Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Brandon Barker had never thought of cross country as much of a spectator sport.

That changed in a big way for on Thursday at the Class 3A state qualifying meet at Solon.

Spurred on by a spirited group of nearly 100 Clear Creek Amana students that included every member of the Clipper football program Barker pulled away in the final mile to win the individual title in 16:20.8 on a sun-splashed afternoon at the Solon Nature and Recreation Area.

“It’s so amazing to have all these people come here and support us,” Barker said. “Traditionally cross country is a sport that not that many people care about so to have that support means the world to me and the team.”

An already large crowd for Thursday’s state qualifier became a CCA partisan gathering when head football coach Gabe Bakker and his staff loaded two busses filled with Clipper football players.

The blue-clad group of Clippers sprinting from one side of the course to the other to encourage the Clear Creek Amana runners helped provide a boost for Barker and his teammates who held off Center Point-Urbana for the team title.

“This is easily the most people I’ve seen at a regular meet, we’ve never had a support crew like this before,” Barker said. “To know that hundreds of people have my back and want me to win it helps me a lot because I’m not just racing for myself I am racing for my team and for my school.”

The individual title for Barker highlighted four top-10 finishers for Clear Creek Amana as the defending 3A state runner-up Clippers won a state qualifier for the second consecutive season.

Class 3A No. Clear Creek Amana finished with 39 points, five in front of seventh-ranked Center Point-Urbana, while Grinnell was third with 90.

Center Point-Urbana finished second, third and fourth behind Barker but the Clippers had the next three finishers as Nick O’Connor was fifth in 16:31.3, Jack Sexton was sixth in 16:34.4 and Gavin Zillyette was seventh in 16:41.4.

“The level of competition was a little higher than it was last week (at the WAMAC meet) for sure and we make a decision to train through this meet and it says a lot about our depth and where we are at,” Clear Creek Amana coach Ben Robison said. “Jack ran really, really well.”

Barker finished two seconds behind Center Point-Urbana sophomore Eli Larson in a runner-up finish at the WAMAC Conference meet last week.

On Thursday Barker turned the tables on the Stormin’ Pointers, finishing nearly five seconds in front of CPU’s Luke Post who was led a trio of Stormin’ Pointers in the top five.

Mason Bach was third in 16:27 and Larson was fourth in 16:27.5.

“At WAMAC (Eli) Larson came out of nowhere so he wasn’t on our radar but today we had him on our radar,” Barker said. “(Luke) Post was coming off an illness at WAMAC so I was really looking forward to the opportunity to be able to race both those guys when they are healthy today.”

Barker was a stride ahead of Post with less than a mile to go but pulled away over the final half mile.

“He raced very well and tactically he raced very smart,” Robison said of Barker. “He stayed in the pack the first half and rolled on the second half just like we have been prepping for.”

Depth proved to be the difference for Clear Creek Amana as Caleb Alcorn placed 20th  in 17:43.6.  

Depth and a little boost from a cheering section.

“Bakker did a really cool thing getting those guys on the bus and getting them here,” Robison said. “That was awesome to see, it’s great to be 14 miles from home so that’s a huge benefit for us today.”

Solon sophomore Gabe Hinman qualified for the state meet for the second year in a row, placing 11th in a time of 17:06.9.

Solon finished fifth in the team standings with 135 points.

Class 3A State Qualifier

At Solon Nature and Recreation Area

Team scores – 1. Clear Creek Amana 39; 2. Center Point-Urbana 44; 3. Grinnell 90; 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 97; 5. Solon 135; 6. Davenport Assumption 148; 7. Washington 190; 8. Fort Madison 192; 9. Mount Pleasant 219; 10. Central DeWitt 261; 11. Notre Dame/West Burlington 332

Individual leaders – 1. Brandon Barker (CCA) 16:20.8; 2. Luke Post (CP-U) 16:25.5; 3. Mason Bach (CP-U) 16:27; 4. Eli Larson (CP-U) 16:27.5; 5. Nick O’Connor (CCA) 16:31.3; 6. Jack Sexton (CCA) 16:34.4; 7. Gavin Zillyette (CCA) 16:41.4; 8. Isaac Bryant (GRI) 16:41.4; 9. Chris Guise (DA) 16:43; 10. Zach Fall (MV-L) 17:05.4; 11. Gabe Hinman (SOL) 17:06.9; 12. Abe Larson (CP-U) 17:14.5; 13. Lance Sobaski (WAS) 17:19; 14. Robert Groves (GRI) 17:20.1; 15. Mike Straub (DA) 17:22.3

Clear Creek Amana – 1. Brandon Barker 16:20.8; 5. Nick O’Connor 16:31.3; 6. Jack Sexton 16:34.4; 7. Gavin Zillyette 16:41.4; 20. Caleb Alcorn 17:43.6; 22. Brandon McCarty 17:55.6; 26. Daniel Henkle 18:03

Solon – 11. Gabe Hinman 17:06.9; 27. Tyler Bilskie 18:08.9; 28. Ben DeValk 18:09.2; 34. Noelan Garbes 18:21.9; 35. Nate Ferguson 18:25.4; 36. Brad Yeomans 18:28.3; 42. Ty Becicka 18:40

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