Will Norris is a marathon champion. And it’s a prestigious marathon that he won.
The former Spirit Lake prep and Northwestern College Hall of Famer withstood a challenge from Tesfu Tewelde of Eritrea over the final 2 kilometers to capture the win at a warm Twin Cities Marathon in St. Paul, MN, on Sunday, Oct. 5. Norris, 30, was the strongest man as the heat and humidity ramped up and took the top prize of $14,000 in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 41 seconds.
Norris, who resides in Charlottesville, VA, is only the second native Iowan to claim the Twin Cities title, now in its 43rd year. The first was Clinton’s Phil Coppess, who owned the course record of 2:10:05 from 1985 until 2016 when it was topped by Kenya’s Dominic Ondoro in 2:08:51.
“Will wakes up, goes to work, comes home, takes a nap, gets up and goes running,” said Norris’ wife, Cleo Boyd, in a Minneapolis Star-Tribune interview. “It’s not a chore but something he gets to do at the end of the day.”
Norris leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.
Ondoro was among five men who finished ahead of Norris in last year’s Twin Cities event. Norris, who works as a trades apprentice at the University of Virginia, ran 2:12:33 that day. Norris also was sixth at June’s Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN, in 2:14:03 on another warm morning.
So it wasn’t as if the two-time U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier didn’t have good credentials entering Sunday’s race. Very few would have predicted Norris would have beaten Tewelde, who trains at altitude in Flagstaff, AZ, or Kenyan Bernard Kipkemoi Rotich, who also trains at altitude in Nairobi.
The warm weather in the 70s was the equalizer and Norris was more than up to challenge. Norris, Tewelde, Rotich and Ethiopia’s Asefa Bekele were together at 30 kilometers. Norris and Tewelde dropped the other two on the hilly stretch coming to the state Capitol over the next 5K. They were together at 40K with less than 2K to go when Norris made the decisive move and left Tewelde behind. Norris had enough of a gap to celebrate on the final stretch to the finish and he raised his arms in victory while breaking the tape. Tewelde finished 25 seconds behind.
Norris holds several records at Northwestern College, including the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000. He was the Great Plains Athletic Conference Runner of the Year in 2016 while finishing third at NAIA cross country nationals.
Norris was not the only Iowa resident to excel in the Twin Cities in Motion-branded races. In the men’s marathon competition, former Ankeny High athlete Kris Spoth finished 46th overall. The resident of Stillwater, MN, who attended Iowa State ran 2:45:59.
Two former Iowa prep greats finished in the top 10 of the women’s competition. Missy (Buttry) Rock, a 14-time Wartburg College NCAA champion and Shenandoah-Essex product, claimed fifth among the women and 37th overall in 2:43:32. Rock, 42, also was fourth at the 2023 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2:37:03. Rock resides in Prior Lake, MN.
Danna Herrick, a former Boone High great, Hansons-Brooks runner and, like Rock, a past U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying, was next among the professional women. The resident of Norwalk, 38, ran 2:47:20 for sixth and 52nd overall. Herrick is a former Runablaze Iowa athlete
Tricia Serres, a current Runablaze athlete who ran for Luther College, took 107th overall in 2:55:06. Serres resides in Asbury near Dubuque. The women’s champion was Jane Bareikis of Crestwood, IL, in 2:32:52, a 5:50 average.
In the TC 10 that featured several top pros Oct. 5, former Sioux City North and Iowa Central Community College standout Biya Simbassa picked up runner-up honors in the 10-mile race in 46:28. The Asics athlete and reigning U.S. 10K record holder averaged 4:39 per mile while finishing four seconds behind Yemane Haileselassi, 27, of Flagstaff. Simbassa, 32, also resides in Flagstaff.
Another former Sioux City North prep, Merga Gemeda, grabbed 13th in 48:26. Gemeda, 26, runs for Minnesota Distance Elite and lives in Minnetonka. Four spots behind him was former Ames graduate Noah Kohut-Jackson, 23, of Minneapolis. Kohut-Jackson, who ran for Minnesota, ran 49:12 for 17th. Coming across 66th was former Luther runner Dan Iselin, 26, of West St. Paul. Iselin ran 56:37.Former Runablaze athlete Leif Klarqvist, 22, of Roseville, MN, ran 57:01 for 72nd.
Two former Iowa State All-Americans placed in the top four of the women’s competition. MDE’s Annie Frisbie, 28, of Hopkins, MN, claimed third overall in 52:50. Next across the finish line was Brooks running Amanda Vestri, 26, in 53:13. Vestri is a ZAP Endurance member. Vestri and Frisbie finished 1-2 at the USATF 6K Championship in Canton, Ohio, in July and will be facing off again at the New York City Marathon next month.
“So special to have one of my favorite races right at home! It was a solid day of work at the Twin Cities 10 Mile. Finished in third and feeling some good momentum moving into the last few weeks of marathon training,” Frisbie wrote on Instagram.
Placing 22nd among the women and 109th overall was Andrea Toppin, a former Ventura and Iowa State runner, in 59:08. Toppin, 32, now resides in Broomfield, CO. Taking 128th was Maddie Block, who competed for Marion and the University of Iowa, in 1:00:09. Block, 26, is now a graduate student at Iowa. The women’s winner was Mercy Chelangat, 28, of Flagstaff in 52:04.
In the 10K held the day before on Saturday, Oct. 4, two former Luther College runners who are husband and wife finished in second place. Adam Bohach, a South Winneshiek grad, ran 32:51. That time moves the rural Cresco runner, 41, to No. 5 on Iowa’s all-time masters road racing list. The winner was Connor Bach of St. Louis Park, MN, in 31:49. Wife Flannery Cerbin-Bohach, 38, covered the 6.2-mile distance in 36:48 for second among the women and eighth overall. Carmen Garson-Shumway of Washington, DC, took the win in 36:34.
Will return to road racing soon, but shifting to college cross country and the Briar Cliff Invite at the Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, SD, on Saturday, Oct. 4. The South Dakota women took the team title with 25 points, 17 ahead of Creighton, and redshirt sophomore and ADM (Adel) product Geneva Timmerman picked up the 6K (3.7 mile) win. Timmerman ran 21:15.9, a 5:42 average, to win by more than 13 seconds over Creighton’s Taylor Rorick.
Morningside College senior Courtney Sporrer, who ran for Logan-Magnolia, took 13th in 22:36.2. Next across the line was Dordt University true freshman Addison Liston in her 6K debut. The former Unity Christian (Orange City) athlete from Ireton ran 22:39.5. Liston was the No. 3 Defenders counter. South Dakota freshman Drew Beason was the No. 6 runner for the Coyotes in 15th in 22:39.7. Beason attended Ankeny High. Placing 22nd for third-place Dordt was freshman and former Boyden-Hull athlete Elyse Zwart in 23:04.8. South Dakota junior Moriah Knapp, an Algona High grad, crossed in 24th in 23:09.3. Next to finish was Northwestern College junior Emily De Groot in 23:10.2. De Groot is a former MOC-Floyd Valley prep. Former Dordt and Morningside runner Kristine Honomichl placed 26th in 23:14.2. Honomichl competes for Runablaze. Morningside junior Gabby Ryan ended up 27th in 23:20.8. Ryan graduated from Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Northwestern junior Kayden Spencer, who ran for Ogden, took 35th in 23:53.7. Also finishing in the top 40 was Morningside junior London Rogge and Omaha redshirt senior Kamryn Ensley. Rogge, who attended Cherokee Washington, ran 24:00.4 for 38th. Ensley, a Valley product, clocked 24:08.9 for 40th.
An Iowa native also was a top runner for South Dakota in the men’s 8K race. Natnael Kifle, who ran for Sioux City North, took third overall in 25:08.1, a 5:03 average. Kifle is a sophomore who sparked the Coyotes to the team title with 25 points. Creighton true freshman Owen Marett, a state champion for Des Moines Roosevelt, claimed sixth in 25:44.0. Marett was the No. 3 runner for the Blue Jays, who scored 39 points for second place. South Dakota junior Levi Hill also cracked the top 10. The Ankeny High product who started his career at Northern Iowa clocked 25:53.9 for 10th.
Taking 13th for Dakota State was junior Lane Henrichs. The Central Lyon product ran 25:59.7. Former Valley athlete Aidan Limback took 21st for Concordia (Neb.) in 26:27.6. Limback is a junior. South Dakota freshman Tommy Hensley, who ran for Urbandale, was next in 26:30.5. Dordt senior Tage Hulstein was the No. 3 runner for third-place Dordt in 26:34.8. Hulstein ran for Western Christian. Creighton freshman Zack Janulewicz, a Waukee Northwest grad, came in 32nd in 26:55.6. Dordt true freshman Ethan Wynia, another former Unity Christian prep, ran 26:59.4 for 33rd. Next to finish was Northwestern College sophomore Alik McIlravy. The North Polk product clocked 27:02.7. Two spots back was sophomore teammate Carson Van Sickle, who ran for Ogden. Van Sickle was timed in 27:04.3. The winner was South Dakota sophomore Isaac Ochoa in 24:37.8.
Former Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson standout Wimachmorr Gilo led Missouri Western to the team title at the Griffon Invite in St. Joseph, MO, on Oct. 4. The graduate student and senior ran the 8K in 25:08.2 to finish behind only junior teammate Pau Valderrama (24:40.4). Another Council Bluffs native, former St. Albert athlete Owen Wise, was the No. 3 runner for third-place Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats sophomore ran 26:45.4 for 12th. Three spots behind him was Missouri Western senior Logan Soedt. The North Scott grad ran 27:02.9 for 15th.
Missouri Western senior Abby Kinney took sixth place and paced the third-place Griffons. The graduate student and former Waukee High product ran 18:46.6 for 5K. Taking 13th and pushing for a varsity spot for dominant Winona State was true freshman Emily Meyer. The former Cedar Falls runner clocked 19:33.8 for 13th. Winona State won the team title with a perfect score of 15. Indian Hills, a distant second with 66 points, had sophomore Tiffani Koonce place 16th for third on the team. The former Prairie City-Monroe athlete ran 19:38.0. The winner, Winona’s Sophia Taarud, ran 17:25.5.
The second-ranked (by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) Wartburg men successfully defended their home turf during the Dan Huston Invitational in Waverly on Oct. 4. The Knights finished 1-4-5-6-7 to score 23 points and easily top Simpson College by 89 points.
Leading the Knights’ charge in second place was junior and former Western Dubuque standout Isaiah Hammerand. Hammerand covered the 8K in 24:16.2, a 4:52.9 average, while trailing only unattached runner Daniel Rotich by almost 10 seconds. Senior teammate Eli Larson, who ran for Center Point-Urbana, was fifth in 24:49.3. The next two finishers were former New London preps and Wartburg seniors. Ander Julian picked up sixth in 24:56.3 and Seth Bailey grabbed seventh in 25:01.3. The final scorer in eighth was another senior, Tyler Schermerhorn, who ran for Ankeny Centennial. Schermerhorn clocked 25:02.7. Wartburg also corralled the last two spots in the top 10 with senior and former Liberty High runner Jack Kinzer (9th, 25:06.8) and sophomore Solomon Zaugg, a Mediapolis grad who was timed in 25:08.0.
Former Gilbert product William Wadsley paced the third-place Central College men in 11th place. Wadsley, a sophomore, ran 25:08.6. Simpson sophomore and former Marshalltown prep James Johnson, a winner last week at Central, settled for 12th in 25:18.8. Next was another Wartburg runner, sophomore Ahmed Aldamak. Aldamak, who ran for Cedar Falls, was clocked in 25:21.8. His former Tigers prep teammate, senior Alex Horstman, grabbed 14th in 25:24.8. The Knights run continued with sophomore Cooper Cook in 15th in 25:25.6. Cook competed for Marion. Jacob Green, a Wartburg alum who ran for Cedar Rapids Kennedy, clocked 25:26.0 for 16th. Wartburg sophomore Drew Moser, a Clinton grad, was timed in 25:28.7 for 18th. Simpson senior Cole Leggett, a former Urbandale runner, took 20th in 25:32.5. Central junior Jack Brown was next in 25:38.6. Brown ran for Norwalk. Knights sophomore Andrew Smith covered the 4.97-mile distance in 25:44.5 for 23rd. Smith attended Glenwood.
The 20th-ranked Wartburg women sent their top runners to the Paul Short Run in Pennsylvania to face some of the nation’s top programs. That denied fans a chance to see a duel against Central College, but that will arrive at the American Rivers Conference on Nov. 1. Instead, it was the Dutch who fought off Grinnell College by 28 points to take the team win, 61-89.
Leading Central for the first time this season was senior and former Marion standout Peyton Steffen. Steffen averaged 5:52.8 for 6K while clocking 21:55.3 for a runner-up finish. Next to finish was Wartburg alum and New London product Lexi Brown. The Fitness Sports Distance Project runner ran 22:13.9 for third. Central’s Maddy Stevens, the leader for the Dutch so far this season, settled for fifth in 22:37.7. Stevens is a Dallas Center-Grimes grad. Sophomore Liza Schaffer paced Northern Iowa’s scaled down roster in seventh place in 22:53.9. Schaffer attended North Polk.Central junior Teah Miller, a former Iowa Falls-Alden runner claimed eighth in 22:54.0. Freshman teammate Kyra Cordes was ninth in 23:01.5. Cordes is a former Marion athlete.
Northern Iowa freshman Sarah Feddersen, who ran for Gilbert, claimed 11th in 23:02.5. Panther junior teammate Brooke O’Brien, a Dubuque Hempstead grad, took 14th in 23:09.3. The leader for Buena Vista University was sophomore and former Storm Lake High product Lillian Dahlhauser in 23:30.5. Dahlhauser took 19th. The No. 2 runner for Wartburg was sophomore Ava Vance, 20th in 23:371. Vance ran for Ballard (Huxley). The top 25 also included Wartburg freshman Bethany Warren (22nd, 24:00.4). Warren competed for Forest City.
At that Paul Short Run held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, Wartburg took ninth with 316 points as all eight teams ahead of the Knights were also ranked higher. NYU, fifth ranked, took the title with 55 points, 102 ahead of No. 7 Carnegie Mellon.
The top Iowa collegian was Loras College redshirt freshman Keelee Leitzen, an Iowa State transfer. The Dubuque Hempstead grad ran 21:50.6 for 6K to place 22nd. The No. 2 Knights runner was senior and former Kee (Lansing) athlete Haley Meyer in 48th. Meyer clocked 22:13.2. Wartburg senior and former Monticello prep Karle Kramer was fourth-best Knights finisher in 70th place in 22:30.9. Sophomore teammate Lydia Maas, who ran for Hampton-Dumont, claimed 98th in 22:46.6. True freshman Claire Hoyer, who went to Dubuque Senior, crossed the finish line in 23:02.3 for 134th. Another ex-Hempstead prep, Bailey Vaughan of Loras, took 145th in 23:08. Vaughan is a Duhawks senior. The Wartburg roster was rounded out by sophomore Sydney Bochmann (148th, 23:09.5) and freshman Marissa Pewe (154th, 23:12.1). Bochmann stayed home after graduating from Waverly-Shell Rock while Pewe ran for Johnston. The race winner was Jules Bleskoski of RPI in 20:20.8.
In the women’s Gold competition, Boston University sophomore Abi Hahn paced the Terriers in 105th place. The former Des Moines Roosevelt prep finished in 21:19.5. Ani Wedemeyer, who prepped at Pleasant Valley, was 242nd for Johns Hopkins. The freshman ran 22:20.5. Georgetown’s Melissa Riggins claimed victory in 19:34.8.
Moving back to the roads, or rather the park, where Loras seven-time NCAA champion Kassie Parker took a shot at her own state 5K record at the Blazing 5K at Water Works Park in Des Moines on Oct. 5. The Crown Running athlete living in Waverly came up 10 seconds shy of her mark of 15:46 at Blazing 5K from a year ago. Nonetheless, it was a victory for the former Clayton Ridge (Guttenberg) prep in 15:56.1. Parker again rolled to victory, this time by 40 seconds over Kaylee Beyer.
Finishing fourth was Runablaze veteran Pasca Cheruiyot of Ankeny. The 2014 Grandma’s Marathon winner ran 17:13.4. Nikki Borner of Indianola came in next in 17:23.1. Runablaze’s Sarah Bakula, a former Simpson College and Waukon athlete, narrowly missed a 5K personal record after clocking 17:28.2. Bakula resides in Fort Atkinson. Northern Iowa 6K record-holder Emma Hoins took seventh in 17:34.9. Hoins, of Cedar Falls, is a former Waverly-Shell Rock and Hawkeye Community College runner.
The next finisher set a new masters (40 and over) state record on the roads. Susie Duke, 45, of Searsboro and a former Lynnville-Sully prep and Iowa State grad, ran a new personal record of 17:55 to top the 18:07 mark set by Jenny Schulze, 42, at Clive Taste of Hope in 2015. Duke’s previous best was 17:50. Duke had been No. 6 on the list with an 18:50 from Pella’s Klompen Classic in 2025. Schulze watched her daughter, Lauren (Schulze) Wood, finish behind Duke in ninth. The Valley grad living in West Des Moines ran 17:59.8. She is a Runablaze athlete. Teammate Melanie Hamilt of Iowa City rounded out the top 10 in 18:17. The final elite female runners were former Southeast Warren and Simpson College athlete Elise Wieland, of Runablaze in 18:28.5 and professional triathlete Jess Smith, 43, of Clive in 18:41.2.
Reid Buchanan of Kansas City topped a strong field aiming to break 14 minutes. Buchanan, representing Crown Running, clocked 13:54.7 to top former Iowa State All-American and Central Lyon-GLR prep Gable Sieperda, of Ames, by 18.2 seconds. Sieperda still managed to run the third-best time by an Iowan in Iowa road racing history, a 14:12.9. Sieperda only trails two fellow former Cyclones: Jonah Koech (13:36 from 1992) and Edwin Kurgat (13:47 from Blazing 5K in 2022). He is a Fitness Sports Distance Project athlete.
Former Davenport Central and Loras College great Mason Tope of Crown Running came in fourth in 14:40.4. Tope now lives in Las Vegas. Former Dubuque Senior and Iowa Central standout Blake Whalen of Des Moines grabbed sixth in 14:47.7. Whalen won the Drake Relays 10K on the track earlier this year. Joe Freiburger, No. 2 in Wartburg history for 8K, took eighth in 14:59.7. Freiburger is a Western Dubuque grad who now runs for the Bowerman Track Club team in Beaverton, OR. Former Central College All-American and Pleasant Valley prep Austin O’Brien of Runablaze came in 10th in 15:11.4. O’Brien lives in Waukee. Former Pleasant Valley and Iowa runner Konnor Sommer of Cedar Rapids ended up 12th in 15:20.9.
Former Cornell College great Ean Caskey of Lisbon gave a great effort at his own Iowa masters road racing record of 15:20 set in 2022. Caskey, 43, clocked 15:29.7 as the first masters finisher. Runablaze’s Don Agisha of Norwalk took 15th in 15:36.6. Former Mount Mercy University standout Jacob Blackmon of Cedar Rapids was next across the finish banner in 15:57.7. Blackon is a FSDP runner. Runablaze captain and race organizer Tyson Wieland picked up 18th in 16:11.9. Wieland, from Des Moines, is a former Johnston and Iowa Central athlete.
In the Open 5K, former Northern Iowa standout Rob Semelroth moved to a third-place tie on Iowa’s all-time road racing list for grand masters men (50 and over). Semelroth, a Des Moines resident, ran 17:14.3. He finished 10th overall. The Open 5K winner was Anthony McDill of Omaha, NE, in 16:22.0.
In the 1 mile held less than 30 minutes after the men’s 5K, Parker and Buchanan repeated as winners. Parker ran 4:55.9 to hold off Beyer by five seconds. Buchanan ran 4:14.9 to win by nearly 10 seconds. Tope was third overall in 4:32.3. Sommer ended up fifth in 4:40.8 while Caskey clocked 4:46.3 for sixth. Bakula was the No. 3 female in 5:10.1, with Wood the fifth-best woman in 5:25.7.
In the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on Sunday in Wisconsin, former Iowa City West and University of Iowa athlete Gabby Skopec finished sixth among the women. Skopec, a Coralville resident, ran 3:11:58. Skopec is now an FSDP athlete.
Running Wild Elite’s Nate Hopp of Cedar Rapids took the title at the Especially For You Race Against Breast Cancer in Cedar Rapids on Oct. 5. Hopp, No. 2 on the all-time road racing masters list behind Caskey, ran 16:13 to win by 43 seconds. Emily Burmeister, a former Fort Dodge High prep, ran 18:53 to take the women’s title. Burmeister is now a Marion resident.
Returning to college cross country and the Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park in Fayetteville, AR, on Oct. 4. Des Moines Christian product Aaron Fynaardt, a redshirt sophomore at Union (Tenn.), ran the ninth-fastest time in program history while taking 55th overall. Fynaardt clocked 25:07.5 to pace Union. Finishing 35 spots behind him was Ames High grad Brennen Bhave. The Nebraska-Kearney true freshman ran 25:33.5 for 90th. Right behind him was Northwest Missouri State junior Riley Witt. The former St. Ansgar athlete ran 25:33.6 as the Bearcats were third in the team race with 103 points.
In the women’s Habanero 5K, Northwest Missouri junior Mayson Hartley came across 65th in 18:00.7. The Clarinda grad was the No. 3 finisher for the Bearcats.
Former Ballard (Huxley) prep standout Shewaye Johnson finished third overall at the Jimmie XC Invitational in Jamestown, ND, on Oct. 3. The Texas A&M transfer ran 21:15.9 for 6K and was the No. 2 runner for the Fighting Hawks, who claimed the team title with 24 points. Teammate Jadyn Keeler was the champion in 19:54.9.
North Dakota State sophomore Carl Rekow grabbed 19th in the men’s 8K. The Pleasant Valley product ran 25:37.1 and was the No. 5 runner for the Bison, who were second to North Dakota (22-46).
Iowa sent both of its teams to the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame at the Burke Golf Course on Oct. 3. Running second for the Hawkeye women in the 5K was Sumner-Fredericksburg product Hillary Trainor in 54th. Trainor ran 17:10.0. Bradley true freshman Noelle Steines, a Calamus-Wheatland grad, took 63rd in 17:15.2. Steines was the Braves’ No. 3 finisher. Iowa senior Jalyssa Blazek, a former Turkey Valley (Jackson Junction) prep, ran 17:28.9 for 90th. Blazek was the third-best Hawkeye. Junior teammate Clare Kelly, who ran for Van Meter, was 146th in 18:18.2. Iowa senior Rowan Boulter, who competed for Iowa City High, ended up 153rd in 18:22.5.
Junior Miles Wilson was the No. 1 runner for Iowa in the 8K Blue competition. The Cedar Rapids Kennedy grad ran 24:01.6 for 58th place. Sophomore teammate Luke Knepp, an All-Big Ten steeplechase runner, took 73rd in 24:17.0. Knepp ran for Pleasant Valley. Aidan Ramsey, a former Dallas Center-Grimes and Drake athlete, is now a junior at Wyoming. Ramsey took 81st in 24:22.9 and was the No. 5 runner for the Cowboys, third in the team race with 125 points. Two spots behind Ramsey was Iowa senior and Des Moines Christian product Carson Houg in 24:23.2. Houg was the fourth-best Hawkeye. The final Iowa scorer was freshman and former Dallas Center-Grimes runner Elias Arbuckle in 92nd in 24:27.4. Iowa junior Hayden Kuhn, who prepped at Linn-Mar (Marion), was 121st in 24:55.6. Senior teammate Brayden Burnett was 10 spots back in 25:21.2. Burnett attended Cedar Falls.
Former Wartburg All-American Shaelyn Hostager, now a graduate student at Minnesota-Duluth, paced her team to a third-place effort at the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational in Colfax, WI, on Oct. 3. The Dubuque Hempstead product and senior finished the 6K race in 22:02.4 for fourth place. Claire Vukovics of Carleton won the race in 21:45.7.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps competed at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite at Pomona College in California on Oct. 4. Junior Sally Gaskell, who prepped at Dowling Catholic, was the No. 2 runner for C-M-S in the 6K race. Gaskell ran 22:34.4 for 22nd overall. C-M-S, ranked second nationally, took sixth in the team race with 141 points. Cal Poly Pomona was the champion with 48 points.
Former William Penn great D’Artagnon Beaver of the Crown Running team captured second in the Seminole Valley Stampede 8K race in Cedar Rapids on Oct. 4. Beaver was timed in 24:44.0 on the Seminole Valley course and trailed Aquinas’ Juan David Hernandez by 8.1 seconds. Leading host Mount Mercy was true freshman and former Liberty High prep Noah Gregoire in seventh in 25:04.4. Senior teammate Brady Cortez, who ran for Cedar Rapids Prairie, took 19th in 25:31.5. Senior teammate Quinn Swift, an Algona Garrigan grad, took 38th in 26:00.1. Mount Mercy was fifth in the team race with 118 points. Aquinas secured the title with 64 points.
In the women’s 6K, St. Ambrose junior Kaitlyn Knoche ended up ninth in 22:32.8. Knoche is a North Scott product. Next across the line was Mount Mercy junior Kalin Rotzoll in 22:46.7.Rotzoll ran for Clear Creek-Amana. St. Ambrose senior Allison Hein, who prepped at Iowa City Regina, grabbed 17th in 23:15.4. Mount Mercy junior Abby Knepper, a Dyersville Beckman grad, took 22nd in 23:29.2. St. Ambrose was third in the team race with 105 points and Mount Mercy sixth with 138. Aquinas again won the title, with 63 points.
At the Louisville Classic at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, KY, North Central (IL) senior Aidan Armstrong finished 91st in the Gold 8K race. The Muscatine product ran 25:16.7 as North Central was seventh in the team race with 265 points. Middle Tennessee was the champion with 60.
In the Blue division, North Central junior Owen Christy was 67th overall in 26:10.3. Christy competed for Davenport Central. North Central was sixth in that team race with 279 points.
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Will Norris, Missy Rock, Biya Simbassa, Annie Frisbie, Geneva Timmerman, Isaiah Hammerand, Kassie Parker,Gable Sieperda
Reporting by Lance Bergeson, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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