In cooler temperatures, West Liberty’s cross-country program continues to produce fast times.
At Monday’s meet at Hilcrest Academy, the Comet boys placed sixth out of 10 teams as it prepares for the stretch run.
The Comets scored 172 team points, just shy of the top five of Pella Green (15), Pella White (64), Louisa-Muscatine (117), Iowa City Regina (130) and Fairfield (132).
Canaan Dunham, one of the best runners in the entire state, won the meet with a time of 16:06.78 for Pella Green.
Comet freshman Carlos Meraz took his rightful spot in the top ten with a ninth-place finish. Among all non-Pella runners, he had the third fastest time (17:51.19).
Sophomore Jonathan Juarez was the second-fastest Comet, taking 34th place in 19:42.37. Freshman Noah Garcia was third-fastest in 43rd place with a time of 20:14.55.
Also scoring for the varsity boys’ lineup was junior Christofer Gomez (20:26.55 — 49th) and sophomore Christian Renteria (23:13.40 — 72nd) while freshman Ethan Hayes (23:41.23 — 74th) and sophomore Martin Estrada (25:06.37) rounded out the lineup.
The Comet girls did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score on Monday. However, that did not stop the ones that did from setting great times.
Sophomore Madelyn Deahr had a person record time of 22:59.43, marking the first time she has gone sub-23 minutes. This result was good for 34th place overall.
Not far behind was sophomore Addison Guerra who posted a 23:27.25 time, placing her in 39th.
The final two runners for West Liberty’s varsity girls’ team were freshman Aileen Aragon (26:02.96 — 55th) and sophomore Valenzuela Hernande (27:02.02).
Once again, Pella dominated this event with the Green team taking first place with its top six runners placing first through sixth. They earned the best-possible team score of 15 points.
Pella White scored 70 while English Valleys’ 74, Hillcrest Academy’s 127 and Iowa City Regina’s 134 made up the top five.
After taking part in just one meet per week for the past month, the Comets will have a double dose of action.
On Thursday, West Liberty will run in the Jim Hetrick Invitational hosted by Central DeWitt at Grace Lutheran Bible Camp.
Then, on Tuesday, the Comets will return to the Iowa City Kickers Soccer Complex for the River Valley Conference meet.
West Liberty, along with the rest of the state, will also be watching for the state qualifying assignments which are expected to be released this week.
Season’s top times
Girls
Madelyn Deahr (22:59.43); Addison Guerra (23:14.82); Aileen Aragon (25:50.90); Ximena Valenzuela Hernandez (26:18.28); Angelly Gonzalez (28:03.15).
Boys
Carlos Meraz (17:40.35); Jonathan Juarez (18:44.80); Noah Garcia (19:24.39); Damian Gonzalez (20:00.46); Christofer Gomez (20:52.55).