Fourth-place Finish From Sophomore Tiea Leads West High at MVC Super Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
CEDAR RAPIDS – Over the past season and a half Moustafa Tiea has shown flashes of what he could do on the cross country course.
In the past two weeks West High sophomore has began to emerge as a force at the front of the pack for the Trojans.
So what has triggered the late-season surge for Tiea?
It’s simple, the sophomore says.
“I want to be good at the thing I enjoy,” Tiea said. “People have supported me all the way I don’t want that to go to waste. I want to make them proud.”
Tiea certainly made those people proud on Thursday at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids.
The sophomore raced to a fourth-place finish in a time of 15:34.45 to help West High to a sixth-place Super meet team finish for the second consecutive season.
“I was originally just trying to get in the top 10 but came out fourth,” Tiea said. “I am happy with that.”
Tiea finished third at the Eastern Iowa Classic on the same course two weeks ago clocking a time of 15:41.91.
He took more than second seconds off that time on Thursday finishing just more than a second off the pace of third-place Isaiah Hammerand of Western Dubuque.
“I was hurting badly but I couldn’t do anything about it, it comes with the territory in cross country,” Tiea said. “If you can’t handle the pain what are you doing.”
Senior Seth Cheney joined Tiea in the top-15 on Thursday placing 13th in a time of 15:59.57.
The time for Cheney was more than 15 seconds faster than he ran at the Eastern Iowa Classic on September 22.
West High finished with 156 points, 22 behind fifth-place Cedar Rapids Prairie.
City High claimed the team title for the second consecutive season finishing with 51 points while Cedar Falls was second with 77, Cedar Rapids Kennedy was third with 90 and Dubuque Hempstead was fourth with 106.
Liberty High got a 10th place finish from junior Aidan Decker and finished ninth in the team standings with 230 points.
Tiea and Cheney led a West High effort that featured five runners in the top 55.
Kai Merril was 33rd in 16:33.71, Robert Stong was 51st in 17:06.24 and Andrew Polgreen was 55th in 17:15.38.
In his first Super Meet experience Tiea entered with the plan to compete with pre-race favorites Ford Washburn of City High and Miles Wilson of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.
Washburn won the individual title in a course record time of 14:50.49 and Wilson was second in 15:20.48.
“A rule I like going by is anything is possible,” Tiea said. “That’s really my strategy.”
Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet
At Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids
Team scores – 1. City High 51; 2. Cedar Falls 77; 3. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 90; 4. Dubuque Hempstead 106; 5. Cedar Rapids Prairie 134; 6. West High 156; 7. Western Dubuque 174; 8. Linn-Mar 207; 9. Liberty High 230; 10. Dubuque Senior 290; 11. Waterloo West 301; 12. Dubuque Wahlert 350; 13. Cedar Rapids Washington 390; 14. Cedar Rapids Jefferson 417; 15. Cedar Rapids Xavier 437
Individual leaders – 1. Ford Washburn (ICH) 14:50.49; 2. Miles Wilson (CRK) 15:20.48; 3. Isaiah Hammerand (WD) 15:33.41; 4. Moustafa Tiea (ICW) 15:34.45; 5. Truman Thompson (ICH) 15:35.11; 6. John Maloney (DH) 15:37.9; 7. Jaden Merrick (CF) 15:47.3; 8. Luke Hartman (CF) 15:51.16; 9. Caleb Kass (DH) 15:53.75; 10. Aidan Decker (ICL) 15:55.63; 11. Ammon Smith (ICH) 15:55.95; 12. Noah Carey (ICH) 15:56.37; 13. Seth Cheney (ICW) 15:59.57; 14. Henry McMahan (CRK) 16:01.59; 15. Nick Lee (CRP) 16:03.32
City High (51) – 1. Ford Washburn 14:50.49; 5. Truman Thompson 15:35.11; 11. Ammon Smith 15:55.95; 12. Noah Carey 15:56.37; 22. Braeden Marker 16:18.21; 30. Owyn Noble 16:28.62; 41. Ayman Noreldaim 16:49.45
West High (156) – 4. Moustafa Tiea 15:34.45; 13. Seth Cheney 15:59.57; 33. Kai Merril 16:33.71; 51. Robert Stong 17:06.24; 55. Andrew Polgreen 17:15.38; 62. James Dickens 17:24.9; 63. Cade Benson 17:25.16
Liberty High (230) – 10. Aidan Decker 15:55.63; 24. Noah Gregoire 16:21.6; 57. Nathan Kinzer 17:17.57; 66. Maxwell Thompson 17:30.15; 73. Owen Abel 17:56.18; 75. Braxton Klein 18:03.62; 76. Will Thompson 18:04.29
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