Hillcrest hosts cross country meet

Hillcrest Academy hosted its annual Invitational cross country meet Monday on campus. The course was soft with a little mud but the skies were clear. The meet featured two junior high school races and four high school races. 573 runners finished the six races. Twenty high schools competed in the high school division. Hillcrest Academy placed thirteenth out of thirteen full teams in the high school boys race. Pella won the boys team race. Individually for Hillcrest Sophomore Jorge Canchola led the Ravens in the second race of his career. Canchola placed seventy-seventh in 21:47. Collin Miller was the next Raven to cross the line in 21:50 for seventy-ninth place and a new personal best time. Will Kolck was one place and three seconds behind finishing in 21:53. Colby Harris placed eighty-second in 22:04. Owen Swartzendruber was the fifth and final scorer for the team placing eighty-fourth in 22:13. Swartzendruber took over six minutes off his time on this course at the Hillcrest Early Bird meet. Seniors Jesse Slater and Toby Chen both recorded season best times at the meet. Slater finished in 22:58 for eighty-sixth place. Chen ran 24:22 to place ninetieth. Sophomore Josiah Wittenberg of Pella won the race in 17:34 which establishes a new course record on the 5k course.

Boys Individual Placings			Team Scores
Jorge Canchola	77^th	21:47	Pella	40
Collin Miller	79^th	21:50	Williamsburg	73
Will Kolck	80^th	21:53	Danville-New London	90
Colby Harris	82^nd	22:04	Mid-Prairie	125
Owen Swartzendruber	84^th	22:13	Solon	129
Jesse Slater	86^th	22:58	Washington	157
Toby Chen	90^th	24:22	Fairfield	186
			Iowa City Regina	213
			Mount Pleasant	233
			Holy Trinity Catholic	283
			Lynnville-Sully	322
			North Mahaska	325
			Hillcrest Academy	352

The girls varsity race featured runners from seventeen schools. Hillcrest Academy tied with Fairfield for twelfth place but lost on the tiebreaker so ended up thirteenth of the thirteen schools with complete teams. Leah Bontrager led the team with a thirty-first finish and a time of 22:31. Sarena Gerber placed fiftieth in 23:52. Chloe Staley ran 27:02 for seventy-ninth place. Taryn Leichty placed eighty-fourth in 27:47. Julia Boller placed eighty-eighth in 28:10. Ainsley Shaw ran 39:33 to place ninety-sixth. “All five of the lady Ravens who ran the same course at the Early Bird meet each took off at least one minute from their time last month. The team continues to improve as the season is in its final month.” Marie Hostetler of Mid-Prairie won the race in a new 5k course record time of 18:40.03. She also held the previous record on the 4.875k course. Mid-Prairie, ranked first in 2A, won the team title with Williamsburg, ranked second in 2A, placing second.

The Hillcrest Academy teams have their next competition at the Southeast Iowa Super Conference meet at Waterworks park in Fairfield this Thursday, October 10^th.

Girls Individual Placings			Team Scores
Leah Bontrager	31^st	22:31	Mid-Prairie	45
Sarena Gerber	50^th	23:52	Williamsburg	55
Chloe Staley	79^th	27:02	Solon	94
Taryn Leichty	84^th	27:47	Pella	120
Julia Boller	88^th	28:10	Mt. Pleasant	123
Ainsley Shaw	96^th	39:33	Iowa City Regina	146
			Danville – New London	220
			Montezuma	246
			Lynnville-Sully	252
			Washington	296
			North Mahaska	308
			Fairfield	313
			Hillcrest Academy	313