Cyclone cross country girls win home meet for fifth straight title
HARLAN (Sept. 22) -- As a three-time state qualifier, Harlan Community senior Greichaly Kaster has been the face of the girls cross country program for some time now.
Kaster has competed at the state meet as part of a full squad, as an individual and as a dynamic duo with Brecken Van Baale last year, but she’s never been on a team quite like this one.
The 2nd-ranked (3A) HCHS girls just kept on rolling at the Harlan Golf and Country Club Saturday morning, earning a fifth straight team title by winning the Cyclone Invite - a meet in which they placed fourth a year ago.
Kaster, the lone varsity senior, placed fifth to lead a group of five Cyclones in the top 12, resulting in a first-place score of 42 that easily bested No. 7 Glenwood (68) and No. 9 Atlantic (76).
The AHSTW girls, paced by Chloe Falkena in ninth, finished eighth with a 187. The HCHS boys, led by Trey Gross in 14th, placed ninth out of 12 teams with a 198.
The Cyclone girls, meanwhile, have won five meets in a row since finishing a point behind Glenwood in the season-opening Ram Invite August 25. In three of those wins, they have avenged the Ram girls by a margin that continues to widen.
“What’s great about it is in the beginning of the summer we were out here working hard and we never expected we were going to be this good,” Kaster said. “We were in it to win it, but we didn’t know it would take us this far.
“It’s always so much fun every practice. We’re always together. It’s a really great team this year.”
HCHS Cyclone Cross Country Invite • Saturday, Sept. 22 • Harlan Golf & Country Club
Girls Team Standings - 1. Harlan Community 42, 2. Glenwood 68, 3. Atlantic 76, 4. CB Abraham Lincoln 136, 5. Denison-Schleswig 167, 6. CB Thomas Jefferson 170, 7. Lewis Central 184, 8. AHSTW 187, 9. Treynor 214, 10. St. Albert 290, 11. Red Oak 291.
Top 5 Individuals - 1. Janette Schraft (Glen.), 18:38; 2. Taylor McCreedy (Atl.), 18:47; 3. Reagan Andersen (D-S), 19:54; 4. Abby McIntyre (Glen.), 20:11; 5. Greichaly Kaster (HCHS), 20:21.
HCHS Individual Results - 5th: Greichaly Kaster, 20:21.68; 6th: Kaia Bieker, 20:26.14; 8th: Lucy Borkowski, 20:32.58; 11th: Brecken Van Baale, 20:42.58; 12th: Raegen Wicks, 20:57.78; 16th: Abi Baldwin, 21:04.87; 22nd: Liv Freund, 21:13.34.
AHSTW Individual Results - 9th: Chloe Falkena, 20:35.74; 36th: Julia Kock, 22:02.06; 41st: Holly Hoepner, 22:32.78; 49th: Jade Draman, 23:28.08; 56th: Claire Denning, 24:25.18; 72nd: Liz Cordes, 26:21.40; 77th: Grace Luna, 27:04.49.
Boys Team Standings - 1. CB Thomas Jefferson 57, 2. Glenwood 67, 3. Atlantic 97, 4. Lewis Central 103, 5. Red Oak 162, 6. St. Albert 176, 7. Treynor 180, 8. Trinity Christian 184, 9. Harlan Community 198, 10. Denison-Schleswig 221, 11. Riverside 267, 12. Clarinda 304.
Top 5 Individuals - 1. Jerry Jorgenson (Trey.), 16:16; 2. Aidan Booton (TJ), 16:56; 3. Jalen Petersen (Atl.), 17:18; 4. Steven Hornberg (AL), 17:21; 5. Sam McIntyre (Glen.), 17:23.
HCHS Individual Results - 14th: Trey Gross, 17:44.34; 26th: Brennon Munch, 18:18.24; 40th: Isaac Jones, 18:49.31; 54th: Mitchell Rueschenberg, 19:17.78; 73rd: Wyatt Obrecht, 20:03.03; 82nd: Dalton Gross, 20:54.72; 84th: Tim Mumm, 20:55.78.
AHSTW Individual Results - 77th: Cody Roskens, 20:22.40; 83rd: Collin Shutters, 20:55.31.