Top stars, best performances in Iowa girls cross country last week

Some of the top performances in Iowa girls prep cross country last week

Another Saturday, another prestigious cross country meet.

High school female runners from Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin competed on a mild, sunny afternoon during the Steve Johnson/Dan Huston Invitational, hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. College, varsity and junior varsity runners competed.

Katelyn Johnston, a senior from Osage who’s ranked second in Class 2A, emerged as the winner in the Varsity Orange division. En route to her sixth win of the season, Johnston’ 18:38.87 time was 32 seconds faster than runner-up Addison Doughan of Clear Lake, who is 3A’s seventh-ranked individual.

West Des Moines Valley junior Addison Dorenkamp, Class 4A’s top-ranked runner, was the Varsity Gray winner, timed in a blazing 17:40.92. 

Dorenkamp, who took sixth the previous weekend at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, topped a field which included the runner-up (17:47.42), a highly-ranked Minnesota distance runner, Megan Lee of Bloomington Jefferson.

The following is this week’s list of highlighted individuals from across the Hawkeye State.

Hillary Trainor, Jr., Sumner-Fredericksburg

Trainor, who is listed fourth in the Iowa Association of Track Coaches’ Class 2A individual rankings, posted a first-place finish for the second straight week, clocked in 19:30.26 while winning the Crestwood Cresco Invitational. The week before, Trainor took first (19:22.29) at Grundy Center.

Madison Brouwer, Sr., Sibley-Ocheyedan

Brouwer avenged a loss at Sioux Central to No. 2 (Class 1A) Nora Peterson (Alta-Aurelia) with a win (18:40.68) at the Alta-Aurelia Invitational, seven seconds faster than Brouwer. It was the fourth win of the season for the third-ranked (1A) senior who was last year’s 2A state runner-up.

Megan Wheatley, Jr., North Linn

Another of the state’s huge high school meets of the week was the Jesup Invitational, which in the girls division involved 20 teams. The No. 4 (Class 1A) Wheatley posted her fourth victory of the season, clocked in 18:49.9, seven seconds faster than No. 6 (2A) Mackenzie Wilson of Jesup.

Annika Larson, So., Ballard

Ranked sixth in Class 3A, Larson finished third (19:38) while leading the No. 3 Bombers to a narrow 36-37 win over No. 6 (3A) ADM during the Perry Invitational. Larson was the No. 3 runner a year ago as Ballard won the Class 3A state championship.

Clare Kelly, Sr., Van Meter

A 10th-place finisher at last year’s Class 2A state meet, Kelly has been a consistent Top 5 finisher for third-ranked Van Meter. The third-ranked Kelly picked up her first victory (20:31.99) while leading the Bulldogs to a perfect score of 15 points at the Osceola Invitational.

Mary Kelly, Sr., Van Meter

Twin sisters Mary and Clare Kelly led the way as Van Meter scored a perfect 15 points while winning the Osceola Invitational. Mary, who is ranked 17th, placed second (20:56.04) and was followed by teammates Emma McCoy (3rd, 21:48.58), Brooklyn Fryar (22:02.29) and Lizzy McCann (22:52.48).

Maddy Childs, Sr., Grand View Christian

Childs, Class 1A’s fourth-ranked runner, collected her third victory of the season, clocked in 18:52.17 at Ogden. It was the fastest winning time of the season for Childs, who defeated two state-ranked (1A) opponents while leading the No. 8 Thunder to a narrow 56-63 win over Madrid.

Alyssa Richman, So., Manson-Northwest Webster

Ranked seventh in Class 1A, Richman spent part of last week contending for titles at a pair of Northwest Iowa meets. A returning 1A state qualifier, Richman placed third at Alta-Aurelia (19:26.26) and second at Pocahontas Area (19:42.92).

Rondi Quass, Sr., Ankeny Centennial

Quass, Class 4A’s 12th-ranked runner, claimed a runaway victory (her first of the season), as she was clocked in 18:20.91 during the Iowa City City High Invitational, winning by 43 seconds over teammate and No. 30 Bella Hodges.

Marissa Ferebee, Fr., Pella

Ferebee, the runner-up (19:31.65) of the Williamsburg Invitational, defeated three Class 3A state-ranked runners (two who had combined for seven wins) as the No. 1-ranked (3A) Lady Dutch scored a first-place 53 points.

Makena Montgomery, Fr., Albia

Fifth-ranked (Class 2A) Albia featured runners who placed first, second, third and fourth while scoring 16 points (one point short of a perfect score) to win the Chariton Invitational. The No. 19-ranked Montgomery led the way for the Lady Dees, winning her first meet of the season (19:51.24).

Alyssa Klein, Jr., Western Dubuque

Klein, 26th-ranked in Class 3A, was tested at the Western Dubuque Invite and successfully passed, posting her first victory of the season against four state-ranked 2A runners, two coming from meet winner Monticello. Timed in 20:36, Klein is a returning 3A state qualifier.

Olivia Spurling, Jr., Earlham

Seventh-ranked (Class 1A) Earlham scored 19 points while taking first place at Orient-Macksburg as the No. 21 Spurling claimed her second win (21:00.94) of the season. A returning 1A state qualifier, Spurling was followed by teammates Mackenzie Harger (2nd, 21:01.59) and Amanda Smith (3rd, 21:39.82).

Lola Mendlik, So., Denison-Schleswig

The 24th-ranked (Class 3A) Mendlik posted her first victory since Week 2 with a 19:55.79 clocking at the IKM Manning Invitational. It was the second win of the season for Mendlik, whose seven Top 5 finishes included a second-place (20:10.35) earlier in the week at the Denison-Schleswig Invite.

Emma Althoff, Sr., Monticello

Althoff, ranked eighth in Class 2A, was among the state-rated runners who competed at the Western Dubuque Invitational. Seventeenth in last year’s 2A state meet, Althoff finished second (20:46.7) as the No. 1-ranked Panthers tallied 44 points to win the meet.

Abi Hahn, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt

No. 8 in Class 4A, Hahn, has been pushed by sharp central Iowa competition, including her third-ranked teammate, Adrienne Buettner-Cable. Ninth at last fall’s 4A state meet, she won earlier in the year at Urbandale and has finished second three times including last week at Southeast Polk (18:43.9).

Addison Doughhan, So., Clear Lake

Make that three wins on the season for Doughan, who’s ranked seventh in Class 3A. Only two sophomores are ranked higher in 3A than Doughan, who was clocked in 19:06 at Algona, winning by a margin of 32 seconds.

Clare Stahr, Jr., Gilbert

Stahr, who is ranked 23rd in Class 3A, finished fourth (20:47.41) as the fifth-ranked Tigers used fine scoring balance while outscoring No. 13 (3A) North Polk 33-62 for the title.

Rachel Putze, Fr., Woodbury Central/Kingsley-Pierson

Putze, who is ranked 23rd in Class 2A, won her second meet of the season, timed in 19:47.07 at Western Christian. One of 10 girls to win a meet as a freshman this fall, Putze’s last win came in Week 2 at Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley.

Grace Lidgett, Sr., North Tama

Unranked in Class 3A, Lidgett posted her third victory of the season, clocked in 22:13.04 as the Trojans won the South Hardin Invitational with 26 points. Lidgett is certainly capable of a first-ever 3A state berth after recording wins this season at South Tama (21:35.2) and Colo NESCO (21:39.0).

Emily Naughton, Sr., Indianola

Clocked in a second-place 20:56.92, the unranked Naughton was one of three Top 5 runners for No. 15 (Class 4A) Indianola, which scored 25 points while winning the Knoxville Invitational.

Elin Van Der Werff, So., MOC-Floyd Valley

Van Der Werff was among the Siouxland Conference’s top freshmen a year ago and last week, helped the No. 18 (Class 3A) Lady Dutch to a first-place 43 points at Western Christian.

Camryn Sattler, Jr., Clinton

Sattler won her first meet of the season, clocked in 20:30.0 as the River Queens scored 32 points while winning the Iowa City West Invitational. A two-time individual Class 4A state qualifier, the unranked Sattler was one of three Clinton Top 5 runners.

Katelyn Krieger, Sr., Spirit Lake

An unranked Class 3A runner, Krieger finished second (21:06.65) during the Class A division of the South Sioux City (Neb.) Invitational, 13 seconds behind a runner from Yankton, one of South Dakota’s premier teams. Krieger also was among the runners competing against runners from three states.

Hannah Frueling, So., West Burlington Notre Dame

Unranked in Class 3A, Frueling was clocked in 21:59.9 while taking first place at the Winfield-Mount Union Invitational, where she won by a margin of 63 seconds.