The Ballard men's cross country team faced a tough field and even tougher conditions during the Mike Carr Invitational, hosted on a hot and steamy day. Despite the challenging weather, the Bombers delivered a solid team effort, finishing fourth overall. ADM claimed the top spot with 41 points, followed by Bondurant-Farrar, who finished second with 52 points. North Polk came in third with 96 points, narrowly ahead of Ballard, who scored 113 points.
Junior Max Davidson led the Bombers, finishing fifth overall with an impressive time of 17:51.5. He was closely followed by sophomore Graden Hermann, who placed 10th with a time of 18:18.3, giving Ballard two top-10 finishes. Freshman Austin Vance had a strong showing in his debut at the invitational, crossing the line in 18:56.7 to finish 21st. Ninth-grader Owen Davidson followed with a 36th-place finish, running a time of 19:45.5, and sophomore Parker Domino rounded out the team's top five with a 41st-place finish in 19:57.3.
Other notable performances included sophomore Kolbe Odden, who finished 48th in 21:02.4, and sophomore Isaac Swisher, who came in 51st with a time of 21:25.3.
Comments From Head Coach Scott Barth:
"The boys on the other hand, bounced back from a week of uncertainty with a quality performance tonight. Again, this was a really tough 3A class at our meet with lots of ranked teams. So, overall we performed well.
Max Davidson had an excellent performance in placing 5th in a time of 17:51. That is an excellent time on our home course which is anything but easy, especially on a hot night. Graden Hermann also stepped up and finished in 10th place with a really good time of 18:18. Austin Vance battled through some late week and weekend illness to finish in 21st place with a time of 18:58. Owen Davidson and Parker Domino surged through the race and moved up in finishing 36th and 41st overall with times of 19:45 and 19:57. Kolbe Odden and Isaac Swisher ran solid races placing 48th and 51st overall.
Our varsity times and overall placings were big improvements for us from 2023 to 2024 at the same meet. I do think having Austin Vance healthy would have chopped off 10-12 points since he has been running on the same level at Max in meets and in workouts. Getting him healthy is the first key. Owen and Parker started out possibly a bit slow which limited their potential final times and places as well. They did push forward throughout the meet which was fun to watch, but I know they will be able to close the gap with our top 3 who had us in a really good position. That being said, we did beat a Winterset team which was ranked in front of us heading into the meet. I hope the boys realize that we could be a top 10-15 team come championship season - that would put us in position heading into the big 2 meets of RRC and SQM. It all comes down to CONSISTENCY of training and focus. We nail those two areas and I like our chances.
I think we are in similar positions on both teams right now. We are settling into a solid core of top 3 and then searching for the runners to close the gaps and put us solid in the final 2 scoring spots. I know 100% that we have the athletes to make that happen and we will get those pieces to fit together. We are still in the early season and our goal is to peak in a month - not today."
The Bombers will return to action on Thursday, September 26, at the Roland-Story Invitational Meet. The event will include middle school, junior varsity, and varsity races, beginning at 4:30 PM.
MIKE CARR INVITATIONAL MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. ADM, 41
2. Bondurant-Farrar, 52
3. North Polk, 96
4. Ballard, 113
5. Winterset, 127
6. Indianola, 149
7. Webster City, 185
8. Atlantic, 217
9. Boone, 233
MIKE CARR INVITATIONAL MEN'S INDIVIDUAL TIMES
5 Max Davidson, 17:51.5
10 Graden Hermann, 18:18.3
21 Austin Vance, 18:56.7
36 Owen Davidson, 19:45.5
41 Parker Domino, 19:57.3
48 Kolbe Odden, 21:02.4
51 Isaac Swisher, 21:25.3
