A race for reflection

Oct. 20—WINTERSET — The Panthers' season came to an end Wednesday at the state qualifying meet in Winterset.

Seniors

The two seniors — Anthony Eblen and Christian Ahrens, hung up their racing shoes for the last time as Creston runners.

Eblen posted a 54th-place finish in 19:30, more than a minute faster than his previous time on this course.

His all-time personal best was set last week at the Hawkeye 10 conference meet in Glenwood where he narrowly broke 19:00 in an 18:59.

"I felt ready to race," Eblen said about his final race.

It's his teammates he will miss the most, but he won't miss competing because he's continuing his running journey next year at Coe College.

Ahrens ran a 20:53, placing 70th.

"I felt great," Ahrens said. "It's pretty chilly out but other than that, perfect condition to run. It's not too windy. I love this course."

Walking the course with his teammates before each race is a highlight from his high school career and will be what he misses most.

"That always puts you in a better mood because it's just fun," he said. "All good fun with the team, I'll miss that the most."

Coach Maggie Arnold said their absence will be felt next year.

"Anthony and Christian have been staples to our varsity lineup the last three years that I have coached," she said. "They are hard workers and have improved a ton from their first meets. We will have big shoes to fill next year as they were good teammates and hard workers."

Boys

Leading the way for the Panthers was sophomore Owen Weis, running 19:05 to place 44th.

Gabe Hopkins ran a great race, finishing 65th in 20:29, nearly two minutes faster than his time last year on this course.

Freshman Wyatt Goodenberger came in at the same time and place.

Wyatt Goodenberger

"I felt like the competition was fierce today and I ran hard," Goodenberger said. "I wish I would have ran faster, but it's a tough race."

Goodenberger said he had two highlights from his freshman year — breaking 20 minutes and beating Eblen in a race earlier in the season.

Allen Kendrick placed 74th in a time of 21:23.

Hector Suazo finished a few spots later in 22:00, 30 seconds faster than his previous time on the Winterset course.

In his first year of cross country, Suazo said it was his teammates that were the highlight. "They made it a lot better," he said.

Teams advancing to the state meet are Lewis Central (39 points), Glenwood (57) and Winterset (62).

Girls

Junior Payton Davis continued to lead the Panthers, finishing 36th in 22:21.

Payton Davis

Davis was the only of the five lady Panthers coming into the season with cross country experience.

Freshman Reese Strunk finished one place behind Davis, running a 22:24.

"I felt really good," Strunk said. "I felt like it went by really quick. I didn't PR, but that was OK."

The time was just a few seconds slower than her previous time on the course.

"Yesterday's state qualifier was incredibly stacked with awesome competition," Arnold said. We were working toward PRs since that was the first course we had a full team on this year. We did not quite reach that goal with everyone, but they gained valuable racing experience. The state qualifying race has a different type of excitement and buzz around it."

Karter Clayton ran 24:12 and Gretchen Hoepker ran 24:15, finishing 52nd and 53rd, respectively.

Clayton said she felt strong the entire race. Hoepker said the second mile was tough, but she was able to push through and kick at the end.

Strunk, Hoepker and Clayton all said the team was the highlight of their first year in cross country.

"We could all talk to each other about anything," Clayton said.

"It was all about the team," Hoepker added.

Abby Freeman ran 26:35, a minute and a half faster than her time on the course earlier this year. She placed 62nd.

Abby Freeman

"Today, I felt pretty confident with what I was going to do," Freeman said. "Even though I didn't meet my goal, I'm still proud of myself."

For her, breaking 28 minutes for the first time was her season highlight.

Teams advancing to the state meet are Glenwood (47 points), Ballard (52) and Lewis Central (72).