HCHS girls win sixth title at muddy Atlantic Invite

 ATLANTIC (Oct. 12) -- The conditions were chilly, windy, muddy and hilly, but it was a meet and that’s what Harlan Community needed after going two weeks without one.
 Postponed on Thursday due to heavy rain, Saturday’s Atlantic Cross Country Invite was also moved from Nishna Hills Golf Course to the Atlantic high school grounds, which got muddier and slicker with each race.
 The fourth-ranked (3A) Cyclone girls conquered the terrain to win their sixth team title in seven meets, placing four runners in the top 12 and posting a winning score of 46. Ankeny Centennial’s junior varsity girls placed second with a 71, followed by Bishop Heelan (108), ACGC (124) and Ankeny (146).
 The Cyclone boys, led by Trey Gross placing third out of 121 runners, finished eighth out of 17 teams with a 202. The Centennial JV won the boys team title with a 95, Ankeny (123) placed second and Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson (140) took third.
 Senior Lucy Borkowski and junior Trey Gross continued to set the pace for the Cyclone girls and boys squads Saturday, both placing third.
 Tri-Center’s Peyton Pogge won the girls race in 20:10, followed by Kate Crawford of ACGC (20:41) and Borkowski (20:58). Joshua Baudler of Nodaway Valley was the boys champion in 17:21, Gabriel Vicker of Centennial placed second in 17:29 and Gross took third in 17:33, narrowly holding off a late push by Thomas Jefferson’s Wimach Gilo.
 Borkowski was backed up by Kaia Bieker in fifth place (21:17), Abby Alberti in ninth (21:37) and Brecken Van Baale in 12th (21:44), cutting the spread time to 46 seconds between the Cyclone girls’ first and fourth runners. Abi Albertsen finished 23rd to round out the team score.
 In addition to Trey Gross in third, the Cyclone boys’ top five included Brennon Munch in 28th, Isaac Jones (29th), Dalton Gross (71st) and Mitchell Rueschenberg (73rd).