It is not very often Mount Vernon junior Grady Olberding has to watch 21 other runners cross the finish line before him.
But not very often do the Mustangs run against 49 other teams from multiple states, as they did Saturday at the Wartburg Invitational in Waverly.
“That was one Grady would like to have back, a little bit,” MVL Coach Kory Swart said. “There were a few guys that got him. With running, sometimes it is your day, and sometimes it isn’t.”
It has been Olberding’s day more often than not this season. He has three top five finishes, including the individual title at the Solon Invitational on Sept. 18 (16:01.0). He was sixth at Ames (15:43.4), third at Cedar Rapids (15:44.90), and fourth at Williamsburg on Tuesday, Sept. 26, (16:16.98) before finishing Saturday in 16:29.40 in a packed field.
“Wartburg was highly competitive, with a ton of kids from around the area and out of state,” Swart said. “It was hot, and with a half-mile to go, he didn’t look really comfortable.”
The junior has been the bell cow all season for the Mustangs.
“He continues to lead the way for us, doing a remarkable job,” Swart said.
The Mount Vernon-Lisbon boys finished 12th at the 49-team event. Cedar Falls took the title.
The Mustang girls were seventh out of 42 teams. Dubuque Hempstead won the crown.
Kiersten Swart finished 12th in 20 minutes, 7.60 seconds, in Waverly.
“It was a really hot day,” Coach Swart said. “But everyone was dealing with the same thing.”
It was a little nicer weather last Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the Williamsburg Invitational.
The third-ranked Mustang girls got second with 72 points behind only No. 1 Pella (42). And the fourth-ranked boys were third with 113 points, trailing No. 2 Pella (41) and No. 5 Carlisle (80).
Kiersten Swart and Eastin Whisner finished 4-5 to pace the Mustang girls. Olberding was fourth on the boys side.
“Eastin had a really great race. Her performance stood out,” Swart said. “And we found out Pella is really good. I don’t think it was our best race, however. We’ll learn from it and get better moving forward.”
The Mustangs ran Tuesday, Oct. 3, at West Delaware, to finish a busy eight-day stretch. They’ll get a little time for rest and training before the Wamac Meet on Thursday, Oct. 12 at the Antioch Christian Church off Hwy. 151 in Marion.
Swart also cited some strong junior varsity runners at Williamsburg. On the boys side, it was Cole Butteris and the girls side was Caroline Rupe. Both set personal records.
At Wartburg Anna Vavricek and Brody Speidel stood out on JV.
WARTBURG INVITAIONAL
Saturday, Sept. 30
Girls 5K
Team scores (Top 10 of 42) – 1. Dubuque Hempstead 60; 2 Gilbert 119; 3. Mid-Prairie 201; 4. Solon 225; 5. Mankato West 243; 6. Des Moines Christian 274; 7. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 308; 8. Clear Lake 321; 9. Bettendorf 339; 10. Iowa City Liberty 345.
Top 3 – 1. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie) 18:46.70; 2. Nakia Olivierre (Waterloo West) 18:48.80; 3. Landree Quint (Mankato West) 19:24.90.
MVL – 12. Kiersten Swart 20:07.60; 41. Evelyn Moeller 21:13.10; 42. Eastin Whisner 21:13.20; 110. Cora Smith 22:36.50; 114. Rose Pisarik 22:39.70; 115. Abbie Moss 22:40.00; 117. Emrie Johnson 22:41.19. ALSO: 161. Hailey Hock 23:22.80; 175. Edith Dawson 23:34.30; 187. Maeve Krogmann 23:50.70.
Boys 5K
Team scores (Top 15 of 49) – 1. Cedar Falls 102; 2. Waukee Northwest 164; 3. Gilbert 177; 4. Urbandale 184; 5. Iowa City Liberty 206; 6. Norwalk Community 207; 7. Bloomington Jefferson 208; 8. Dubuque Hempstead 236; 9. Linn-Mar 296; 10. Iowa City West 302; 11. Onalaska 335; 12. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 344; 13. Marshalltown 350; 14. Des Moines Christian 374; 15. Indianola 445.
Top 3 – 1. Manny Putz (Onalaska) 15:05.50; 2. David Obst (Kasson-Mantorville) 15:37.10; 3. Moustafa Tiea (IC West) 15:40.00.
MVL – 22. Grady Olberding 16:29.40; 56. Klayten Perreault 17:09.90; 59. Dawson Scheil 17:11.50; 96. Wesley Sadler 17:39.70; 127. Sawyer Feldman 18:09.30; 145. Chasen Caskey 18:19.60; 185. Seamus O’Connor 18:51.70. ALSO: 190. Stratton Ellyson 18:55.30; 291. Cayden Scheil 20:34.10.
WILLIAMSBURG INVITATIONAL
Tuesday, Sept. 26
Girls 5k
Team scores – 1. Pella 42; 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 72; 3. Solon 84; 4. Tipton 104; 5. Williamsburg 142; 6. Carlisle 156; 7. West Delaware 221; 8. Pella Christian 222; 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 269; 10. Danville 281; 11. English Valleys 290; 12. Lynnville-Sully 315; 13. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 328; 14. Iowa Valley 404; 15. South Tama County 406.
Top 3 – 1. Maya Bergstrom (Carlisle) 19:44.11; 2. Ruth Dunham (Pella) 19:47.80; 3. Marissa Ferebee (Pella) 19:50.62.
MVL – 4. Kiersten Swart 20:04.79, 5. Eastin Whisner 20:06.98, 17. Evelyn Moeller 21:06.08, 23. Abbie Moss 21:27.46, 26. Emrie Johnson 21:32.15, 38. Rose Pisarik 22:09.07, 52. Edith Dawson 23:07.53.
Boys 5K
Team scores – 1. Pella 41; 2. Carlisle 80; 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 113; 4. South Tama County 129; 5. Solon 141; 6. Williamsburg 162; 7. Vinton-Shellsburg 173; 8. Tipton 206; 9. Danville 233; 10. Pella Christian 237; 11. West Delaware 255; 12. Lynnville-Sully 386; 13. North Mahaska 393; 14. Belle Plaine 419; 15. HLV 427; 16. Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 508; 17. Waterloo East 517.
Top 3 – 1. Canaan Dunham (Pella) 15:59.47; 2. Tommy Tyynismaa (STC) 16:08.18; 3. Nathan Vander Waal (Pella) 16:10.87.
MVL – 4. Grady Olberding 16:16.98, 18. Dawson Scheil 17:13.78, 23. Klayten Perreault 17:23.75, 30,. Wesley Sadler 17:36.61, 41. Sawyer Feldman 17:59.85, 57. Stratton Ellyson 18:29.90, 59. Chasen Caskey 18:31.51.
Mount Vernon-Lisbon’s Grady Olberding runs at Solon earlier this season.