The HCHS girls survived a big test from second-place Griswold, outscoring the Tigers by a 56 to 62 margin. Gretna won the battle for third place (101) and Atlantic placed fourth (117).
Led by Brace, the Cyclone boys secured a season-best second-place finish with a score of 93. Gretna was the runaway winner with an impressive 35, Maryville placed third (113) and Atlantic was once again fourth (122).
Sixth-place Shenandoah, which one week earlier scored six points better than HCHS at the Glenwood Invite, ended up 44 points behind the Cyclones on Tuesday.
"This shows some serious improvement," Renkly said. "The boys are running so well right now. They are competing with and beating some very good teams. We can see the confidence building in them as they get more races under their belt. We are slowly ramping up their goals for each meet and they are responding very well."
Nathan Brace's second straight individual title was recorded in 17:07, leading three Cyclones in the top 16. Alex Voge placed 11th and Matt Brace was 16th.
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The Cyclone girls were led to victory by Jenny Hosack's sixth-place time of 17:48. Jessie Byrnes placed eighth in 18:04 and Cari Freml turned in a clutch ninth-place effort in 18:10. The next two HCHS finishers weren't far behind as Ellen Klitgaard (18:26) and Jess Feldman (18:27) placed 16th and 17th.
"I thought the girls ran another very gutsy team race, finishing only about 45 seconds apart from each other (runners 1-5)," Renkly said. "They have worked very hard on keeping their scoring pack together in practice and meets, and it is paying off in the tight meets like this one. We would still like to see that spread time go down to about 30 seconds or less.
"In cross country, one wouldn't think having a team game plan for winning is realistic, but these guys are so good at executing the scenarios we pencil out for them. Griswold showed that they are a serious force to be reckoned with and will need some more attention when we meet them in the future."
HCHS will return to Iowa Western Community College on Saturday for the Lewis Central Invite, starting at 8:30 a.m., then compete at the Red Oak Invite on Monday.
Clarinda Invite (Tuesday, September 8)
Girls Team Standings
1. Harlan Community 56, 2. Griswold 62, 3. Gretna, NE 101, 4. Atlantic 117, 5. Shenandoah 161, 6. Thomas Jefferson 162, 7. Corning 165, 8. Glenwood 192, 9. Red Oak 262, 10. Clarinda 280, 11. Bedford 365.
HCHS Individual Places
(4-kilometer times)
6th: Jenny Hosack, 17:48.
8th: Jessie Byrnes, 18:04.
9th: Cari Freml, 18:10.
16th: Ellen Klitgaard, 18:26.
17th: Jess Feldman, 18:27.
37th: Brianna Croghan, 19:20.
38th: Shelbie Jacobsen, 19:25.
(89 total runners)
Boys Team Standings
1. Gretna, NE 35, 2. Harlan Comm. 93, 3. Maryville, MO 113, 4. Atlantic 122, 5. Thomas Jefferson 125, 6. Shenandoah 137, 7. Red Oak 177, 8. Corning 262, 9. Nebraska City, NE 312, 10. Rock Port, MO 328, 11. Bedford 338, 12. Clarinda 355.
HCHS Individual Places
(5-kilometer times)
1st: Nathan Brace, 17:07.
11th: Alex Voge, 18:57.
16th: Matt Brace, 19:19.
31st: Josh Pauley, 20:18.
34th: Josh Travis, 20:28.
46th: Collin Schmidt, 21:21.
48th: Brian Wingert, 21:31.
(88 total runners)
HCHS JV Girls Results
(1st Place: Score of 31)
2nd: Jandy Johnston, 19:24; 3rd: Becca Pauley, 19:37; 4th: Dru Beach, 19:49; 10th: Rachel Schwery, 20:07; 12th: Jamie Byrnes, 20:16; 14th: Sarah Oliver, 20:46; 17th: Alex Gettys, 21:30; 20th: Taylor Schaben, 21:37; 28th: Elizabeth Fields, 22:33; 30th: Britanny Burmeister, 22:54. (59 runners)
HCHS JV Boys Results
15th: James Schwarte, 21:35; 17th: James Klein, 21:41; 18th: Andrew McLaughlin, 21:42; 34th: Joey Barrell, 22:59; 67th: Luke Ferguson, 26:29; 69th: Logan Rogers, 28:07; 70th: Trace Timmerman, 28:10; 71st: Austin Euchner, 28:31. (75 runners)
