Preston Johnson

OTTUMWA — Marshalltown junior Preston Johnson won the Iowa Alliance Conference cross country title on Wednesday night while helping lead the Bobcat boys to a third-place finish.

Johnson claimed the conference crown with a winning time of 15 minutes, 52.1 seconds — nearly 30 seconds ahead of his closest competition. Mason City’s Henry Hansen scored the silver in 16:21.2, and Des Moines North’s Marvin Mejicano-Barahona was third in 16:31.7.

Marshalltown’s team total of 92 points trailed only Ames (33) and Des Moines Roosevelt (72) in the 11-team field.

Bobcat senior Myles Goldman was 14th overall in 17:50.8 to bridge the gap to senior Kade Randall, who was 20th in 18:04.4. Fellow senior Isacc Ceniceros took 25th in 18:14.7, and freshman Costin Piscitelli claimed 32nd to round out Marshalltown’s squad.

On the girls’ side, the Bobcats ranked fifth out of eight scoring teams with 151 points. Ames took the team title with 25 points, followed by Roosevelt (41) and Mason City (72).

The Bobcats’ top three runners were relatively bunched up, led by senior Anessa Morrison who was 23rd in 22:08.3. Sophomore Mallory Meyeraan was 25th in 22:30.2, and freshman Grace Whitmore was 27th in 22:38.4.

Fellow freshman Lily Johnson was 34th in 23:36.1, and junior Mattea Wright rounded out the Bobcats’ scoring in 42nd place (25:23.7).

Marshalltown hosts its Class 4A state-qualifying meet on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m. at Marshalltown Community College.