The afternoon session on Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge featured the class 1A races of the 2021 Iowa High School Cross Country meet and there was plenty of representation in Southeast Iowa. 

The Columbus Community boys competed for the second year in a row and placed 16th in the team standings with 314 points while ACGC won it all with 75. Freddy Vergara was 15 seconds off from receiving a medal and the senior placed 24th in 17:25.51. Isaac Acosta was the next Wildcat to cross the finish line in 87th out of 157 (18:33), Damian Vergara was 123rd (19:18), Tim Hills-Carrier 128th (19:22), Mason Hills-Carrier 130th (19:30), Tyler Humiston 142nd (19:56), and Javier Panchillo 152nd (22:07). Winfield-Mt. Union’s Gabe Hemsworth competed as an individual and the sophomore finished 105th (18:54). 

The girls race featured Leah Bontrager of Hillcrest Academy and the senior was 39th out of 152 runners with a time of 21:23.89. This was her best finish in four appearances at state and the senior tells KCII Sports it was a great finale. “It felt really good crossing that finish line. My body was extremely tired, but it was so rewarding. I was right next to a Pekin girl that I had raced with a few times and we hugged in the end. It was a great experience all around.”

All results from Southeast Iowa can be found online at kciiradio.com.