Class 4A Ninth-ranked City High Finishes Third at Home Bud Williams Invitational
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
IOWA CITY – City High got a rare chance to run at home on Thursday when it hosted its own Bud Williams Invitational.
For City High sophomores Ani Wedemeyer and Nina Kuhlmannn a home meet hardly meant a familiar course.
In fact, Thursday was the first race on the 5-kilometer course for five of the seven runners in the City High lineup.
That didn’t stop Wedemeyer, Kuhlmannn and the Little Hawks from turning in an impressive performance on Thursday.
Wedemeyer finished third overall and Kuhlmannn was 23rd as Class 4A ninth-ranked City high finished third at its home meet with 97 points.
“I love this course so much,” Kuhlmannn said. “It feels fast but it also has some hills. It’s different when you take a three-hour bus ride than when you can drive in your car to a meet. It’s a real privilege to run here.”
Last season the Bud Williams Invitational was held at Kickers Soccer Complex in Iowa City.
In its return to its home course on Thursday City High finished behind only fifth-ranked Dubuque Senior which won the team title with 33 points and fourth-ranked Ankeny Centennial.
“We ran 14 girls today and I am really proud of all 14 of them. They all ran well. I know we had some prs in there,” City High coach Ryan Ahlers said. “One through five, one through seven we were good,” Ahlers said. “It just goes back to tightening those gaps and believing that you can run with your teammate. If you can do it in a workout you can do it in a race.”
For Kuhlmann, Wedemeyer and fellow sophomores Nicole and Nina Peterson the return to Ashton was a refresher run.
The sophomores ran the 2-mile track at Ashton in junior high but got their first crack at the full track on Thursday.
“I had heard that it was a fast course and we had a chance to do a workout here this week so that was good preparation,” Wedemeyer said. “I really like the course.”
Wedemeyer finished third in a time of 19:04.37, a little more than a second behind runner-up Bella Hodges from Ankeny Centennial.
No. 12 ranked Rondi Quass of Ankeny Centennial won the individual title in 18:20.91.
“I feel like it went pretty well. I think that I executed it pretty well,” Wedemeyer said. “I think I could have started my kick a little earlier and caught the second-place girl but I am pretty happy with it.”
Senior Iris Wedemeyer finished 15th in 19:36.08 for City High while Kuhlmann was 23rd in 20:22.5.
Nicole Peterson was 29th in 20:30.73 and Nina Peterson was 33rd in 20:45.76 while teammate Erin Anderson was right behind in 34th place in a time of 20:50. 56.
“This is such a special course,” Kuhlmann said. “I remember running here in middle school and it was so much fun, I loved it then and I love it more now.”
Dubuque Senior had five runners in the top 10 and seven in the top 11 while winning the team title and Ankeny Centennial put seven runners in the top 20.
“Kudos to Dubuque Senior and Ankeny Centennial for coming over here and racing because they are helping us build a higher level meet and we want to do that,” Ahlers said. “We want our home meet to be a competitive where teams from Eastern Iowa and Central Iowa want to come over and race here.”
Clear Creek Amana senior Haidyn Barker placed sixth in a time of 19:16.46 to help Clear Creek Amana to a fifth-place team finish.
Kiera Rogers was 22nd in 20:20.22 for the Clippers and Sara Kinzenbaw was 31st in 20:31.12 and Kira Barker was 32nd in 20:33.28.
Bud Williams Invitational
At Ashton Cross Country Course
Team scores – 1. Dubuque Senior 33; 2. Ankeny Centennial 47; 3. City High 97; 4. Cedar Rapids Prairie 118; 5. Clear Creek Amana 121; 6. Pekin 160; 7. Ottumwa 190; 8. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 251
Individual leaders – 1. Rondi Quass (AC) 18:20.91; 2. Bella Hodges (AC) 19:03.01; 3. Ani Wedemeyer (ICH) 19:04.37; 4. Georgia Harms (DS) 19:12.32; 5. Leah Klapatauskas (DS) 19:16.42; 6. Haidyn Barker (CCA) 19:16.46; 7. Kaitlyn Miller (DS) 19:24.92; 8. Emma Chesterman (DS) 19:24.93; 9. Nevaeh Kessler (DS) 19:25.05; 10. Emily Gorton (DS) 19:25.24; 11. Claire Hoyer (DS) 19:26.01; 12. Chloe Glosser (PEK) 19:27.42; 13. Kylee Patterson (AC) 19:28.6; 14. Julia Flick (AC) 19:30.23; 15. Iris Wedemeyer (ICH) 19:36.08
City High (97) – 3. Ani Wedemeyer 19:04.37; 15. Iris Wedemeyer 19:36.08; 23. Nina Kuhlmannn 20:22.50; 29. Nicole Peterson 20:30.73; 33. Nina Peterson 20:45.76; 34. Erin Anderson 20:50.56; 35. Abigail Burns 20:51.65
Clear Creek Amana (121) – 6. Haidyn Barker 19:16.46; 22. Kiera Rogers 20:20.22; 30. Sara Kinzenbaw 20:31.12; 31. Kira Barker 20:33.28; 45. Harper Tecklenburg 22:10.83; 50. Raegan Wyant 22:19.95; 51. Avery Allan 22:28.38
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