Hawk girls get title at Lamb Invite

FORT MADISON – The Timm Lamb Invitational at Rodeo Park Thursday afternoon was a hazy, humid trial for runners from 22 school districts.
Central Lee’s Aubree Bunnell paced the Lady Hawks with a sixth-place in the B Division where the Hawks took the title with 65 points. The junior ran a 21:09.2. Van Buren was second with 82 and West Burlington/Notre Dame was third with 87. Savannah Overton was 11th at 22:34.1. Addalie Daly was 13th in the 22:49.30. The other scoring runners for Central Lee were Adella Adkins 15th at 23:15.5 and McKenna Fransk 20th with a time of 24:18.3.
“This is, right now, a little too thick for me with the humidity.  I think it’s the toughest race for me. I’m not good with the down and backs where I can see where I’m going. I like the hiding corners,” Bunnell said.
Saying it’s been the toughest so far is really saying something considering the Hawks ran in 100-degree heat at Keokuk earlier in the season. Bunnell said she just tries to find a pack that fits her pace and slip in there until the end.
“I really try to find a pack to run with and keep a pace, but I’m also working more on my mentality this year,” she said.
The Fort Madison girls, paced by Kaitlin and Jordyn Marshall, took second place in the A division with 63 points. Muscatine won with 45 points, taking four of the top 12 spots.
Kaitlin Marshall finished fifth overall at 21:53.2 and Jordyn ran a 22.38.2. Kaitlin Marshall is running as just an 8th grader, while Jordyn is in her junior year.
She said the humidity was a bit of a problem, but she has a familiarity with the home course, living just a few blocks away.
“It was pretty hot, but I felt really good,” Marshall said. “I prefer a little less humidity, but I appreciated all the shade and the clouds were nice.
“I’ve been better mentally this year. Not dreading the race so much and thinking through it a bit more. Sometimes last year I would overthink it a bit. I run here a lot and that helps. I know where the potholes are.”
The other scoring runners for the Lady Hounds were Addison Pezley and Eloise Lamb who finished 15th and 16th at 23:57.6 and 24.25.8. Ellie Hellman finished 19th at 25.16.9.
On the boys' side, Drake Newton took the title in the B Division helping Central Lee to a third-place finish with 78 points. Newton, just a freshman, ran a 17.40.3 a full four seconds ahead of the field. He won the Hawks' Invitational Tuesday night.
The Hawks fell in behind West Burlington/Notre Dame's 49 and Columbus Junction with 62 points. Caedon Newton was 11th in the division with a 19:24.6. The other scoring runners for the Hawks were Caden Crozier 16th at 19:46.2, Orion St. Clair 24th at 20:14.1, and Austin Fogarty 26th at 20:31.6.
Drake Newton said he’s been putting in extra work in the offseason.

“The wind was helping a lot on some parts of the course. But, when it was in my face, it slowed me down a bit. But when you get that draft of humid air, I didn’t like that so much,” he said.
“Over the summer, I put in close to 400 miles compared to the year before I did 100 to 200 less than that and that’s improving my time. Really hard track workouts after meets helps with my speed.”
As a freshman he said he’s looking to go to state and trying to get under 17 minutes. His closest has been 17:12 this year.
Head Coach Chase Newton said the Hawks are having a great season.
“We’ve had a couple hard meets. The meet Tuesday was humid, too. We have a lot of runners that prefer the coolness and I think, when we see some cooler temperatures, we’ll see some even better times,” he said.
He said the last few years have been lean numbers, but now the Hawks have a full varsity and a full junior varsity team.
“We’re seeing interest grow at the junior high level and it helps when those kids see our high school kids doing well. Hopefully that will expand and grow the program.
The Fort Madison boys were paced again by Hunter Wiegand.  Wiegand captured second in the division leading the Hounds to a 4th-place finish in the A grouping with 86 points. Oliver Wiese was second for the Hounds finishing 15th in the division at 18:57.4. Other scoring runners for the Bloodhounds included Jacob Walker 17th at 19:15.7, Colton Tripp 23rd at 19:50.1, and Zach Hermes 29th with a time of 20:57.4.
Wiegand said the humidity was stifling at times, but that’s what tests the mentality of a runner.
“It was really rough. It was like running through a mesh blanket. It feels like water is on you all the time and it makes it harder to breathe,” he said.
“I feel like most of that is mental and you have to push through it. You can’t control when it gets hard to breathe, but you think you gotta keep going, keep pushing, and you just do that.”
Wiegand was out in front for most of the race, but was caught by Mt. Pleasant’s Silas Hulett, who won the A division three seconds in front of Wiegand. Parker Tschantz of Washington was third.
“He caught me about 2.5 miles and made a burst and got out in front of me. He raced it really smart. I love when people do that, it pushes me harder for a better time. I love Silas, and I love Parker, and these guys, and running with them.”
Holy Trinity Catholic’s boys finished 10th with Tanner Williams setting the pace for the Crusaders with a 35th-place finish in the B Division. Williams ran a 21.16.6. Running in his first ever meet, Jack Ragar finished 40th with a 21:24.6. Other scoring runners for the Crusaders included Jay Ellison 53rd at 23:08.5, Brody Boylan 59th at 24:03.0, and Brayden Williams 60th at 24:34.5.