Clear Creek Amana’s Barker Impresses in WAMAC Runner-up Finish
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
WILLIAMSBURG – Haidyn Barker didn’t want to get caught up in any of the extra excitement that can come with the conference cross country meets that kick off the championship season for runners.
In an effort to avoid the distractions Barker kept her goal for Thursday’s WAMAC Conference meet simple.
“My goal was just to get a faster time on this course than I did earlier this season,” Barker explained. “That’s what I was focused on.
Barker did that and then some on Thursday on her way to a runner-up WAMAC finish at the Williamsburg Sports Complex.
The Clear Creek Amana standout sophomore trimmed nearly a minute off the time she clocked on the same course at the Benton Community Invite last month, finishing in 19:33.4.
Barker ran a 20:33.2 in a runner-up finish at the Benton meet on September 13.
On Thursday she finished only behind Solon senior Kiersten Conway who won the individual title in 19:15.8 and improved on her third-place WAMAC conference finish from last season.
“I was just trying to do my best,” Barker said. “It was pretty windy so I was happy with how I ran.”
The runner-up finish from Barker helped Clear Creek Amana finish seventh at the WAMAC meet for the second consecutive season.
Clear Creek Amana finished with 145 points, just eight behind sixth-place Marion.
Senior Kayla Jiras finished 22nd in a time of 20:58.2 for the Clippers and sophomore Avery Allan was 29th in 21:29.4.
The Clear Creek Amana boys had a pair of top-six finishers on its way to a top-five team finish in a loaded field that featured five teams ranked in the top six of their respective class.
Junior Gavin Zillyette placed fifth in 16:41.9 and Brandon Barker was sixth in 16:45.3 as Class 3A No. 11 Clear Creek Amana finished fifth as a team.
“I felt actually felt pretty good,” Zillyette said. “I feel like the training is starting to kick in and this was the first time I’ve gone into a meet with really high confidence and high hopes and obviously finished pretty well.”
Class 4A fourth-ranked Solon won the team title with 57 points and was followed by third-ranked Marion with 65, No. 9 Mount Vernon-Lisbon with 83 and fifth-ranked Center Point-Urbana with 89.
Clear Creek Amana was fifth with 124.
“It was a big thing to go into because there are a lot of highly ranked kids and a lot of guys that will be at the state meet,” Zillyette said. “So it was nice to see all those guys today and to be able to compete against them feels really good.”
The Center Point-Urbana duo of Eli Larson and Luke Post pulled away from the field to finish first and second.
Larson won in 16:00.6 while Post was second in 16:09.
Marion’s duo of Shane Erb and Jedidiah Osgood placed third and fourth in 16:12.2 and 16:33.8 respectively and ahead of the Clipper duo of Zillyette and Barker.
“I think this was up there as a top two race in my career as far as how I competed,” Zillyette said. “I feel like I competed really well, the competition is amazing this year in our conference outside of state this is probably the best competition we’ve ever run against.”
Clear Creek Amana also got a top-25 finish from freshman Noah Yost who was 25th in 17:44.
The Clippers now turn their attention to the 3A state qualifying next week in Monticello.
“We are in the best spot we can be,” Barker said. “We have done all the training that we can, we are fully bought into it but we are in the spot we need to be.”
WAMAC Conference
At Williamsburg Recreation Center
Team scores – 1. Solon 57; 2. Marion 74; 3. Center Point-Urbana 83; 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 92; 5. Clear Creek Amana 130; 6. West Delaware 144; 7. Williamsburg 150; 8. South Tama 200; 9. Benton Community 209; 10. Vinton-Shellsburg 247; 11. Independence 315; 12. Dyersville Beckman 324
Individual leaders – 1. Eli Larson (CP-U) 16:00.13; 2. Luke Post (CP-U) 16:08.99; 3. Shane Erb (MAR) 16:12.09; 4. Jedidiah Osgood (MAR) 16:33.8; 5. Gavin Zillyette (CCA) 16:41.91; 6. Brandon Barker (CCA) 16:45.3; 7. Gabe Hinman (SOL) 16:54.75; 8. Blake Roling (MAR) 16:57.23; 9. Zach Fall (MV-L) 17:01.54; 10. Tyler Bilskie (SOL) 17:05.99; 11. Brick Kabela (SOL) 17:12.11; 12. Jensen Meeker (MV-L) 17:14.85; 13. Harrison Garber (WIL) 17:16.71; 14. Michael Yeomans (SOL) 17:19.16; 15. Ben DeValk (SOL) 17:19.57
Solon (57) – 7. Gabe Hinman 16:54.75; 10. Tyler Bilskie 17:05.99; 11. Brick Kabela 17:12.11; 14. Michael Yeomans 17:19.16; 15. Ben DeValk 17:19.57; 20. Nate Ferguson 17:46.43; 21. Noelan Garbes 17:47.63
Clear Creek Amana (130) – 5. Gavin Zillyette 16:41.91; 6. Brandon Barker 16:45.3; 33. Jackson Schloss 18:18.11; 41. Tanner Tomas 18:41.08; 45. Cameron Kimm 18:53.71; 56. Jack Hagen 19:30.87
Girls Results
Team scores – 1. Solon 57; 2. Williamsburg 70; 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 110; 4. Benton Community 122; 5. Center Point-Urbana 124; 6. Marion 130; 7. Clear Creek Amana 140; 8. West Delaware 225; 9. Independence 263; 10. Maquoketa 268; 11. South Tama 271; 12. Vinton-Shellsburg 295; 13. Dyersville Beckman 341
Individual leaders – 1. Kiersten Conway (SOL) 19:15.75; 2. Haidyn Barker (CCA) 19:33.4; 3. Peyton Steffen (MAR) 19:35.97; 4. Ruth Jennings (WIL) 19:36.37; 5. Madison Prier (MAR) 20:00.59; 6. Laura Swart (MV-L) 20:03.03; 7. Kora Katcher (CP-U) 20:06.93; 8. Anna Hoffman (MV-L) 20:13.33; 9. Natalie Bemer (WIL) 20:14.1; 10. Taylor Winegarden (WIL) 20:16.57; 11. Mary Fiala (SOL) 20:22.54; 12. Hailee Ricklefs (BC) 20:25.9; 13. Emma Bock (SOL) 20:28.92; 14. Emma Wilkerson (CP-U) 20:29.51; 15. Meghan O’Neill (SOL) 20:35.32
Solon (57) – 1. Kiersten Conway 19:15.75; 11. Mary Fiala 20:22.54; 13. Emma Bock 20:28.92; 15. Meghan O’Neill 20:35.32; 17. Anna Quillin 20:38.55; 20. Gracie Federspiel 20:44.06; 21. Ashlyn Williams 20:53.4
Clear Creek Amana (140) – 2. Haidyn Barker 19:33.4; 22. Kayla Jiras 20:58.2; 28. Avery Allan 21:29.37; 39. Emily Coleman 22:15.61; 49. Allie Kounkel 23:06.39; 51. Eva Plathe 23:11.54; 63. Alexis Ponce 24:19.2
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