money Nevada cross country programs both make positive strides in 2022
The Nevada cross country programs both continued to build positive momentum during the 2022 season.
The Nevada boys placed in the top five during all 10 of its meets and sent a runner to state for the second year in a row. The Cub girls finished in the top five seven times and took sixth at the Class 3A qualifying meet in Pella.
Both teams won a Heart of Iowa Conference championship.
The Nevada boys took second at Iowa Falls-Alden, third at South Hardin, fifth at Gilbert, fifth at the Mike Carr Invite, fifth at the Steve McDermott Invite, second at Roland-Story, fourth at the Nevada Invitational and second at North Polk. The Cubs won the HOIC meet with 26 points, easily beating Greene County's runner-up score of 69 to three-peat as conference champs.
The Cubs scored 136 points at the qualifying meet to place fourth, falling one spot shy of qualifying for state as a team.
"The team has a lot to be proud of this season," Nevada head boys coach James Mills said. "We just missed out on qualifying for the state meet, finishing behind three top-five teams in the state. Our third-consecutive HOIC championship was not a surprise, but it was nice to finally have an individual champion this year. We were very fortunate to not have any meets cancelled due to weather, and finished no less than fifth at any meet."
Carter Holland was the standout runner for the Nevada boys.
Holland won the HOIC individual boys championship with a 5-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 2.84 seconds. At the qualifying meet he clocked in with a season-best time of 16:48.92 to place 10th and qualify for state.
Holland placed 96th in 3A at state with a time of 17:58.35.
Brian Rohde placed third at the HOIC meet in 18:15.30 and 23rd at the qualifying meet in 17:22.12. Will Bauman placed fifth at the conference meet with an 18:42.07 showing and 31st at the qualifying meet after clocking in at 17:49.14.
"Will Bauman improved his times by minutes over last year, finishing as one of our top five runners on the team," Mills said.
Rowan Steele took sixth at the HOIC meet in 18:43.53 and 29th at the qualifying meet in 17:42.78. Freshman Dawson Lemke placed 11th at conference in 19:28.39 and 70th at the qualifying meet in 19:19.26.
Owen Freeman, a 2021 state qualifier, finished 62nd at the qualifying meet in 18:51.69. Nick Frideres was 43rd at the qualifying meet in 18:16.76, Gavin Skaggs placed 19th at conference in 20:11.51 and freshman Paul Stevens and Nick Engstrom were 24th and 25th respectively at the HOIC meet with times of 20:29.37 and 20:32.91.
Frideres was the only senior among the top runners for the Cub boys. That gives Nevada the potential for a fourth-straight HOIC title and a trip to state as a team in 2023.
"I think we will be even stronger next year," Mills said. "We will return our top four runners, and my team grows a lot from year to year."
Cub girls gain confidence
The Nevada girls program struggled to be competitive over the last couple years.
But with the addition of some talented newcomers the Cubs started turning heads in 2022. They totaled five top-three finishes before winning the HOIC meet with 44 points to Roland-Story's 59 then taking sixth at a qualifying meet that featured the state's top two 3A teams in Pella and Ballard.
"We had a few varsity runners that came out for the first time this season and got stronger every week as they developed," Nevada head girls coach Shawn Crain said. "It was great to see the varsity group work hard together and see the results of that hard work each meet. We once again had great numbers out, and I was proud of all the hard work from each of the athletes on our team."
Crain said his team grew more and more confident as the season progressed.
"In Central Iowa I feel we see the best of the best in the state on a regular basis," Crain said. "Running in that type of competition and doing well can really build confidence in a young or new runner to the team. That also helps increase the intensity for workouts during the week. I saw a lot of growth out of our entire team each week as we improved in the standings at each meet this season."
Freshman Brooke Axmear and junior Tori Meinecke were the lead runners for the Cub girls.
Axmear lead Nevada the entire season. She took third at the HOIC meet with a 5K time of 21:48.21 and ran a 21:05.68 at the qualifying meet to place 22nd.
Meinecke is a 2020 state qualifier. She missed last season recovering from an ACL injury, but came back to take fifth at the conference meet in 21:52.92 and 29th at the qualifying meet in 21:32.18.
Alexa Betting was another talented freshman competing for the Cub girls. Betting was 11th at the conference meet with a 23:05.00 showing and 30th at the qualifier after crossing the finish line in 21:34.68.
Sophomore Hallee Schadt took 10th at the HOIC meet with a 22:51.96 showing. Ava Vanderheyden placed 15th at the conference meet in 23:53.75 and 42nd at the qualifier with a 22:20.01 performance during her sophomore season.
Freshman Lily Frideres was 25th and sophomore Evelyn Anderson 28th at the HOIC meet with respective times of 25:24.93 and 25:56.65. Freshman Sophia Martinez took 44th at the qualifying meet 22:28.45 and Frideres was 52nd in 22:52.97.
Like with the boys, next season has the potential to be a banner year for the Cub girls. They return all of their top runners.
"Going into next season this team has a lot to build from and we will be setting bigger goals for sure," Crain said. "I would like to see us continue to work harder in the offseason now knowing what we are capable of as a team. The hope is to go after the conference title again and work at getting back to the state meet. We had Brooke finish only seven spots out of qualifying this year in her first attempt, and I know Tori would like another shot. This will definitely help our whole team work harder for the next level as a group. That would give us a great goal of getting the team a chance to qualify."
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Nevada cross country teams produce strong campaigns in 2022
