Union cross country runner Cooper Spence pictured at his home invite earlier this season. The senior Knights runner has been newly-ranked by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

GRUNDY CENTER — Rachael Murty raced her way to a medal finish at the Sam Iverson Invitational to pace the North Tama girls cross country team on Thursday, Sept. 25, at Town & Country Golf Club in Grundy Center.

Murty, a junior, garnered a medal by finishing 10th in 21 minutes, 51 seconds, while teammate Shawna Cibula, a sophomore, tracked down 22nd place in 22:50.

Senior Brynn Albertsen paced the Union Knights with a 17th place finish, clocking in at 22:32. Fellow senior Addie Tudor took 19th.

A close race at the top saw Sumner-Fredericksburg emerge with first place with 74 points, followed by Jesup (81) and the host Spartans (87). The Union Knights were seventh out of 11 scoring teams with 157 points, while the Redhawks finished ninth with 174 points.

Additional Redhawk finishes included Isla Breakenridge 36th, Gabby Seda 48th, Lucy Monat 64th, Aniston Cooper 65th, and Brynley Seda 73rd.

Additional Knights finishes included Olivia Schildroth 29th, Kayla Toenges 30th, Katie Jackson 69th, and Skylar Pearson 79th.

Jesup junior Jordyn Bergman earned gold in the 80-runner race with a time of 19:30.

Newly-ranked Spence medals for Union boys

On the boys side, Union senior Sawyer Spence – ranked No. 29 in Class 2A by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches in the Week 6 rankings – cruised to a bronze medal finish with a time of 17 minutes, 44 seconds to lead the Knights to eighth in the 18-team meet.

Grundy Center senior Emerson Vokes, ranked No. 1 in 2A, won the individual title in 16:14, well ahead of runner-up No. 3 Will Nesbit from Jesup (17:03).

Jesup took the team title with 42 points followed by the host Spartans (107) and Aplington-Parkersburg (142). Union earned eighth with 185 points, trailing Hudson by a mere point.

Additional Union finishes included Tristan Keister 26th, Phineas Beermann 37th, Anderson Karr 75th, Cayden Stoneman 76th, and Ian Grimm 82nd.

The North Tama boys lone runner Andrew Beenken was 42nd overall (21:08).