(Dallas Center) The Atlantic girls placed three runners in the top fifteen and finished in third place behind Dallas Center-Grimes, and Van Meter at the Dallas Center-Grimes Cross Country Invitational on Tuesday. Katrina Williams, (6th), Gabrielle Engler, (13th), and Kaitlyn Hickman, (15th) paced the Trojans.
Atlantic Head Coach Dan Vargason noted the quick turnaround following the meet at Glenwood on Saturday. “Coming off a short weekend we had some heavy legs,” said Vargason. “It was great competition for a small meet. Dallas Center-Grimes is a top ten team in Class 4A, and Van Meter is ranked #2 in Class 2A. Katrina Williams ran lights out finishing in sixth place, Gabrielle Engler ran well finishing in 13th place, and Katelyn Hickman finished in the top 15 as well. We had a little bit of gap tonight. Ximena Mendez-Cordero finished (31st) for us, Bella Brock, (37th), Alika Andersen, (40th), and Ella Brummer, rounded out our seven runners.”
DCG won it with 24 points, Van Meter, 49, Atlantic, 91, Carlisle, 101, Indianola, 104, and ACGC, 185.
The Atlantic boy’s finished fourth in the highly competitive meet. “I thought our boy’s competed better than Saturday,” said Vargason.” We had boys that did not think they ran as well, but again Dallas Center-Grimes finished with an impressive 17 points, Carlisle, finished second with 59, Van Meter 91, and we came in with 115-points.
“Mason Betts finished 15th overall, and I am really happy with the way he ran. However, it was a story of gaps, and we fell off again. Anthony Akers ran in our second spot, and Anthony Engler finished right behind him, and they competed well,” said Vargason. “Kouper Kinney, finished in (43rd) which is too much of a gap than what we wanted to see, D’Art Hansen, (49th), Caleb Andersen, (53rd), and John McCurdy, (56th). We still have a lot to work on, but I thought our boy’s ran a little bit harder today.”
Next up is a meet at Clarinda on Tuesday, September 9.
“Now we have some time to train,” said Vargason. “Right now, we’re inconsistent. When we perform well, we’re exactly where we need to be. Coach Mosier and I are especially focused on building consistency on the girls’ side. That’s something we need to fix if we want to be truly competitive — especially come October. It’s only September 2, but by October 22, we need to be running at our best. We’ve got a young team, and there’s a learning curve, but that’s what we’re working on.”
