Lady Hounds grab another title at Timm Lamb Invite

PUSHED

You know you’re going up against a lot of girls that are going to push your limit, but feeling like you’re going to throw up isn’t always the most fun thing out there.”

Ellie Hellman, Fort Madison freshman runner

FORT MADISON – The Fort Madison Bloodhounds got some good news and some not so good news at the Timm Lamb Invitational Cross-Country meet at Rodeo Park.
The Lady Hounds captured 1st place with 27 points as Avery Rump took second place overall with a 20:29.1, about 45 seconds behind champion Iris Dahl, who took the title with a 19:45.2.
The girls' team continues to excel as a squad, but two-time state qualifier Rump still isn’t quite herself after struggling with some heat issues early in the season. Despite the heat Thursday, Rump gutted out the 3-mile course on the northwest side of the park. Her twin sister Addison had another strong showing as her times continue to improve on the year. She took 6th overall with a 20:53.3.  junior Mara Smith is running in her first year of varsity cross country and continues to rack up top-five finishes for the Bloodhounds and typically top 20 overall. And freshman Ellie Hellman continues to impress as a top five Lady Hound and top 20 runner.
Hellman said she prefers casual running to competitive, but she’s starting to fit in well with the Lady Hounds after running junior high cross country for Holy Trinity Catholic last year.
“I much prefer a nice eight-minute mile or 8:30, rather than the seven minutes I ran the last two or three here,” she said.
“You know you’re going up against a lot of girls that are going to push your limit, but feeling like you’re going to throw up isn’t always the most fun thing out there,”
Smith raced to a 21:01.7 for seventh place overall in the A Division. She said the Rump girls keep her motivated when things get a little rough mid-race.
“My goal is stay up with Addison and use her to keep me going. I feel like through the second mile is where I had to use it the most. That’s where it usually gets rough and that’s when you have to kick it in,” she said.
Smith is a two-sport fall athlete holding a top-5 spot on the cross-country team and anchoring the Bloodhound volleyball squad as the team’s primary setter this season.
“It gets tiring sometimes. I love both so that motivates me to keep going. It’s easier because volleyball practice is a little later in the day. After school I go on a run and then hit volleyball and then just chill.”
Addison Rump said she’s looking for a strong performance from the team at district qualifiers in October and thinks the Lady Hounds have a good shot to run as a team.
“It’s definitely in the front of my mind. In the fall, cross country is what I think about constantly. It’s exciting that our team has a possibility of making it to state this year.
I’ve been running better than last year and my freshman year. I’m really happy with how I did today,” she said.
She said it’s difficult to watch Avery struggle in the early going.
“It’s hard seeing her go through this. I wish we could figure it out or I could help her.”
The other scoring runner for the Hounds was McKayla Schinstock with a 9th-place finish at 21:22.9. Jordyn Marshall was 15th overall with a 22:23.1 and Ellie Huebner was 28th at 24:12.8.
The boys saw the resurgence of Jacob Shottenkirk who had been battling some cramping the last several meets in the final mile. Shottenkirk had a strong kick Thursday to edge Washington’s Sawyer Tschantz and take 4th place in the Varsity A Division with a 17:45.8.
“I wasn’t expecting a crazy run. I wanted to run well just to know that my last race wasn’t about a bad season.
I think we have a really good chance (at state) this year. Better than last year. We have a healthy varsity. Usually we have a good four or five, but this year we’re full and we have a really good chance,” he said.
Calvin Johnson got one of his first top-10 finishes coming across at 18:14.1. The other scoring runners for the Hounds were Hunter Wiegand 13th at 18:29.4, Peyton Lambert 16th with an 18:32.3, and Jacob Walker 18:34.3 (17th). Noah Schinstock finished at 19:44.8 (24th), and Mason McLey came in 28th at 20:15.10. Jake Haessig finished with a 23:00.8 (54th overall).
The boys' 60 points was good enough for third-place in the division, behind Washington's 25, and Muscatine's 48.
The Central Lee boys finished 8th in the B Division with 191 points again led by Leo Thomas who took 32nd in the division with a 20:18.7. Austin Fogarty 20:49.2 (35th), Ayden Kent 20:59.8 (38th), Caden Crozier 21:14.4 (41st) and Kaidin Humes  21:31.5 (45th)  were the other scoring runners for the Hawks. Caedon Newton just missed scoring with a 46th-place showing at 21:31.6. Beau Boyd raced to a 24:22.1 (59th), Keegan Westfall ran a 25:07.6 (83rd overall), Riley Salter-Rickman posted a 27:05.1 (94th).
The Central Lee girls posted a 4th-place finish with 95 points. Danville won the event with 32 points, taking four of the five top-5 places.
Evelyn Adkins led the way for the Lady Hawks with a 23:18 8th-place finish, followed by Macy Anderson's 14th-place tally of 24:03.2. The other scoring runners were Aubree Bunnell 24:55.1 (18th), Afton Maynes 26:23.3 (25th), and Gabby Maynes 27:42.4. Other runners were Charlee Clay 27:45.0 and Saphire Cummings 32:43.3 (39th).
The Holy Trinity Catholic boys finished 10th  led by Tanner Williams who came in 43rd under first-year coach and former HTC state-qualifier Matt Hellige. Williams raced to a 21:24.2 and was followed by Layne Rung at 22:45.1 (54th). The other scoring runners were Tate Green at 23:12.3 (56th), Jay Ellison 25:03.4 (62nd), and Luke Hellige at 25:57.3. The other Crusader runner was Jacob Baker at 26:40.4.
The meet was the first time Matt Hellige had coached a run at Rodeo Park after running four times there himself as a Crusader. He then ran at Mt. Mercy University where he graduated.
Hellige said he was using this year as a building year.
“Holy Trinity has been my home since kindergarten. It’s been a dream of mine to come back here,” he said.
“We started early on this summer with a small group of kids that grew and grew. Half our team came on at the start of school.”
He said a few basketball kids came out for their senior year because they weren’t sure if they would have a time.
“I’ve had so many great coaches over the years, too many to name, and I’m taking in stuff from all of them. I’m in contact with them on things and go to them for advice.
“I see this as our building year. Building a team and a culture and I really have seen improvement in every meet. Mentally and physically they are improving every week,” he said.