kingery (25:09.8) and Bella Winther (25:17.7) were the final scoring runners in 44th and 46th, respectively. Sarah Malow (25:44.7) and Mia Van Zante (28:37.1) were non-scoring runners in 50th and 66th, respectively. It also was Van Zante’s prep debut.

“This is the second year in a row I’m saying that the team as a whole ran faster than last year,” Tipton said. “This is a tenacious group; there were still some disappointments out of today, which will help spur on the momentum. I’m excited to see what’s next.”

In the junior varsity race, PCM’s Paiten Rumbaugh was fourth and Newton’s Hadley Kruse placed eighth.