Newton boys take down No. 20 Oskaloosa at LHC meet

The only boys cross country team not ranked in the Little Hawkeye Conference is Newton. But the Cardinals did not finish last at the conference meet on Monday.

And they scored fewer points than Class 3A No. 20 Oskaloosa despite a few varsity runners being plagued by illness.

“The boys ran fantastic races as the varsity beat No. 20 Osky and was only a few points away from beating a ranked Pella Christian,” Newton head boys cross country coach Steve Weeks said. “I feel like we’ve spent the entire season just behind all the ranked teams we’ve been racing with and have always been on the outside looking in so it was nice to finally notch a victory there.”

The LHC is one of the toughest conferences in the state. Class 4A No. 5 Norwalk won the meet with 32 points. The Warriors placed four runners in the top eight and all seven finished in the top 20.

The first 15 finishers in each varsity race earned medals and all-conference honors. There were seven ranked individuals in the boys’ race.

Newton’s best finisher was Cooper Lenz in 22nd. Javin Doland was 25th at Maytag Park.

Class 4A No. 15 Dallas Center-Grimes was the team runner-up with 61 points and 4A No. 14 Indianola was third with 65 points.

Class 3A No. 2 Pella, which was missing three varsity runners, took fourth with 79 points. It’s cross-town rival, 2A No. 14 Pella Christian, was next with 149 points.

Host Newton finished seven points back of the state-ranked Eagles and 11 points in front of 3A No. 20 Oskaloosa (167).

“The JV team also was exactly one point away from beating a team,” Weeks said. “Normally, these would not be ideal goals, but the Little Hawkeye Conference is easily one of the toughest cross country conferences to compete in.”

Lenz was clocked in 17 minutes, 33.3 seconds and Doland was three places back in 17:55.3.

Christian Buchli was third on the team. He came in 32nd in 18:34.3.

Twins Lance and Levi Zaabel were 35th and 42nd, respectively, as the final scoring runners. Lance Zaabel hit the finish line in 18:38.6 and Levi Zaabel crossed the line in 19:42.8.

The Cardinals’ non-scoring runner was Noah Tremel, who placed 44th in 20:04.8. David Wickett (20:01.3) was the top JV finisher in 39th but came in with a better time than Tremel.

The Cardinals hosted a meet at Maytag Park back on Sept. 24 and five of the six varsity runners and Wickett improved their times from that meet.

Lenz, Doland, Tremel and Buchli were at least 18 seconds faster. Doland improved his time from the first meet by 42 seconds and Tremel cut off 32 seconds.

“Senior captain Christian Buchli broke through today and finished as our third scorer, which I knew has been a goal of his,” Weeks said. “Cooper Lenz and Javin Doland continue to be neck-and-neck at the top. The Zaabel twins finished fourth and fifth again today, and Noah finished strong.

“We are still dealing with athletes recovering from illness so a few times aren’t what they normally were and Drew, a point scorer on varsity, did not finish the race.”

Class 3A No. 2 Caanan Dunham of Pella won the boys’ 5K race in 16:00.1. Class 4A No. 6 Teegan Kralik of Norwalk was the runner-up in 16:31.5.

DCG edged Indianola in the team race because the Mustangs placed all five scoring runners in the top 20.

“Keary Sanger, in his last race in high school cross country, went out with a personal best on what’s arguably one of the most difficult and hilliest courses around,” Weeks said. “I’m beyond impressed with all of our guys and glad things really seem to be clicking at the right time of the year. Now we wait for district assignments and start figuring out what our pathway is to qualify for state.”

Notes: The Iowa High School Athletic Association released its cross country assignments on Wednesday. The Cardinals will return to Pella for their state qualifying meet on Oct. 23. The ranked boys’ teams are No. 2 Pella, No. 12 Bondurant-Farrar, No. 13 Winterset, No. 18 Fort Madison and No. 20 Oskaloosa. The rest of the field includes Knoxville, Des Moines Hoover, Fairfield, Keokuk and Saydel.