In a marquee field that included some of the top teams and runners in the eastern half of the state, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks performed at a high level at Saturday’s Panther Invitational in Monticello. The No. 2 in Class 2A Golden Hawk girls were team champions with their score of 67 points, beating River Valley Conference rival Tipton’s 79. Brooklyn Stutzman led the Golden Hawks in fourth place at 19:48. Noelle Steines of Tipton was the meet winner in 18:22. Other Golden Hawk placers included Rachel Hostetler eighth, Tessa Brokaw 17th, Dessa Poll 21st, Hannah Rodgers 33rd, and Kyrie Poll 44th.
The No. 2 in Class 2A Mid-Prairie boys were team runners up with 83 points. Denver Tripoli won the team title with 57 points. Top finisher for the Hawks was Emmett Swartzentruber in fifth at 16:53. Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque was the winner in 15:20. Other Golden Hawk runners included Preston Yutzy ninth, Jayse Yoder 18th, Max Swartzentruber 20th, Luke Brokaw 36th, Jesse Stultz 44th and Thomas Flynn 54th. After the meet, Mid-Prairie’s No. 2 runners Yutzy and Hostetler talked about the day for them and their team.
Yutzy said, “Our goal today was to pace a little better than at Williamsburg. Go out a little slower first mile, so we could get the second mile up faster. I think for the most part we hit that. I think this is our favorite course. It’s flat and accurate. Everyone knows if there’s a race you’re going to go for it, you have to go for it here. It’s a great place to hit a PR. We were pretty happy with the team performance, we had several PRs.
Hostetler added, “I started out a little fast. At the end I knew there was a girl coming up on me so I tried to finish without getting past. (The team) is amazing. I love my team and they are so supportive. It’s a lot of fun to see all of our work paying off!”
The Golden Hawks are back in action Saturday when they travel to Pella for the Heartland Classic.