Tigers capture Paul Fish Invitational title

Emmanuel Grass won the individual title to help the Red Oak boys to the team title at its own Paul Fish Cross Country Invitational at the Red Oak Country Club last Monday.
The Tigers took the top spots in the boys race with Grass running a 17:45.06 to top the field. Teammate Hayden Heitbrink was the runner up with a time of 18:07.55.
 “We had a great night on a very tough course,” said Red Oak coach Sueann French. “The boys ran as a pack and that’s what we need heading into the back half of the season. Emmaneul had a nice win as well as Hayden placing second.”
Osiel Pedersen finished fourth, Bryce Williams was eighth and Casey Johnson 10th to give the Tigers five top 10 finishers.
Creston was the boys team runner up with 45 points.
Southwest Valley finished sixth in the team standings with a score of 140.
Anis Akhdar led the way with a 17th place medal performance, the first of the season for the Timberwolves, in a time of 21:57.12. 
“The Red Oak course is one of the toughest courses we run on all season, the course is almost constant up and down hills,” said Southwest Valley coach Jason Hults. “Add to that the high heat index, and it was a very challenging race tonight.  Anis did a great job tonight to earn that medal, and the four returning runners from last season did amazing as well with the faster times than last season. 
“The boys are continuing to show how much work they have put in during the early season with the improvement they have shown on the first three courses.”
Lucas James finished in 37th overall for Southwest Valley, running a 24:44.5, just under two minutes faster than last season, while Brody Sparks took three minutes off his time from last year to finish in 25:27.37 for 41st place.  Ben Waddell was a minute faster with a time of 26:39.28 in 44th with Quaid Eddy in 45th place in a time of 26:46,81, an improvement of two minutes from last season. 
Stanton, East Mills and Essex did not have the minium five runners to qualify for a team score but had strong individual showings.
Jayden Snow paced Stanton with a 12th place time of 20:45.15. East Mills was led by Brock Ripperger’s 30th place finish, while Essex’s Jesse Johnson was 25th.
Clarinda captured the girls title with 28 points.
The Red Oak girls, with just four runners, didn’t tally a team score but the Tigers were led by Cate Horn’s 15th place time of 27:08.21.
French and co-head coach Weston Rolenc were pleased with the results from both of the Tigers’ teams at the meet.
“Times differ on this course because of the diffculty, but we were looking for the kids to run closer together in a pack today and they accomplished that,” French said.
Caitlyn Crouse paced the East Mills girls with a sixth place finish in 24:44.20.
Essex’s Ella Sandahl ran a 25:47.75 to finish eighth while Lauren Roberts notched an 18th place finish.

Paul Fish Cross Country Invitational
Girls Team Results
1. Clarinda, 28. 2. Riverside, 30. 3. North Nodaway, 72.

Red Oak Girls Place Winners
15. Cate Horn, 27:08.21. 23. Leya Walker, 29:10.34. 25. Gillian Heim, 29:34. 32. Gabby Smith, 32:01.87.

East Mills Girls Place Winners
6. Caitlyn Crouse, 24:44.20. 27. Sophia Housh, 30:17.28. 35. Mackenzie Stearns, 38:36.62.

Stanton Girls Place Winners
18. Lauren Roberts, 27:38.56. 28. Meredith Roberts, 30:40.22.

Essex Girls Place Winners
8. Ella Sandahl, 25:47.75.

Boys Team Results
1. Red Oak, 23. 2. Creston, 45. 3. Clarinda, 78. 4. Heartland Christian, 107. 5. Bedford, 124. 6. Southwest Valley, 140.

Red Oak Boys Place Winners
1. Emmanuel Grass, 17:45.06. 2. Hayden Heitbrink, 18:07.55. 4. Osiel Pedersen, 19:21.56. 8. Bryce Williams, 20:10.50. 10. Casey Johnson, 20:35.15. 19. Manuel DeLeon, 22:15. 23. Pace Chaillie, 22:51.81. 32. Cale Hall, 24:06.74. 53. Brady Anderson, 28:22.43.

East Mills Boys Place Winners
30. Brock Ripperger, 23:53.37. 47. Anderson Bakehouse, 27:03.78. 50. Landon Gibbs, 27:19.65.

Stanton Boys Place Winners
12. Jayden Snow, 20:45.15. 15. Cailex Williams, 21:31.43. 52. Eric Kutzli, 28:01.71. 56. Grant Spencer, 29:45.50.

Southwest Valley Boys Place Winners
17. Anis Akhdar, 21:51.12. 37. Lucas James, 24:44.50. 41. Brody Sparks, 25:27.37. 44. Ben Waddell, 26:39.28. 45. Quaid Eddy, 26:46.81. 48. Cameron Becker, 27:06.84. 63. Henry Means, 41:57.72.

Essex Boys Place Winners
25. Jesse Johnson, 23:27.18. 54. Clayton Diehl, 28:25.52. 61. Mark Cabeen, 32:56.75.