Area runners excelled at this year’s Southeast Iowa Super Conference Cross Country Championships held yesterday at Twin Lakes Golf Course in Winfield. The Pekin girls and New London boys again won the team titles.

The Columbus Community Wildcats nonetheless had a phenomenal showing, finishing third in the boys’ team standings behind two ranked 2A teams. The 19th-ranked-in-1A Wildcats had two all-conference runners, as juniors Damian Vergara and Tim Hills-Carrier finished 11th and 13th, respectively. Vergara ran a time of 18 minutes and 20.6 seconds, while Hills-Carrier was 11-and-a-half seconds off that pace. Columbus also had junior Cael Phillips place 21st, senior Tyler Humiston 24th, and senior Oscar Alcala 40th.

Winfield-Mount Union finished fourth in the boys’ standings and had the top time from area runners, as Kholby Newson earned 10th place with a time of almost 18 minutes and 17 seconds. The Wolves sophomore told KCII Radio about his game plan.

“I was hoping to get close to 18 [minutes],” Newsom said, “because this course is longer and if I can get close to it, I can get under it. I wanted to push hard on the hills and just stride out on the flat areas.”

WMU had one other all-conference runner in junior Gabe Hemsworth, who was 16th in 18:48. Wolves freshmen Nick Sparrow and Bowen Thomson had top-40 times as well. Other area runners included WACO Warriors sophomore Keriran Luitjens finishing 33rd; Hillcrest Academy Ravens sophomore Jesse Blossom finishing 42nd; Lone Tree Lions sophomore Taylor Alberhasky finshing 65th; and Highland Huskies junior Jackson Schneider finishing 66th.

Lone Tree’s Vivian Zaruba had the top time for area girls, finishing eighth in almost 23 minutes flat. The sophomore told KCII Radio she accomplished what she had set out to do.

“My goal was to finish under 23:30,” Zaruba said. “We ran here last week, so I was really familiar with the course. It was very windy, so I had to push through the wind and use the hills when I could and open up my stride when the wind was at my back.”

Highland freshman Siena Stanerson was the other medalist from the area, finishing right at 20th in a time of 24 minutes and 40 seconds. Other top finishes came from freshman Naveiah Garza in 24th and junior Kimberly Gonzalez in 37th for Columbus; sophomore Delaney Shaw in 31st for Hillcrest; sophomore Justine Lynn in 33rd for WACO; and junior Afton Wilkerson in 36th for WMU.