Senior Cody Miller won his final regular season cross country meet Thursday night in Fairfield.  This is the first time Miller has won a high school meet and the first time an IMS runner has won a meet since Bill Spencer won the state meet in 2010.  Miller has been improving steadily all season.  He ran a very evenly paced race.  Cody gained the lead about midway through the race and never looked back.  His winning time was17:02 on the 4.75 kilometer course.  Kirby Shetler was thirty seconds behind in third place.  Jacob Valov placed twentieth in 19:49 and Jacob Schmieder was twenty-fourth in 20:06.  Kobi Russom continues to run well.  His time of 23:36 earned forty-third place.  Rex Yoder was two places behind in 25:01.  IMS placed fourth as a team in the six team field.

Boys Individual Results       Boys Team Scores  
Cody Miller 1st 17:02   Pekin 40
Kirby Shetler 3rd 17:32   Van Buren 50
Jacob Valov 20th 19:49   Winfield Mt. Union 75
Jacob Schmieder 24th 20:06   IMS 91
Kobi Russom 43rd 23:36   Lone Tree 133
Rex Yoder 45th 25:01   Harmony 150

The Iowa Mennonite girls cross country team edged out Lone Tree to place second behind fifth ranked Pekin Thursday in Fairfield.  This is the highest an IMS girls team has placed since the English Valleys Invitational in 2009.  The top three IMS runners ran their second mile faster than the first mile enabling them to pass many of their competitors in the middle of the race.  Renee Buckwalter led the charge finishing in fourth place with a time of 16:32.  Riley Schmieder placed sixth in a new personal best time of 17:08.  Camila Segar placed twenty-sixth in a huge season best time of 20:01.  Also scoring for the team were Alvard Mamikonyan in thirty-second place and Summer Schrock in thirty-fourth.  Summer’s time of 23:02 is a new PR.  Vesna Zunic was not far behind in thirty-seventh place running her second cross country race also in a personal best time of 23:40.  Gwynne Wright of Pekin was the individual winner finishing in 15:08.     

Girls Individual Results       Girls Team Scores  
Renee Buckwalter 4th 16:32   Pekin 18
Riley Schmieder 6th 17:08   IMS 92
Camila Segar 26th 20:01   Lone Tree 93
Alvard Mamikonyan 32nd 22:31   Van Buren 123  
Summer Schrock 34th 23:02      
Vesna Zunic 37th 23:40      

The girls and boys cross country teams will compete in the 1A state qualifier meet hosted by Pekin in Wildwood Park in Ottumwa next Thursday, October 18.  The top three teams and ten individuals qualify to advance to the state meet held in Fort Dodge October 27.  Come to Ottumwa and show your support for your favorite runners.  The girls race starts at 4:00 p.m. and the boys race at 4:45 p.m.