Photo: Kevin Moorhead/MileSplit Iowa
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The Iowa cross country season is officially underway, and the opening weekend did not disappoint. A handful of meets around the state delivered fast times, tight finishes, and early statements from programs with bigger goals in mind come November.
MOC-Floyd Valley's Natalie Anderson opened her senior year with a 22-second PR at the Spencer XC Invite, defending her title from a year ago and leading the Dutchmen to a four-point win over Spencer Community, 38-42.
A year ago, Anderson broke the tape 63 seconds ahead of the field. This time, she was even more dominant, finishing nearly two and a half minutes clear of the runner-up.
The senior enters September as the top runner in 3A, with Glenwood's Grace Berglund the closest competitor at an 18:15 season best from the Glenwood Invite. Anderson's performance also moved her to No. 8 in 3A history and No. 57 among all girls in state history to break 18:00.
While Anderson was making her mark in Spencer, Prairie's Cole Carrizales took care of business at the CR Prairie Invitational in Cedar Rapids. The eighth-best returner in 4A from a year ago picked up the third win of his high school career, improving on a sixth-place finish at this same meet last fall. Carrizales broke 16:00 for the fifth time since last September, this time lowering his PR by a few seconds in the process.
He held off a challenge from Cedar Falls' Dominic Williams to win by 15 seconds, with Prairie finishing third in the team standings behind Cedar Falls and Iowa City, 29-67-85.
Carrizales heads into the upcoming weekend with the fastest time in 4A and a 15-second cushion on the field.
