Sep. 5—PELLA — The Indian Hills cross-country teams opened the 2021 season on Friday running at the Dutch Invitational hosted by Central College.
The Warrior men placed second behind Central, led by a fifth-place run from sophomore Nick O’Connor. Indian Hills put together a full team effort with five runners finishing under 21 minutes.
O’Connor, a returning All-American for the Warriors, opened his sophomore season posting a time of 20:17.3 on the Central College course. Fellow sophomores Isaac Bryant and Chris Metz posted top-10 finishes as Bryant crossed the finish line at 20:25.9 for a sixth-place finish followed by Metz at 20:30.9 for an eighth-place finish.
Former Pekin teammates Brady Mlilkin and Colten Glosser reunited to finish within seven seconds of each other in their first meet running together for Indian Hills. Millikin placed 10th in his junior college cross-country debut, recording a time of 20:44.3, while Glosser came in at 20:51.6 for a 12th-place finish.
“I was real pleased with the way things went today,” IHCC head coach Brent Ewing stated. “Our guys did a great job packing up. We had five guys under 21 minutes which is a great place to start, especially on a little bit of a hilly course.”
Emily Casterline began her collegiate running career with an impressive showing for the Indian Hills women’s cross-country team at the Dutch Invitational. Casterline, returning to her hometown, placed eighth overall for the Warriors on Friday night at the Central College course.
Six different Warriors competed Friday night for the IHCC women with each runner finishing inside the top-20. Casterline finished with a time of 20:38.1, one of the top times for Indian Hills over the last three seasons.
Casterline was joined by fellow freshman Isabelle Mellin with a time of 22:35.6, Former Cardinal standout Alexia McClure made her IHCC debut posting a time of 22:35.8 while Ottumwa native Monse Chapula crossed the finish line at 23:32.1. Morgan Klaus and Julie Granahan rounded out the field for the Warriors.
“Emily led the way with one of the fastest times our women have ran individually in recent memory,” stated Ewing. “I was very pleased with the women and we had a good pack with two and three as well with Isabelle and Alexia.”
The Warriors return to action at the Les Duke Invitational. Action gets underway at Grinnell on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.