Smith earns all-conference honors for Panthers

Creston's Christy Stevens (left) finished 12th.

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DENISON — Creston senior Kyrie Smith has had to do a lot of learning on the fly this season. In just his third meet of the cross country season, Smith has made his presence known in southwest Iowa after Thursday’s Hawkeye 10 Conference race. Smith finished 10th with a time of 18 minutes at the meet held at Northside Recreation Facility, just east of Denison-Schleswig High School. “I feel a little rusty,” said Smith. “I’m not real sure of my pace yet, since it’s only my third race. Hopefully I get it figured out by districts.” Going into the district meet just six days from now, where the top-10 runners and three teams advance to the state meet, Smith has put himself into contention for that trip to Fort Dodge. Smith was as high as fourth early on, but for most of the race, he stayed in the sixth position. At the finish, Smith and two other runners were in a tight finish — with eighth through 10th being separated just .71 seconds. “It’s surprising to these other teams and these other individuals in the race,” said Creston cross country coach Pat Schlapia. “We’ve been seeing what Kyrie can do in practice all year long. He is a force to be reckoned with right now.” Christy Stevens and Dana Miller also got out to fast starts in the girls race, with Stevens staying with eventual champion Ali Krogman of Atlantic early in the race. Miller held around the seventh position, but both Stevens and Miller slipped back as the race went on. The pair of large hills on the course took a toll on everyone, with Krogman breaking contact for Atlantic. “Coach wanted us to try to pick it up — with it being the last race as a team,” said Stevens. “I tried my best to keep up with the front, the Atlantic girl. I tried to keep my own pace.” Krogman won by 20 seconds while Stevens was 12th and Miller took 16th. Miller has been struggling with a calf muscle injury and gritted it out for a solid finish, with top-20 medaling. In the girls team race, Harlan ran away from the field by putting five runners in the top-10. The Cyclones scored 30 points while Atlantic was second with a 1-2 finish from the freshman Krogman and junior Palmer Hoegh. Denison-Schleswig was third with three girls in the top-10 while Creston took fourth. Besides Stevens and Miller, Morgan Thompson (25th), Laura Scott (26th) and Allison Wood (30th) were also counting runners. Glenwood edged Council Bluffs Lewis Central for the boys team title. Both schools had three runners in the top-10, but Glenwood scored four less points with their four and five runners, gaining the 42-46 edge for the team title. After placing ninth last year, the Panthers took seventh with Smith earning all-conference honors at 10th, Zach Wignall taking 36th, James Kosman placing 41st and Chad Miller and Tanner Royster coming in together at 57th and 58th, respectively. “It was nice to see Zach and James pick it up,” said Schlapia. “They were both close to the halfway point, and they’ve been having a good competition. They’ve been doing well competing for that No. 2 position.” Thursday’s meet marked the last races for seniors Brian Katzer, Cyle Taylor, Chris Meyer and Daniel Riley — all four who competed for the junior varsity boys team. The varsity squads continue on with the Class 3A District/Regional meet in just six days at Nishna Hills Golf Club in Atlantic. Creston has had eight state qualifiers in the past seven years. “We’ve been in this position before — this is familiar,” said Schlapia. “In past years we’ve had Karla Fisher, Scott Vicker and Matt Lanning — this isn’t anything new. Once we get into October, we try to peak at the right time. Each one of these meets we try to take it up another level.” HAWKEYE 10 MEET GIRLS TEAM SCORES 1. Harlan 30; 2. Atlantic 52; 3. Denison-Schleswig 73; 4. Creston 109; 5. Carroll Kuemper 145; 6. Glenwood 163; 7. Council Bluffs Lewis Central 192; 8. Shenandoah 192; 9. Clarinda 211; 10. Red Oak NTS. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS Leading Individuals — 1. Ali Krogman, Atlantic, 15:30.56; 2. Palmer Hoegh, Atlantic, 15:50.69; 3. Brooke Wehle, Denison-Schleswig, 15:55.47; 4. Jessie Brynes, Harlan, 15:58.06; 5. Jenny Hosack, Harlan, 15:59.15. Creston — 12. Christy Stevens 16:23.44; 16. Dana Miller 16:51.38; 25. Morgan Thompson 17:18.25; 26. Laura Scott 17:23.31; 30. Allison Wood 17:33.43; 42. Aubrey Pendegraft 18:05.03; 63. Kristin Shaw 21:27.78. BOYS TEAM SCORES 1. Glenwood 42; 2. Council Bluffs Lewis Central 46; 3. Carroll Kuemper 81; 4. Harlan 95; 5. Atlantic 129; 6. Denison-Schleswig 150; 7. Creston 202; 8. Shenandoah 212; 9. Red Oak 238; 10. Clarinda 313. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS Leading Individuals — 1. Johnny Fuller, Glenwood, 16:51.56; 2. Michael Greteman, Carroll Kuemper, 16:59.41; 3. Nathan Brace, Harlan, 17:05.50; 4. Matt Howell, Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 17:30.56; 5. Blake Hunter, Council Bluffs Lewis Central, 17:30.96. Creston —10. Kyrie Smith 18:00.12; 36. Zach Wignall 19:18.81; 41. James Kosman 19:32.50; 57. Chad Miller 20:27.18; 58. Tanner Royster 20:28.41; 61. Ryan Helm 20:50.53; 62. Luke Powell 20:51.06. Creston JV — 42. Brian Katzer 21:36.59; 43. Matt Reeves 21:37.43; 51. Cyle Taylor 21:45.84; 57. Tyler Coenen 22:05.41; 63. Tyler Rafter 22:36.28; 83. Chris Meyer 24:49.88; 90. Brant Adamson 25:51.21; 98. Daniel Riley 29:06.69. —————— Ben Frotscher can be reached at 782-2141, ext. 246 or bfrotscher@crestonnews.com