Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Ashlyn Keeney leading the pack and winning meets is nothing new for the Liberty High cross country team.

Keeney was back to her old ways Thursday cruising to the individual title at the Trojan Early Bird Invitational.

What is new for the Lightning this season is the depth behind their sophomore standout.

Liberty High put that depth on display on Thursday as juniors Cami Mac and McKenzie Logan finished second and third respectively to the Lightning to a runner-up finish.

“Cami and McKenzie have come really far and I think they are both doing to really great things this year,” Keeney said. “I feel like our whole team is improved. I think they have gotten faster, they’ve been working harder and Cami and McKenzie are really good leaders for us all.”

The 1-2-3 finish by Keeney, Mac and Logan helped Liberty High finish with 54 points, 13 behind team champion Bettendorf.

Williamsburg was third with 65 while West High finished fourth with 73.

“Ashlyn helps push us but the entire team is so positive and we encourage each other,” Logan said. “There is so much positivity on this team and it helps a lot.”

Keeney rolled to the individual title at the season-opening meet in a time of 18:45 despite a tumultuous preseason in which the sophomore missed training time with an eye infection.

Even with her lack of preseason training Keeney was able to finish 34 seconds in front of Mac and was more than two minutes faster than every non-Liberty runner.

“I’ve been battling an eye infection and so I had to take a couple of weeks off because there were some pretty bad possibilities from it, it was pretty serious,” Keeney said. “My knee was hurting, my body has really recovered from taking that time off so I feel pretty good about how it went.”

While Keeney was impressive it was the growth of Mac and Logan that stood out for Liberty on Thursday.

Mac finished runner-up in 19:19 while Logan was third in 20:49.

“I feel like I’ve improved a lot from where I was at the end of last year when I kind of had a rough end to the season,” Mac said. “I am feeling really good and fast these last couple of weeks.”

Mac and Logan both kicked up their off-season training after failing to qualify for the state meet last season.

Logan battled tendonitis during the winter but picked up her training over the summer while Mac spent time in Colorado over the summer training in altitude.

Both saw that work pay off in their first meet.

“I feel like I could have run faster but at the same time I feel like I left it all on the course,” Logan said. “It was a good first race and I think I can improve a lot after this too.”

West High junior Katie Hoefer finished 10th in 21:19.5 while Camden Zirker was 11th in 21:28.6. Maddy Negley placed 14th in 21:37.4 as the Women of Troy put four runners in the top 15 at their home meet.

Trojan Early Bird Invitational

At Ashton Cross Country Course

Team scores – 1. Bettendorf 41; 2. Liberty High 54; 3. Williamsburg 65; 4. West High 73; 5. North Scott 117

Individual leaders – 1. Ashlyn Keeney (ICL) 18:45; 2. Camille Mac (ICL) 19:19; 3. McKenzie Logan (ICL) 20:49; 4. Hannah Bientema (BET) 20:54; 5. Megan Rathjen (WIL) 20:58; 6. Sami Foht (BET) 21:08.4; 7. Madison Temple (BET) 21:08.7; 8. Taylor Winegarden (WIL) 21:10.3; 9. Sarah Schmidt (BET) 21:11.8; 10. Katie Hoefer (ICW) 21:19.5

Liberty High – 1. Ashlyn Keeney 18:45; 2. Camille Mac 19:19; 3. McKenzie Logan 20:49; 23. Elizabeth Jaeger 22:13.6; 25. Isabelle Woody 22:21; 38. Chaise Lange 23:13.3; 42. Lily Nicknish 24:43.6

West High – 10. Katie Hoefer 21:19.5; 11. Camden Zirker 21:28.6; 14. Maddy Negley 21:37.4; 18. Minou Emmad 22:01.7; 20. Erica Buetner 22:02; 24. Anna Moore 22:16.4; 26. Lucy Westemeyer 22:33.5

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