Trending
WAVERLY -- Round 2 went to Keegan Decker, too.
The Marshalltown High School cross country teams competed in the Dan Huston/Steve Johnson Invitational on Saturday at Wartburg College's Max Championship Cross Country Course, and Iowa City Liberty's senior standout topped the Bobcats' powerhouse Preston Johnson for the second time this season.
Decker finished first with a winning time of 15 minutes, 6.8 seconds, while Johnson ended up fifth in 15:31.6. Cedar Falls senior Dominic Williams was the runner-up in 15:19.1, Gilbert's Jacob Tallman took third in 15:22.5, and Cole Carrizales of Cedar Rapids Prairie placed fourth in 15:30.7.
Johnson and Decker finished 2-3 in last year's Class 4A state meet, and the collision course between them seems apparent again.
The Bobcat boys placed 22nd out of 39 scoring teams in the annual super-meet that includes teams from three states. Decker's Liberty squad won the team title with 84 points, Wayzata (Minn.) was second with 87 and Cedar Falls came in third with 107. MHS totaled 616 points.
Marshalltown sophomore Costin Piscitelli took 97th place with a time of 17:09.9, which was 1:44 faster than on the same course a year go. Michael Downs, a junior, was 154th in 17:45.7 -- 2:03 faster than last season. Fellow junior Thomas Stanley took 193rd in 18:13.0 -- 53 seconds faster -- and Zechariah Klaas, a sophomore, came across in 224th in 18:34.7 to round out the team scoring.
"Eleven guys raced at Wartburg today, and we had nine lifetime bests," said MHS head coach Chad Pietig.
BCLUW also participated in the meet, with Tommy Hinderhofer leading the Comets in 174th place with a personal-best time of 17:58.2. Olin Hupfeld finished 240th in 18:45.8, followed by Harrison Schiebel in 316th (20:17.4) and Manny Hinderhofer in 349th (23:39.7).
Freshmen lead MHS girls
On the girls' side, the Bobcats were 27th out of 32 scoring teams with 777 points. Wayzata took the team title with 77 points, Cedar Falls was second (102) and Pleasant Valley finished third (106).
A pair of freshmen led the Bobcats to the finish line on this day as Lillian Heil took 107th in 20:55.5 and Naysa Rottink was 135th in 21:29.7.
Sophomore Lily Johnson finished in 23:16.8 for 214th place, while freshman Eiley Chamberlin was 229th in 23:59.9. Mallory Meyeraan, a junior, rounded out the team scoring in 233rd place with a time of 24:11.7.
BCLUW's lone runner was junior Chloe Switzer, who came in 155th in 21:49.2.