Bombers Finish 4th At Mike Carr Invite

Ballard Scores 163 Team Points

September 13, 2023

The women's cross country team hosted the Mike Carr Invitational Meet on Monday night at the Ballard Golf and Country Club. Ava Vance finished fourth overall running in a time of 19:46.0. Teammate Annika Larson ran in a time of 20:39.7 good for a 13th place finish. Ava Ricardson was 30th overall and Kya Hermann was 39th.

The Bombers (163 team points) finished 4th overall with Pella winning the meet with 43 team points.

Ava Vance had the best time on the day for the Bombers running in a time of 19:50.62 and finished first overall. Annika Larson finished second overall for the Bombers in a time of 20:23.90. Brynn Wilson finished with a time of 20:44.09 which was good enough for 4th place. Ava Richardson (6th - 20:54.93), Raya Miller (10th - 21:36.93), Kya Hermann (12th - 21:48.91), and McKenzie Dee (16th - 22:03.02) rounded out the top seven.

Comments From Head Coach Scott Barth:

"It was another elite meet that we hosted last night with a total of 19 ranked teams entered in the event. We pride ourselves in running a good meet filled with some of the best programs in the state and tonight did not disappoint.

The girls field included 5 of the top 7 teams in the current class 3A rankings and 4 other ranked teams from various classes. The rankings pretty much held up true to form as we finished 4 in the field behind the #1 and #2 ranked teams in 3A and a ranked 4A team in Indianola. Ava Vance continued to shine with a 4th place overall finish for us as she is inching towards her career PR early in the season. She started out a bit slow, but eased herself back into the lead pack by around the mile mark in the race. She took the lead with under a mile left and competed hard against numerous runners who were ranked above her. Annika Larson ran a mentally tough race as she fought through some nagging tight quads to give us a solid 17th place finish in the combined finals. Brynn Wilson and Ava Richardson continue to prove solid 3 and 4 for us finishing 37th and 43rd. These two both ran 25-35 seconds faster than they did last season on the same course. Freshman Kya Herman and Raya Miller came in as our 5 and 6 runners placing 62nd and 64th overall. McKenzie Dee finalized our varsity for the Bombers while nursing a nagging injury. A big shout out to freshman Grace Grundmeyer who earned a varsity spot in our next team meet with a time of 23:27.

Although we did not run a perfect race, we did compete hard in this tough as nails meet. Our top 4 continue to establish themselves and get us off to a great start in meets. We are still searching to add to our depth and finding that final scorer and rest of the varsity line-up. We are very optimistic however because we do have several athletes who should be able to improve over the course of the season. Currently that involves freshmen Kya Hermann, Raya Miller, Grace Grundmeyer, sophomore McKenzie Dee and Junior Raegan Loewe. The freshmen are hardworking and willing to put in the work. This is also the case with McKenzie and Raegan who we need to get 100% healthy so they can get back on track. So, I am optimistic that the last scorer and solid backups will emerge through the course of the season. Our girls are consistently hard workers and that will pay dividends as the season progresses."

The Bombers are back in action on Saturday - September 16 when they compete in the Heartland Classic in Pella. The meet will feature the varsity and will start at 11:20 AM.

MIKE CARR INVITATIONAL WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES

1. Pella, 43

2. Indianola, 51

3. Gilbert, 83

4. Ballard, 111

5. ADM, 113

6. Carlisle, 159

7. Winterset, 182

8. North Polk, 209

9. Bondurant-Farrar, 235

10. Webster City, 306

MIKE CARR INVITATIONAL WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL TIMES