Bontrager Punches Ticket to State for the Fourth Year in a Row

Senior Leah Bontrager punched her ticket to the state cross country meet Thursday in Iowa City.  Bontrager placed fourth in the 1A state qualifier meet hosted by Regina at the Iowa City Kickers Soccer Complex.  Her time was a season best 21:42.  The top ten individuals and the top two teams qualify to move on from each 1A qualifier meet to the state meet.  Bontrager ran a conservative race moving into the top ten by the half mile mark.  Leah continued to move up through the field until she made it to the fourth position with less than a mile remaining.  The next two finishers, Natalie Franklin of Regina and Bryn Collum of North Linn, had both beaten Bontrager in previous competitions this season. Delaney Shaw was the next Raven finisher.  Shaw placed thirty-ninth in 25:52.  Morgyn Nafziger took well over a minute off her personal best time to finish in fiftieth place with a time of 26:59.  Senior Julia Boller was the fourth Raven to finish.  Julia placed fifty-fifth in 29:11.  “Julia has made a huge contribution to the Lady Raven cross country teams each of the past four years.  She will be missed.”  Meghan Wheatley of North Linn won the race with a comfortable margin.  Her time was 19:51.  Regina and North Linn tied for first place with 42 points.  Regina won the tiebreaker with their sixth runner beating North Linn’s sixth runner by eight places.  Hillcrest did not field a full team of five runners.

Leah Bontrager will run in the 1A state championship race at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, October 30 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

Girls Individual Results
Leah Bontrager       4th      21:42
Delaney Shaw        39th     25:52
Morgyn Nafziger    50th    26:59
Julia Boller              55th     29:11

Team Scores
Regina                      42
North Linn              42
Montezuma            68
Lynnville-Sully       84
Columbus              119

Senior Collin Miller led the Hillcrest Ravens boys cross country team to a tenth place finish at the 1A state qualifier in Iowa City.  Miller placed eighteenth in 19:22.  “Collin used a different strategy in this race and went to the lead pack early in the race.  His first mile split was 5:34.  He was not able to hold that pace the entire race but was able to stay in the top twenty.  He was also able to finish ahead of five runners who had beaten him in races in the previous month of racing.  Hats off to Collin for running a gutsy race.”  Freshman Micah Gerber was the Ravens next finisher.  He placed forty-fourth in 21:21.  Classmate Jesse Blossom was next placing fifty-first in a personal best 21:47.  Senior Jorge Canchola placed fifty-seventh in his new season best time of 22:08.  Diego Ramos also recorded a season best time of 24:06.  He placed seventy-first.  Senior Quang Huynh placed eightieth in his personal best effort of 25:43 on the 5.055k course.  Freshman Garrett Hurst also finished in a personal record time.  Hurst placed eighty-second in 26:17.  “This was the last high school cross country meet for seniors Collin Miller, Jorge Canchola and Quang Huynh.  Each of these young men have made positive contributions to the team.  We will miss each one.”  

Sophomore Aiden O’Neil of Regina won the race in 17:20.  Iowa City Regina also won the team title with Columbus Community taking second place.  

Boys Individual Results
Collin Miller             18th     19:22
Micah Gerber          44th      21:21
Jesse Blossom       51st       21:47
Jorge Canchola     57th      22:08
Diego Ramos          71st       24:06
Quang Huynh         80th      25:43
Garrett Hurst           82nd    26:17

Team Scores
Regina                                       41
Columbus Community       66
North Linn                               86
Winfield-Mt. Union             138
Montezuma                           174
WACO                                       179
BGM                                          180
Holy Trinity                            186
Hillcrest Academy               205

Complete Boys Results
Complete Girls Results