McMartin, Central run away with women’s cross country crown

GRINNELL—Slashing 31 seconds off her time on the same course a year ago, Caroline McMartin (senior, Pella) and the Central College women’s cross country team raced to victory Saturday at the nine-team Les Duke Invitational.

McMartin traversed the 6,000-meter course in 22:21.67.

“Caroline ran 31 seconds faster than last year all by herself,” coach Joe Dunham said. “She really looked good.”

Central won with 26 points, followed by Simpson College at 60 and host Grinnell College at 70.

Teammate Megan Johnson (senior, Parkersburg, Aplington-Parkersburg HS), in her first race since 2021 after missing last year while studying abroad and this season’s Sept. 1 opener with injury, followed in 22:39.87. Dunham was as eager to have her back as Johnson was.

“She ran really smart, too,” he said. “She’s a game-changer.”

Addison Parrott (junior, Danville) was fifth in 23:36.39, 11 seconds better than last year while Lindsey Davidson (senior, Northwood, Northwood-Kensett HS) was eighth in 24:12.47, a mammoth 51-second improvement over a year ago.

“Lindsey Davidson had an incredible race,” Dunham said. “She really ran strong. And I thought Addy Parrott put together a great race today. She’s very competitive, got into no-man’s land a little bit during the race and I thought she really stayed focused and kept pressing.”

Leah Bontrager (sophomore, Wellman, Hillcrest Academy) was 11th in 24:31.01, Peyton Steffen (sophomore, Marion) was 12th in 24:38.49 and Kira Hooper (junior, Henderson, N.C., Citrus Valley HS) was 13th in 24:45.82.

“We saw great progression from almost our entire team,” Dunham said. “It was a solid effort across the board.”

Central is off until the Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 22 at Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Dutch were 10th of 30 teams there last year.