West High junior Bailey NockYour Prep Sports

West High, City High and Johnston figure to battle for the Class 4A title at the girls state cross country meet next month.

They should be plenty familiar with one another by then.

The top three teams in the Class 4A rankings met for the second time in two weeks on Saturday at the 11th Heartland Classic at the Iowa State Cross Country Course in Ames.

Top-ranked Johnston won the team title by 43 points over Wayzata, Minnesota was second-ranked West High was third with 104 points.

City High senior Mary Arch. Third-ranked City High placed sixth on Saturday with 184 points behind fourth place Millard West and No. 9 Pleasant Valley.

The order of finish for the top-three ranked teams was the same as the previous meeting when Johnston was third, West High was fourth and City High was fifth at the Pleasant Valley meet on Sept. 3.

Gabby Skopec and Bailey Nock led the way for West High with top-10 finishes.

Skopec was fifth in 18:06 while Nock finished sixth in a time of 18:13.6.

Claire Ronnebaum gave West High three top-25 finishers, placing 25th in 18:59.7

Mary Arch finished ninth in 18:30.6 to lead City High which also had three runners in the top 25.

Anna Lindower finished 20th in a time of 18:49.6 and Emily Bywater was 22nd in 18:56.6.
Molly Born of Shawnee Mission Northwest won the individual title in 17:09.4 more than 45 seconds faster than Jessica McKee of Johnston who was second in 17:56.4.

Heartland Classic
Team scores – 1. Johnston 38; 2. Wayzata (MN) 81; 3. West High 104; 4. Millard West (NE) 126; 5. Pleasant Valley 164; 6. City High 184; 7. Ankeny Centennial 244; 8. Linn-Mar 258; 9. West Des Moines Dowling 269; 10. Waukee 296; 11. Bettendorf 300; 12. Shawnee Mission Northwest (KS) 309; 13. Pella 398; 14. Gilbert 398; 15. Ames 420; 16. Southeast Polk 428; 17. West Des Moines Valley 441; 18. Shawnee Mission South (KS) 496; 19. Indianola 539; 20. Des Moines Roosevelt 545; 21. Cedar Rapids Prairie 563; 22. Dallas Center-Grimes 567; 23. Fremont (NE) 582; 24. Marion 639; 25. Omaha Marian 640; 26. Olathe Northwest (KS) 674; 27. Osage 734; 28. Des Moines Hoover 909.

Individual Results – 1. Molly Born (SMNW) 17:09.4; 2. Jessica McKee (John) 17:56.4; 3. Gabby McGinn (MW) 18:04.3; 4. Emily Poss (John) 18:04.9; 5. Gabby Skopec (ICW) 18:06; 6. Bailey Nock (ICW) 18:13.6; 7. Brooke McKee (John) 18:18.3; 8. Jaycie Thomsen (Wayz) 18:22.3; 9. Mary Arch (ICH) 18:30.6; 10. Emma Atkinson (Wayz) 18:31.4.

West High (104) – 5. Gabby Skopec 18:06; 6. Bailey Nock 18:13.6; 25. Claire Ronnebaum 18:59.7; 32. Olivia Moore 19:10.7; 36. Jessie Skopec 19:13.5; 77. Deniz Ince 19:58.4; 97. Chloe Holt 20:23.

City High (184) – 9. Mary Arch 18:30.6; 20. Anna Lindower 18:49.6; 22. Emily Bywater 18:56.6; 45. Kinsee Brands 19:25; 88. Annie Rummelhart 20:10.5 108. Esti Brady 20:34.5; 170. Mollie Hansen 22:12.1.