PCM girls place third, short-handed Cards finish eighth at Oskaloosa

OSKALOOSA — Cross country teams from PCM and Newton faced off against a tough field on a tough course during the Oskaloosa Invitational on Tuesday.

The Class 2A No. 7 Mustangs faced off against No. 8 Albia for the second time in six days but the girls’ field also featured 3A No. 19 Williamsburg and 1A No. 13 Danville.

The state-ranked Raiders placed six runners in the first 20 positions and ran away with the team title after first five came in the top 16.

Albia got some redemption against PCM in second, while short-handed Newton placed eighth in the 11-team field.

“It was a hot day and we were short-handed, but the team still gave a great effort and we beat one of our target teams in Carlisle,” Newton head girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton said. “These are the days that make the athletes tough and will benefit them down the road.”

The top area finisher was Newton freshman Audrey Muckler. She was eighth overall with a time of 21 minutes, 57.5 seconds.

PCM’s Lila Milani was a few seconds back of Muckler in ninth, and the Mustangs placed five in the first 27 positions.

Milani was clocked in 22:01.7 and Bailey Wheeler (22:56.1) was the second PCM finisher for the first time this season in 14th.

Raegan Vannoy (23:09.8) also was the third PCM finisher for the first time this season as she placed 19th.

Darbey DeRaad (23:14.5) and Abi Teeter (23:32.1) were the final scoring runners in 21st and 27th, respectively.

Ali Hilsabeck (24:07.7) and Annie Ford (24:16.7) were PCM’s non-scoring runners in 41st and 44th, respectively. Lexi Fagg (25:22.8) finished 58th and Paiten Rumbaugh (25:36.8) hit the line in 61st.

Muckler scored another top-10 finish to lead the Cardinals, who were without varsity runner Meghan Trout as well as Hadley Kruse, Abbie Preston and Tamika Rodenborn.

“Audrey competed well with some great runners and notched another top-10 finish,” Tipton said. “A couple PCM girls edged her at Williamsburg and she got them tonight.”

Bella Winther was next for the Cardinals in 45th. She was clocked in 24:24.6. Alivia Kingery (24:31.1) placed 46th, Talia Friedman (24:50.6) took 50th and Sarah Malow (27:25.9) was the final scoring runner in 77th.

Ashlyn Wallace was in the Cardinals’ top seven for the first time this season. She was 85th in a career-best time of 28:22.3.

Laek Sullivan also finished in the top seven for the first time as she was 95th in 30:59.5.

“Ashlyn looked strong and focused from the jump. She is ready to see that time drop more,” Tipton said. “Tonight is also a good lesson in the times will not always be your best, but what matters is how you compete. We are looking forward to some good training this week amongst the Homecoming fun and then we encourage you all to come out to Maytag Park on Tuesday for our first of two home meets.”

Class 2A No. 7 Makenna Montgomery of Albia won the girls’ 5K race in 19:54.9. Albia’s Paige Popson was the runner-up in 20:07.7.

Williamsburg won the team title with 46 points. Albia (74), PCM (90), Oskaloosa (136) and Danville (143) completed the top five.

Davis County (151) led the next group in sixth followed by Ottumwa (159), Newton (210), Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (226), Centerville (228) and Carlisle (264).