State cross-country: Montgomery earns silver at state
Oct. 30—FORT DODGE — Makenna Montgomery was met at the finish line on Saturday at Lakeview Golf Course with several hugs from several friends and family, most of whom had looks of astonishment on their faces.
Todd Ratliff, however, wasn't stunned. The head coach of the Albia cross-country teams has been watching Montgomery perform as one of the top runners in the state all season long.
"Nothing Makenna does at this point stuns me," Ratliff said.
Montgomery not only earned her second state cross-country medal, but ran near the front of the field from start to finish during Saturday morning's Class 2A girls state race at Kennedy Park. While it was Sumner-Fredericksburg senior Hillary Trainor, the state's top-ranked runner, that pulled away from the pack to win the individual state title, Montgomery was able to stay out in front of a lead pack that included three-time state champion Danielle Hostetler of Mid-Prairie.
When it was over, Montgomery had earned the silver medal and a plaque as the runner-up in the 2A girls state cross-country run posting a personal-best time of 18:35.7 finishing less than 26 seconds shy of a state title. Montgomery led the Albia girls to a program-best ninth-place overall finish as a team at state as the Lady Dees finally cracked the top 10 scoring 211 points beating Williamsburg for ninth by 14 points while coming up just nine points shy of Denver for eighth place.
"She (Trainor) got past me early and I just kind of watched her get a little further away. I just changed my mindset to not worrying about the people behind me and I started to focus on chasing her down," Montgomery said. "I never really got close to (Trainor), but it helped me keep my spot.
"It means a lot to finish this high at state. I was going into it planning to give it my all, but I didn't know what place that would get me. I'm happy with what happened. I wanted to medal again. Just crossing that finish line knowing that I gave it my all feels like a great accomplishment."
Trainor became the only runner to beat Montgomery in a race this season. The Albia sophomore used the same strategy that had led her to individual wins in every Lady Dee race this season by jumping up to the front of the pace early moving up to third after a 5:46.4 opening mile before moving past Clarinda junior Raenna Henke into second heading into the second half of the race.
Hostetler, who was making a bid for her fourth straight state title, was hot on the heels of Montgomery heading into the final mile of the race. While Hostetler ultimately fell behind Jesup teammates Mackenzie Wilson and Clare Wright, Montgomery was able to sustain her stride finishing three seconds ahead of Wilson at the finish line and 10.5 seconds ahead of Wright.
"She practiced 11 times this season to get to this point," Ratliff said of Montgomery. "Every meet we had this season, her goal was to get out and run as hard as she could for as long as she could. With the way she puts the work in, she was comfortable starting fast. The only difference in this meet was there were more runners around her.
"Everybody in that first group of 10 or 12 runners rolled the dice. It was pretty amazing to watch young people be willing to put that type of effort and confidence out there in what they're doing."
Serene Thompson and Avery Major helped Albia clinch the program's first top-10 state finish by running in the top 70 of the 2A girls race. Thompson passed 22 runners over the final 2.1 miles to finish 63rd overall in 20:52.5 while Major made a late move her own, passing three runners over the final mile to place 68th in 21:03.5.
Juliana Brown also helped Albia move up in the standings, going from 111th after one mile to a 90th-place finish in 21:33.7. Olivia Sheffield moved up 10 places over the final two miles for the Lady Dees, finishing 102nd overall in 21:54.4.
"It's shows the hard work we've put in during practice and the hard work our coaches are putting in to finish the way we knew we could," Major said. "I think that's really special."
Davis County senior Karston Nebel was able to hold off Thompson as the friendly South Central Conference rivals nearly pushed each other into the top 60. Nebel finished 62nd in 20:51.9, edging Thompson by 0.6 seconds.
"I haven't been able to beat Serene and Avery this season, so that was my goal," Nebel said. "I knew Serene was right behind me, so at the finish I tried to do as much as I could. It was cold, so I knew I had to get out and get running. If you get out fast, you can stay out fast. That was my goal."
Karston's young sister, Kallee, finished 78th in her first state cross-country run. The Davis County sophomore moved past 10 runners over the final mile, finishing 78th in 21:19.1.
"It was crazy running through all those people," Kallee Nebel said. "Going from running through all those people on the outside line to being in the middle of the pack was so different."
In the Class 2A boys state race, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont freshman Garrett Pumphrey made a late charge of his own, charging past 21 runners over the final two miles to finish 62nd in 17:22.4. Pumphrey, who opened the season at Ottumwa, finished an eventful first season of high school cross-country posting his best time yet.
"I'm so happy right now. I don't know how to explain it," Pumphrey said. "I want to make it back to state each year and place even higher every year I come back. I'm going to be putting a lot of miles over the summer to place higher here next year."
While Pumphrey is just beginning his high school cross-country journey, Fairfield senior Carley Seeley closed out an emotional four years running for the Trojans by finishing 66th in her first and only run in the Class 3A girls state cross-country race. Seeley moved past 33 runners over the final 2.1 miles, crossing the finish line in 20:31 before taking it all sitting just beyond the finish line for several minutes.
"I just tried to run free and enjoy every minute of running at state," Seeley said. "There was always a really good group of girls to work towards throughout the race. It felt so exciting to finally be up on that starting line. It felt like all four years of hard work finally paid off."
State cross-country meet
at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course
Fort Dodge
GIRLS
CLASS 4A — 123. Jasmine Luedtke (Ottumwa), 20:56.4.
CLASS 3A — 66. Carley Seeley (Fairfield), 20:31.
Class 2A
Team scores
1. Des Moines Christian, 101; 2. Van Meter, 110; 3. Monticello, 119; 4. Mid-Prairie, 122; 5. Forest City, 152; 6. Unity Christian, 176; 7. Jesup, 186; 8. Denver, 202; 9. Albia, 211; 10. Williamsburg, 225; 11. Tipton, 231; 12. Okoboji Milford, 261; 13. Hudson, 324; 14. Clarinda, 324; 15. GLR-CL, 345.
Albia — 2. McKenna Montgomery, 18:35.7; 63. Serene Thompson, 20:52.5; 68. Avery Major, 21:03.5; 90. Juliana Brown, 21:33.7; 102. Olivia Sheffield, 21:54.4; 104. Millie McAninch, 21:57.1; 121. Lily Buckingham, 22:44.7.
Davis County — 62. Karston Nebel, 20:51.9; 78. Kallee Nebel, 21:19.1.
CLASS 1A
Team scores
1. Madrid, 97; 2. South Winneshiek, 123; 3. Beckman Catholic, 125; 4. Earlham, 136; 5. ACGC, 185; 6. Pekin, 199; 7. Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 205; 8. Iowa City Regina, 211; 9. Martensdale-St. Mary's, 217; 10. North Linn, 230; 11. Woodbine Community, 233; 12. Treynor, 240; 13. Hinton, 250; 14. Grundy Center, 282; 15. Collins-Maxwell, 294; 16. AHSTW Avoca, 341.
Pekin — 17. Chloe Glosser, 19:54.4; 51. Lauren Steigleder, 20:50.3; 55. Audrey Fariss, 20:55.4; 114. Abby Guise, 22:42.3; 120. Lexi Swearingen, 22:51.6; 132. Breanna Drish, 23:27.3; 134. Cambree Earnest, 23:35.2.
BOYS
CLASS 2A — 62. Garrett Pumphrey (Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont), 17:22.4.
CLASS 1A
Team scores
1. Lake Mills, 111; 2. ACGC, 17; 3. Woodbine Community, 147; 4. Grundy Center, 153; 5. Danville, 176; 6. Iowa City Regina, 179; 7. Earlham, 186; 8. Madrid, 220; 9. Ankeny Christian Academy, 232; 10. Pekin, 233; 11. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 242; 12. Maquoketa Valley, 244; 13. Ogden, 255; 14. Beckman Catholic, 312; 15. Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 329; 16. Sibley-Ocheyedan, 337.
Pekin — 10. Brady McWhirter, 16:26.5; 55. Jaedon Wolver, 17:44.4; 85. Mason Dahlstrom, 18:08.7; 97. Cole Millikin, 18:25.5; 118. Lane Fariss, 18:52.9; 134. Ben Guise, 19:24.7; 144. Dylan Sobaski, 20:22.7.
Van Buren — 5. Lincoln Bainbridge, 16:13.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
