October 29, 2024
Cross Country: Cards Sweep State Qualifying Meet
The favored Cardinals took care of business at the state qualifying meet in Pleasantville on October 24, dominating both the girls’ and boys’ races. The Cards will compete at the state meet in Fort Dodge this Saturday.
Writing stories about the Cardinal cross country machine at this time of year is a déjà vu. The faces change from year to year, but the story is basically the same—competing at a high level and winning. For the second year in a row, the Cardinals swept the qualifying races. The Cardinal girls will advance to the state meet for the fifth year in a row and the boys have now been there eight of the last nine years.
Merriam-Webster defines the word ‘dynasty’ as ‘a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time.’ By this measure, the Cardinal cross country family qualifies. This year’s athletes know that they are a part of that tradition, something bigger than themselves.
“It’s exciting and I think it’s something we’re all super proud of,” said Donovan Braet. “But also, it’s a lot of pressure. We have a name to live up to. But I think that makes us work harder every day and it’s just something to work towards.”
While the athletes are all aware of those that came before them and their accomplishments, they don’t get caught up in the past on a day-to-day basis or worry about maintaining greatness. That just happens in due course.
“I think we all just show up for practice every day and we just have fun,” said Taylor Rodgers. “If we thought about that too much, we would probably get nervous. So I think we try not to think about it. Just come in and do our stuff.”
Race day is different than practice, of course. When they show up to meets in that Cardinal red and white, the team is aware that everyone else knows who they are. Butterflies are bound to surface.
“We know people are looking for us, but we also know if you take it too seriously, then you’re not going to perform to your best. So we always make sure that we’re having fun. We try to keep everyone happy, keep everyone smiling and make sure that if people are nervous, we help calm them down and tell them that it’s just a race.”
Girls’ race
Three state ranked individuals were in the girls’ race and they pushed out to the front in a fast start. Third-ranked Chloe Gasser of Pekin built a huge lead early and it was clear that no one was going to catch her. The Earlham girls were careful not to get sucked into the fast pace too early and stayed patient.
“Coming in, we knew that there were some individuals that were going to be faster,” said Hannah Frank, “But we knew that we needed to run our own race and be confident in our training and let that take us through.”
As they have done all season, Frank and Mackenzie Harger paced the Cardinals at Pleasantville, looking strong early and moving close to the front. That pair trains together every day, and that shows up in races. Having somebody else near your own pace helps with strategy and motivation.
“We’re really good with pacing each other, at least for the first mile,” said Frank. “And we never have a good race together, so then whoever is having a good race then tends to pull ahead. And then the other one—it helps to have your teammate up there and you can see them to tag along the whole time, because that pushes you.”
Taylor Rodgers and Kinsley Canoyer have been running together for the last several races and they did so again in Pleasantville. Amanda Smith settled into the 5th spot for the Cards, followed by CeCe Stanley and Shea Rodgers. Even if the girls aren’t running side by side, they all know where each other is and work together.
“We stick together,” said Stanley. “A lot of us are following each other so we know who to stick with and I feel like that’s what has pushed us all season. Because we’re all doing it for each other.”
Lynnville-Sully was the only team with a realistic chance to beat the Cardinals. As the race wore on, all the Cards picked up their paces and moved up. The Hawks, paced by Madeesa Vos (3rd) and Emma Parkinson (12th) ran a good race, but the Cardinal top 5 runners all got into the top 15 to seal the deal. Harger finished 6th in 19:51. Frank was 8th in 19:57. Canoyer finished 9th, followed by Taylor (10th) and Smith (15th) to complete the scoring. Stanley was 25th and Shea Rodgers was 26th. The Cards finished with 28 points and Lynnville-Sully was 2nd with 46.
Even in the tradition-rich Earlham program, you can’t always have a team full of experienced upperclassmen—you need some younger kids to step up. Without any girls competing at the middle school level the previous couple of years, there just weren’t any young athletes coming into the program. But in 2024, freshmen Canoyer and Shea Rodgers appeared almost out of nowhere. Neither had gone out for cross country before. For them to step in and have an impact on the varsity team has been remarkable.
“It’s been fun,” said Shea. “We have good senior leaders and we’re a very close team, which helps. And we all just help each other.”
Canoyer added, “Our team is really supportive of each other.”
Seniors Hannah Frank and Taylor Rodgers will run their last race Saturday. While the question about the impending ‘last race ever’ clearly stirred some emotion, it’s still a little early for the girls to get too sentimental.
“I try not to think about it, because otherwise I’ll cry,” said Rodgers. But every one is special, and we’re getting down to the last few races.”
Frank added, “I’ve been joking all season that I’m ready to be done, because if I didn’t make a joke, I think it would hit a little bit more. Especially with this team. We are really close. We all run very close together. We’ve bonded probably the most since I’ve been in high school. So I try not to think that the last one is coming up.”
The Cardinals will head to the state meet without any individuals ranked in the top 30. In the last team rankings, the Cardinals were #2. Both of those things seem a little perplexing—the Cardinals finished ahead of #1 Madrid in a couple of meets this year—but that’s just the nature of rankings in general. Regardless, the Cards know what it takes to win at state—they brought home the gold trophy two years ago, after all. Confident, not cocky, the Cards are poised to do it again.
“We know that we’re capable,” said Frank. “We know that we have the tools, we have the training, we have the team to have the potential to win. But we also know that we’re not going to go in putting all that pressure on our shoulders. We’re going to run it like it’s the first race.”
Boys’ race
As a fan (or a sportswriter), it’s a little unnerving to see your team lingering in the middle of the pack early in a big race. That’s where the Cardinals were for a while, but they were not worried. Again, patience is almost weaved into the Cardinals’ DNA, thanks to Coach Braet and Coach Dalton.
“Our coaches tell us to be controlled the first mile,” said Blake Tiemeyer. “We know that in a big race like this, people are going to go out fast just because they’re so tense. Our coaches tell us to sit in the back and run our own race.”
Pekin came into the race with the hope of earning a spot in the top 2 to qualify for state. Early on, they moved to the front en masse.
“I wasn’t really expecting Pekin to go out very fast like that,” said Dawson Braet, “but it ended up the way I thought it would with us winning.”
That kind of attitude isn’t arrogant, it’s that kind of confidence you acquire from knowing you did the work to get where you want to be.
“Every day we have an expectation to meet,” said Tiemeyer. “We know what we’re working for, so we go out and do our best and try to get our workouts done. Just trust what the coaches are doing with us so we can perform at the end of the season.”
Perform they did. The five Cardinal scoring runners finished in the top 13. Pekin eventually fizzled, but Lynnville-Sully was competitive. Their top 3 runners finished 3rd, 5th, and 9th. Dawson had a terrific race and finished 4th. Donovan was next in 7th, followed by David Nichols (8th), Griffen Messer (10th) and Tiemeyer (13th). Blake Petersen was 15th and Payton Dickson was 17th. The Cards finished with 41 points and Lynnville-Sully had 60.
Lake Mills will be big favorites to win the state meet. The next four or five spots will be up for grabs. If the #5 Cards keep trending up, they could grab a spot on the podium. For seniors Tiemeyer and Blake Petersen, that would be a great way to go out.
“The last race hasn’t quite kicked in just yet,” said Petersen. “Definitely looking to continue to improve, but we’re pretty excited.”
Tiemeyer added, “It’s definitely now or never. It’ll be our last race. We’re a little excited to be done, but we also want to go out and do our best and try and get on the podium.”
In Fort Dodge Saturday, the girls’ race is at 10:30 and the boys will follow at 11:15.
Volleyball: Cards beat West Central
The term ‘slow start’ is relative. No team ever wants to have one, but maybe the other team is playing in such a way to slow you down. That was the case in Earlham’s opening regional playoff game with West Central Valley on October 21. The Cardinals didn’t come out of the gate fast, but they finished strong to beat the Wildcats, 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-18, 25-18).
“We started slow, but they’re a good team,” said Presley Koberg. “This is the first time we haven’t played them to 5 sets, I would say, since my sophomore or junior year. They came out strong. We knew what we had on the line, so there was added pressure. But once we got through that little hump, our coaches said that it was the best team ball we ever played.”
The Wildcats had a losing record coming into this match, but they had won 6 out of their last 8 matches. The teams play a similar style. Both are not very big, but athletic and hardnosed. Earlham beat the Wildcats in a spirited match earlier this month—and they play their neighbor and conference rival every year, of course—so the Cards knew what they were facing.
“It’s a lot of scrappy ball and hitting the angles,” said Kenady Ridout about their opponent. “Their outside hitter hits line a lot. And their middle, she cuts both ways. So it was just adjusting to that and figuring out how to defend it.”
The Cards trailed in most of the 1st set, but grabbed the lead at 20-19. They closed it out with a 5-2 run.
The Cardinals opened the 2nd set with a 6-1 run that included a kill by Ridout and 2 blocks and a kill by Presley. Piper Koberg got a block and a kill and the Cards led, 8-5. The Wildcats battled back to take their first lead, 12-11. The Cards led 16-14 after 2 kills by Eden Forcht, but the Wildcats answered with 10 points in a row to put the Cardinals away.
The Cards steadied the ship in the 3rd. The Wildcats’ only lead was 5-4. The Cardinals got the better of some long, entertaining rallies and they gradually pulled away.
Over the first 14 points in the 4th set, there were 5 ties and 2 lead changes. The Cards led, 12-10, and then went on a 5-0 run sparked by a kill by Presley and 2 aces by Forcht. The Wildcats got within 4 points, 20-16, but no closer. Piper ended the match with a kill.
Ridout led the Cards with 13 kills and 22 digs. Kenna Harskamp had 22 assists.
Volleyball: Cards lose to Pella Christian
The Cardinals’ season ended on October 23 with a 3-0 (8-25, 18-25, 16-25) loss to #9 Pella Christian on the road in the quarterfinals of the Region 8 tournament.
The Cards fell behind 5-0 in the 1st set and never threatened the Eagles. Earlham led, 10-7, in the 2nd set, but the Eagles responded with 5 points in a row. The Cardinals kept the score close the rest of the way but still came up short. The Cards battled hard early in the 3rd set, but PC fought to a 15-12 lead. They closed out the match with a 10-4 run.
The Cardinals ended the season with a record of 16-18.
The match was the last for seniors Kenady Ridout and Presley Koberg, and saying goodbye is never easy—for the seniors or their teammates and coaches. The last home match on October 21 was especially bittersweet.
“It feels like the season just started,” said Koberg. “It’s been super fun to play here, and I would say for sure it’s sentimental playing here for the last time. I’m coming back for basketball and (Kenady’s) coming back for wrestling, but it definitely sunk in today like, ‘This is the last time.’”
“It’s the first last of many,” added Ridout.
On the surface, any team measures its success with wins on the court. But for the seniors, playing volleyball for Earlham has meant so much more.
“It’s about learning how to work well with different people,” said Koberg. “We all have different personalities; different strengths and weaknesses. This group has played together a lot. We have learned each other well and I would say this season has definitely showed that we can pick out things that we know about each other. We brought each other up and we knew what to say to each other. “
Like Koberg, Ridout is a multi-sport athlete, and competing has been a valuable experience for her, as well.
“It’s learning teamwork and communication. And just bonding in general,” she said. “Learning how to communicate with people. How to pick them up and just work as a team.”
If you watch Ridout in any sport, you notice how hard she competes, but it’s easy to see that she’s having fun, too. During volleyball, her wacky socks were a clue to her personality.
“I wear a bunch of different ones,” she said. “At the beginning of the season, I started wearing funky socks. I came to open gym from work, which was at the State Fair, and I was wearing funky socks. I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m going to make that my thing.’ I just want to help bring joy and make people laugh. Hence, the socks. Just make it fun.”
Koberg’s legacy to the returning and future Cardinals will be her encouraging, steady influence on her teammates during her career, and how she stepped up as a solid leader her senior year.
“I want people to remember my positivity and I want them to remember that whenever they were down, I brought them up,” she said. “I wanted to be that voice this year, especially since we had a lot of loud voices my sophomore and junior years. I wanted to have fun, but I also was there to win.”
Football: Cards Lose in Playoffs
Cardinal head coach Chris Caskey has coached for a long time. He’s seen almost everything on a football field. In a bizarre opening round playoff game last Friday, the Cardinals lost to Mount Ayr, 58-50. Afterward, when the coach was asked if he had ever been involved in a game like that before, he just shook his head and said, “Unh-uh.” In a game filled with wild swings in momentum, it was Mount Ayr that ended up with the pendulum in their direction.
The Cardinals are used to winning the special teams battles, but not on this night. The Raiders returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns, while the Cards did not recover any of their own onside kicks. Mount Ayr added an interception return for a touchdown, so they scored just about every way possible.
Mount Ayr’s offense was good, too. They ran and passed for 318 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. But their returns, totaling 300 yards with 4 touchdowns, is what killed the Cards.
“We missed a lot of tackles,” said Coach Caskey. “We just missed some plays. Unfortunately, in a game like this against a team with athletes like that, that’s going to hurt.”
There were plenty of dire moments in this game where lesser teams would have packed it in and said, ‘That’s it. We’re done.’ The Cardinals would have none of that. Led by a staunch group of seniors that were not ready to play their final game, Earlham kept counter punching every salvo that the Raiders delivered. In the end, the Cards did not get knocked out, they just ran out of time.
“The seniors did what the seniors are supposed to do,” said Coach Caskey. “Caleb Smith probably had the best game of his career tonight. He made a lot of yards when there wasn’t anything there. He broke tackles, extended plays. And Blake Reynolds threw some good balls—back shoulder when he knew the defense was over playing it. He did some really good things that seniors do. Davis Doud played his butt off before he hurt his ankle. Klayton Wolken, you name it. The seniors across the board. They did their thing.”
Mount Ayr dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball in the first half. After recovering Earlham’s opening onside kick, they drove 56 yards in just 2-1/2 minutes for a touchdown, then scored a 2-point conversion.
The Cards got one 1st down on their next possession but had to punt from near midfield. Reynolds punt was gathered in by Trevin Victor at the 20. The Cards looked to have him hemmed in a couple of times, but Victor kept zigging, zagging, and juking until he broke into the clear and took it to the house. After another 2-pointer, the Raiders led, 16-0, just over 6 minutes into the game.
After a good kick return to the Cardinal 42, the Cards’ offense got going. After a couple of Reynolds pass completions—15 yards to Dallas Canoyer and 14 yards to Jaxen Speedling—the Cards had the ball at the Raider 31. On 4th down and 6, Reynolds hooked up with Canoyer again for 7 yards to the 18. Five plays later, Smith scored on a 1-yard TD run. After the PAT by Chris Ridgely, the Cards trailed, 16-7, 4 seconds into the 2nd quarter.
But the Cards could not stop the Raiders, who scored again after a 6-play, 52-yard drive. After another 2-pointer, the Raiders led, 24-7, with 9:51 to go in the 1st half.
Earlham answered right back. On a 3rd and 10 play, Reynolds hit Josh Winey for 24 yards to the Cardinal 46. After 7 runs, the Cardinals faced a 4th down on the Mount Ayr 10 yard line. Reynolds rolled to his left and threw to Klayton Wolken in the end zone. A Raider defender broke up the pass, but the ball popped up into the air. Canoyer was behind Wolken, deeper in the end zone, and he jumped, grabbed the ball, and held on for a touchdown as he was tackled. Ridgely’s kick made the score 24-14, with 4:14 on the clock.
The Cards caught Mount Ayr off guard when Ridgely drove the kickoff deep. With good coverage this time, the Cards had the Raiders pinned in their territory at the 15. But Mount Ayr knifed right though the Cardinal defense in 11 plays and scored another touchdown. The Cards thwarted the 2-point conversion, but they trailed at halftime, 30-14.
The battle for the line of scrimmage changed in the 2nd half, with the Cards getting the better of play in the trenches. The Cardinals returned the 2nd half kickoff to their own 43 and got to work. Smith had a good first half, but had a great 2nd half. He ran for 2, 7 yards, then for 1 for a 1st down. Reynolds then hit Winey for a 15-yard pass to the Raider 32. On the next play, Smith burst through a big hole and rumbled for a touchdown. Ridgely’s PAT was good, and the Cards trailed, 30-21, at the 10:23 mark in the 3rd quarter.
The Cards’ defense finally held the Raiders on their next drive. On a 4th and 4, Mount Ayr tried a fake punt, but Keegan Long made a crushing tackle short of the line to gain and the Cards were in business at the Raider 49. Smith picked up 37 yards on 3 runs to give the Cards a 1st down at the 6. Reynolds capped the drive with a 6-yard TD run, and after another Ridgely PAT, the Cards trailed by just 2, 30-28.
But the Raiders struck again quickly. After recovering Earlham’s onside kick at their 48, they scored in just 4 plays. Their 2-pointer was no good, but they led, 36-28, with 6:18 to go in the 3rd.
The Cards started their next drive at their own 32. Coach Caskey dialed up a steady diet of Smith running right up the middle, running behind an o-line that was now cleaving into the Raider defenders. Smith had runs of 5, 25, and 12 yards, and the Cards moved the ball to the Raider 16. They stalled there, though, after failing on a 4th down pass.
The Cards got their first big break of the game when they recovered a Raider fumble at the Mount Ayr 26. They could not take advantage, however, as they gave it right back with a fumble 5 plays later.
The fumble fest continued, though, and the Cards reclaimed the ball three plays later at the Raider 32. On the next play, Smith ran for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, but somehow, the Cards had battled back to tie the score at 36, 5 seconds into the 4th quarter.
The good feeling on the Cardinal sideline did not last. Ridgely hammered the kickoff deep. Dyson Thompson scooped up the ball at the 17 and proceeded to sprint right through the Cardinal cover team for a touchdown. The 2-pointer was good, and the Raiders led again, 44-36, with 11:34 to go in the game.
Smith returned the ensuing kickoff to the Cardinal 43. He ran the ball on 4 of the next 5 plays and the Cards had the ball at the Raider 29. After a holding penalty pushed the Cards back, Reynolds hit Winey with a 20-yard pass to the 13. On the next play, Smith scored. He also scored the 2-point conversion, and the game was tied again, 44 all.
Then, another disaster. The Cards tried a pooch kick this time, but Tate Duggan caught the ball at the Raider 41 and danced his way to the end zone for another Raider TD via a return. Mount Ayr converted the 2-pointer and led, 52-44.
The calamities continued for the Cardinals on their next drive. On 3rd down, Reynolds threw a pass to Canoyer near the sideline. The Raiders’ Jackson Ruggles read the play perfectly. He dashed in front of Canoyer, leaped, snared the pass, and ran 58 yards untouched for another Raider touchdown. The Cards stopped their 2-point conversion attempt, but they trailed, 58-44, with 5:34 to go in the game.
The Cards weren’t finished, though. Starting at their own 41, they drove the ball to the Raider 19 in 8 plays. Smith then scored his 5th and final touchdown with another dazzling run. The PAT was blocked, and the Cards trailed, 58-50, with 3:14 to go.
The Cardinals nearly recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the ball just trickled out of bounds out of reach of a diving Speedling. The Cards desperately needed a defensive stop or a turnover, but they could get neither. Mount Ayr was able to run out the clock and celebrate a wild, hard-fought victory.
Smith finished with 316 yards on 39 carries and scored 5 touchdowns. Reynolds was 12-24 passing for 138 yards. Winey caught 3 passes for 58 yards and Canoyer caught 4 for 40 yards. Winey led the Cardinal defense with 10.5 tackles.
This loss aside, the fine season the Cards had was a testament in large part to their excellent senior class of Reynolds, Wolken, Smith, Canoyer, Doud, Jackson Berkley, Hank Terrell, and Aidan Kaster. The group reflected on their senior teammates and their time as Cardinals after the final home game on October 18.
Reynolds: “It’s kind of always been the same group of guys that we’ve had growing up. We had a lot of coaches that brought us up and taught us the game the right way. We’ve always played together, played as a team, played as a family. We’ve stuck it out to the very end, and we were able to play with a lot of chemistry.”
Earlham Echo 
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