HUXLEY – A loaded field of talented teams and individuals took no mercy on those that couldn’t keep up with the fast pace on the five-kilometer course at the hilly and always challenging Ballard Country Club Monday afternoon.

The Webster City girls’ cross country team didn’t exactly run a poor race. The Lynx just never gave themselves a chance to even see if they could contend for a top-five spot.

Already well behind the leaders by the time they hit the first mile, the Lynx fell into a comfortable lull over the middle portion of the race and were never a factor in the Class A field at the Ballard Invitational that featured 21 full teams – 11 in the large class (A) and 10 in the smaller class (B).

‘We’re getting out strong enough in the first half-mile, but the next thing we need to work on is sustaining our pace over the middle mile and a half,” WCHS head coach Tony Bussan said after his squad compiled 194 points to place seventh. “We’re just falling into a steady rhythm, but other teams are passing us. So until we’re able to run a more solid race pace, we’re not going to score quite as well.”

No. 10-ranked (Class 3A) Pella bested sixth-ranked (3A) Dallas Center-Grimes at the top of the class. The Dutch placed three runners in the top 10 and tallied 49 points, while the Fillies also occupied three of the initial 10 spots, but didn’t have quite the depth en route to 61 points.

Ballard was third with 74. Bombers’ senior standout Abby Kohut-Jackson, the No. 1-ranked individual (3A) according to the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, ran away from everyone and straight to the gold in 17:40. No. 2 Lexi Smith of Dallas Center-Grimes accepted silver with a time of 18:18.

Lynx senior Allie Flaws took off at the front of the team’s pack and stayed by herself ahead of her teammates throughout most of the race. But Haley Johnson steadily made up time over the final mile and passed Flaws with less than 1,000 meter to go.

Johnson put together a nice kick down the final straightaway to stay ahead of a slew of runners, as she placed 29th among the 72 entrants in a time of 21:03.

“Haley Johnson came on late and put together a nice race,” Bussan said. “Allie got out really strong.”

Flaws raced towards the finishing chute clutching her side and picked up the pace over the final 20 meters to stay in 33rd. Her time was 21:33.

A little slower than her teammates over the first mile, Larae Ebrecht kicked it in over the second half of the five-kilometer event and climbed up to 36th in 21:57.

Courtney Biere ran close to two more of the Flaws family members – Ashley and Haley – for much of the race. Biere eventually put her kick into motion and crossed in 22:35, good enough for 46th place. Ashley Flaws (22:42) closed out the scoring with a 50th-place effort.

Fourth-ranked (3A) Gilbert overwhelmed the Class B field by grabbing three of the top four positions and four of the top 10 on the individual leaderboard. The Tigers compiled just 30 points, half of what runner-up and seventh-ranked (2A) North Polk (60) produced. No. 14 (3A) Humboldt (66) was third.

Nodaway Valley’s Destiny Scar, ranked No. 6 in 1A, was the Class B winner in 18:24.