Rams open cross country season with 52nd running of Glenwood Invite

Grace Berglund won the girls race at the 52nd annual Glenwood Cross Country Invitational Saturday at Glenwood Lake Park.

Berglund ran an 18:15 to capture top individual honors. Harlan, with five top 20 finishers, would go on to win the team title with a score of 54. Creston was second with 74 points. Glenwood was fourth with 99 points.

“We’re pretty happy with how yesterday went for us, especially when we were missing several of our high school girls yesterday who couldn’t be there for various reasons,” said Glenwood girls coach Marissa Klindt. “Our other girls stepped up.” 

Berglund’s time was more than a minute better than runner-up Julia Heslink of Harlan, who ran a 19:32.

“Grace went out and did what Grace does best,” Klindt said. “She ran a heck of a race and ran her best 5K time ever with an 18:15 to win our home meet for the first time.”

Karsyn Lundvall, a freshman, stepped up for the Rams to run a 22:27 to place 21st. 

“We’re looking forward to her gaining experience and getting stronger as the season progresses,” Klindt said.

Jada Kanngieser added a 27th place finish, Katelyn Harms was 28th and Sara Ruth Johnson was 29th to complete the Rams’ scoring.

“We loved the pack running we saw in our third through six runners, as they all finished within four seconds of each other,” Klindt said. “That bodes well for the rest of the year. It’s early in the season, and we know we want to be at our strongest in October. We have all the pieces we need to be successful.”

On the boys side, Riverside swept the team and individual titles. The Bulldogs Creston 62 to 68 to win the team championship and Owen Fenner ran a 16:16 to best runner-up Emmanuel Grass of Red Oak by five seconds.

Glenwood was eighth with a score of 175.

The Rams were led by Deagan Stanley’s 23rd place finish. The freshman ran a 17:51. 

Lucas Kauffman ran a 19:19 for 33rd, Cole Berglund was 35th in 18:21, Charles Odorizzi ran a 18:48 for 43rd and Grant Sorensen was 46th in 19:12.

“Being such a young team, we are working on running as a pack for our top five runners,” said Glenwood boys coach Todd Peverill. “Our top four finishers were two freshmen and two sophomores. The top three stayed together well with only a 30 second spread.”

The Rams’ fourth runner, Odorizzi, runner was only 27 seconds behind third runner, Cole Berglund. 

“We have to work on moving the pack up farther in the overall placings,” Peverill said. “We need to continue to gain race experience and will be looking good and strong by the end of the year.”

The East Mills boys finished 11th in the team standings.

Carter Jorgensen ran an 18:16 to lead the Wolverines with a 31st place finish. 

Glenwood Invitational

Girls Team Results

1. Harlan, 54. 2. Creston, 74. 3. Atlantic, 91. 4. Glenwood, 99. 5. Shenandoah, 109. 6. Heartland Christian, 171. 7. Kuemper Catholic, 188. 8. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 195. 9. Red Oak, 210.

Glenwood Girls Place Winners

1. Grace Berglund, 18:15. 21. Karsyn Lundvall, 22:27. 27. Jada Kanngieser, 23:24. 28. Katelyn Harms, 23:27. 29. Sarah Ruth Johnson, 23:27. 30. Elizabeth Johnson, 23:28. 35. Kasey Hilsabeck, 24:10.

East Mills Girls Place Winners

32. Sophia Housh, 23:44. 91. Lorelei Semrau, 38:29.

Boys Team Results

1. Riverside, 62. 2. Creston, 68. 3. Shenandoah, 121. 4. Kuemper Catholic, 125. 5. Council Bluffs St. Albert, 134. 6. Red Oak, 139. 7. Atlantic, 169. 8. Glenwood, 175. 9. Harlan, 181. 10. Clarinda, 273. 11. East Mills, 344. 12. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, 362. 13. Heartland Christian, 363.

Glenwood Boys Results

23. Deagan Stanley, 17:51. 33. Lucas Kauffman, 19:19. 35. Cole Berglund, 18:21. 43. Charles Odorizzi, 18:48. 46. Grant Sorensen, 19:12. 48. Jaxton Long, 19:17. 54. Lucas Harms.

East Mills Boys Results

31. Carter Jorgensen, 18:16. 70. Caleb McCrary, 20:12. 92. Brock Ripperger, 21:30. 149. Bennett Mitchell, 28:23. 150. William Vaquero, 28:25.