The Ballard women's cross country team faced one of the toughest fields of the season at the Heartland Classic this past weekend, holding their own against several of the state's and region's top programs.  The Bombers placed 12th out of more than 20 teams with a score of 285, competing with powerhouses like Waukee Northwest, Iowa City High, and Waukee.

Team Results (Top 14):

1. Waukee Northwest – 44

2. Iowa City High – 74

3. Waukee – 153

4. Lincoln SW (NE) – 156

5. Cedar Rapids Prairie – 157

6. Linn-Mar – 165

7. Des Moines Christian – 177

8. Winterset – 193

9. Indianola – 196

10. Ankeny – 210

11. Southeast Polk – 270

12. Ballard – 285

13. Pella Christian – 414

14. Pella – 427
    (+10 other teams)

Individually, junior Avilee Miller once again led the Bombers, finishing 37th in 20:21.60.  Honor Jorgensen wasn't far behind, taking 44th in 20:40.90. After the top two, a gap formed in the Bomber lineup, which shifted the team standings.  Raya Miller (21:23.50, 77th), Nora Showman (21:24.40, 78th), Brooklyn Shoen (21:30.60, 83rd), and Kaitlyn Dunn (21:37.00, 86th) ran close together in a tight pack.  Showman's effort also marked a career personal record.

Rounding out the varsity scoring, Alea Kinzenbaw (22:02.60, 96th) and Grace Grundmeyer (22:03.60, 97th) finished just a second apart, while Kya Hermann (23:43.70, 127th) and Sydney Sage (24:03.00, 131st) added depth to Ballard's lineup.

Head Coach Scott Barth noted that the team experimented with a slower start due to the course's unusual uphill opening.

"We felt toning the start back with our younger team would hopefully allow us to move as packs forward gradually over the course of the race. I think it worked in some ways and fell short in others," Barth said. "Avilee continued as our number one, and Honor ran another solid race, but this is where the gap occurred and we lost our success as a 'pack' team. Overall, we ran a decent race, but our traditional pack broke and that limited our movement up in the standings."

Despite the challenges, Barth praised the team's effort, highlighting Showman's PR as a key boost.

"With the mindset of our athletes, this motivates us heading into the later portion of the season and into championships. We'll go back to a faster start at Roland-Story with the goal of maintaining our pack as long as we can," he added.

The Bombers will look to regroup and return to their pack-running strategy Thursday, September 25, at the Roland-Story Invitational, starting at 4:30 PM.

Photo Credit: Davidson Photography