PCM girls win first-ever title, boys finish second at HOIAC meet

COLO — What the PCM girls cross country team did on Tuesday was quite impressive.

But based on recent Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference results, the Mustang boys were maybe even more impressive.

After coming up just short last season, the PCM girls claimed the conference championship at Hickory Grove Park.

The Mustangs boys came into the meet having placed as high as sixth in the past five seasons but climbed all the way up to second this fall.

The PCM girls placed four in the top 15 and three Mustangs were in the top 10 of the boys’ 5K race.

Class 2A No. 11 PCM won the girls’ championship with 56 points. That was four points better than 2A No. 15 Roland-Story (60).

The rest of the top five featured Nevada (70), 1A No. 13 Grand View Christian (91) and West Marshall. South Hamilton (146) and Greene County (200) completed the seven-team field. Saydel and Perry had incomplete rosters.

The Lady Norse were in the lead after the first three scoring runners, but PCM rallied with a stronger back of the lineup.

Lila Milani led the Mustangs in seventh with a time of 21 minutes, 1.5 seconds. Darbey DeRaad finished 10th in 21:25.8, Abi Teeter was 12th in 21:44.6 and Annie Ford took 14th in 21:52. Milani, DeRaad and Teeter all earned medals.

It was Milani’s second straight top-10 finish at the HOIAC meet.

The final scoring runner was Bailey Wheeler (22:21.7) in 21st. Raegan Vannoy (22:25) and Paiten Rumbaugh (22:40.3) were non-scoring runners in 26th and 31st, respectively.

The other non-scoring runners were Ali Hilsabeck (23:10.9), Kaitlyn Fagg (23:14.4) and Lexi Fagg (23:19.9) in 31st, 32nd and 34th, respectively.

Class 2A No. 6 Dalaney Eldridge of West Marshall won the girls’ 5K race in 19:53. Lydia Ives of Grand View Christian was the runner-up in 20:01.4.

The PCM girls won their first conference title ever. The Mustangs were second twice and third twice in the last five seasons and didn’t even have a full team from 2005-2010.

Ford was six spots better than Roland-Story’s fourth runner and Wheeler came in three positions in front of the Lady Norse’s fifth runner.

The Mustang boys were significantly better this season than in any of the last five.

PCM placed just one runner in the top 30 and finished seventh last season and only one runner was in the top 40 the season before when the Mustangs were eighth.

Kash Fischer, Coby DeRaad and Owen Osterhaus were in the top eight and brought home medals on Tuesday. The Mustangs didn’t have enough runners for a team score three seasons ago.

Fischer led the way in third with a time of 17:30.9, Coby DeRaad finished seventh in 17:50.6 and Osterhaus placed eighth with a time of 17:53.3. It was Coby DeRaad’s second straight top-10 finish at the HOIAC meet.

Rylan Edgington (19:16) and Kolby Clark (19:21.2) were the final scoring runners in 27th and 32nd, respectively.

Charlie Ford (19:22.7) and Joe Shaver (19:24.6) were non-scoring runners in 33rd and 34th, respectively.

The other non-scoring runners were Wyatt Vannoy (21:10.2), Kaliber Fry (22:47) and Zach Richards (22:47.5) in 62nd, 75th and 76th, respectively.

Class 2A No. 26 Corben Lucchesi of Roland-Story was the boys’ winner in 17:08.6 and Nevada’s Dawson Lemke was the runner-up in 17:26.2.

Class 3A No. 19 Nevada won the boys’ title with 35 points. The Cubs placed four scoring runners in the top nine and all seven were in the first 25.

PCM (74) defeated Roland-Story (85) by 11 despite not having the services of varsity regular Gabe Nessa.

Greene County (114), West Marshall (117), Grand View Christian (130), Perry (194), South Hamilton (212) and Saydel (219) completed the nine-team field.