The Gladbrook-Reinbeck boys cross country team pictured on Sept. 15 at the South Tama County Coed Invitational. From left, Isaac White, Levi Coughenour, Caleb Pifkin, Braiden Sager, Caleb Bowser, Nathan Smiley, Campbell Gramer, and Tavin Ruden. PHOTO COURTESY GLADBROOK-REINBECK SCHOOLS

TAMA – Gladbrook-Reinbeck freshman Caleb Pifkin ran his way to a 12th place medal finish at the South Tama County Coed Invitational held on Monday, Sept. 15, at STC High School to lead the Rebels.

Pifkin clocked in at 19 minutes, 40 seconds. Defending Class 2A state champion Emerson Vokes of Grundy Center finished with a 24-second cushion over his nearest competitor to win the event, holding off Grinnell’s Cadel Conner in second with 16:47. South Tama’s Barrett Jesina scored third in 17:11.

Caleb Bowser contributed 24th place in a time of 20:51 for Gladbrook-Reinbeck. Brayton Davis led GMG with a 22nd-place finish and a time of 20:37, while Henry Dieleman was 41st in 23:02.

In the team standings, Grinnell took the top spot with 28 points after all five of their scoring runners finished 11th or better. Grundy Center came in second with 66 points followed by Baxter (91) in third, and South Tama (104) in fourth to round out the top half.

East Marshall (120), West Marshall (125), Gladbrook-Reinbeck (176) and Meskwaki (243) completed the list of eight scoring teams in the 12-team meet.