Taking a Closer Look at the River Valley Conference Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Cross country season is entering the home stretch with the finish line the state meet October 30th and 31st at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
The first step in the race toward the state meet comes conference meets which kick off the stretch known as championship season.
The first conference meet featuring Your Prep Sports area teams is the River Valley Conference meet on Tuesday in Monticello.
Here is a quick breakdown of the boys and girls races for Tuesday’s RVC meet.
River Valley Conference Meet
Girls Race
When: Tuesday, 5 p.m.
Where: Monticello High School
Teams: Anamosa; Bellevue; Camanche; Cascade; Durant; Mid-Prairie; Monticello; North Cedar; Northeast; Regina; Tipton; West Liberty; Wilton
Ranked teams: 2A No. 1 Mid-Prairie; 2A No. 7 Tipton; 1A No. 3 Regina
Ranked Individuals: Class 2A No. 1 Danielle Hostetler, Fr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 4 Sydney Yoder, Jr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 6 Jaden Yoder, Jr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 11 Mitzi Evans, Jr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 28 Charlotte Brown, Soph., Wilton; Class 2A No. 29 Kallie Wallick, Sr., Tipton; Class 1A No. 5 Annalee Bartels, Sr., Regina; Class 1A No. 25 Mya Whitaker, Soph., Regina; Class 1A No. 29. Emma Ostwinkle, Sr., Cascade
Team title chase: Defending Class 2A state champion Mid-Prairie is a heavy favorite to add to its string of recent River Valley Conference meet dominance. The Golden Hawks won the RVC title by 48 points last season and feature a loaded lineup that features four runners ranked in the top 11 in Class 2A led by standout freshman Danielle Hostetler.
The battle in the team race will be for second place and should come down to Regina and Tipton. The Regals were runner-up at the RVC meet a year ago but finished 55 points behind Tipton at the North Linn Invitational on Saturday.
Athlete to watch: Regina senior Annalee Bartels will look to continue a stellar final season with her best ever finish at a conference race.
Bartels was seventh at the RVC meet a year ago and will be part of a loaded field on Tuesday that features some of the top individuals in Class 2A.
In her final prep season Bartels has proved to be among the best small school runners in the state. Bartels has set the Regina school record three times this season and has won two of her last three races including an impressive win at the North Linn Invitational on Saturday.
Breakdown: Mid-Prairie has reloaded for another run at a state title and should continue its stretch of domination over RVC competition. Danielle Hostetler will attempt to become the latest in a line of Hostetler sisters to win an RVC individual title joining older sisters Anna and Marie.
Led by Bartels and sophomore Mya Whitaker Regina appears to be coming on at the right time but will need to surpass Tipton to match its runner-up finish from last season.
Boys Race
When: Tuesday, Approximately 5:30 p.m.
Where: Monticello High School
Teams: Anamosa; Bellevue; Camanche; Cascade; Durant; Mid-Prairie; Monticello; North Cedar; Northeast; Regina; Tipton; West Liberty; Wilton
Ranked teams: Class 3A No. 14 Monticello; Class 2A No. 2 Tipton; Class 2A No. 5 Mid-Prairie; Class 1A No. 6 Bellevue; Class 1A No. 14 Cascade
Ranked Individuals: Class 3A No. 29 Jasper Nietert, Sr., Monticello; 2A No. 1 Caleb Shumacher, Sr., Tipton; 2A No. 3 Dylan Darsidan, Sr., Camanche; 2A No. 10 Thaddeus Shetler, Jr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 15 Jamison Stutzman, Sr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 19 Chandler Hershberger, Jr., Mid-Prairie; Class 2A No. 21 Andrew Butt, Soph., Camanche; Class 2A No. 23 Cody Bohlman, Jr., Tipton; Class 2A No. 15 Ty Nichols, Soph., Tipton; Class 1A No. 3 Brady Griebel, Sr., Bellevue; Class 1A No. 23 Payton Griebel, Sr., Bellevue
Team title chase: Tipton is seeking to defend its RVC title after cruising to the conference crown last season by 39 points over Monticello. Led by top-ranked senior Caleb Schumacher the Tigers are certainly capable of a repeat but will be pushed by a strong field of challengers headed by Mid-Prairie, Bellevue and host Monticello.
Athlete to watch: Defending 2A state champion Dylan Darsidan will look to add an RVC title this season after finishing runner-up to Shumacher at the conference meet last season.
Darsidan got his revenge at the state meet winning the title by less than a second over fellow conference rival Brady Griebel of Bellevue.
Breakdown: The individual race sets up to be one of the best in state this season. The top three finishers from last year’s RVC meet Shumaker, Darsidan and Griebel went on to be the top three finishers at the Class 2A state meet last season in a different order.
Darsidan won the state title in 16:02, while Griebel was second in 16:02.8 and Shumaker was third in 16:11.4.
Shumaker enters top-ranked in Class 2A while Darsidan is third and Griebel is third in Class 1A.
All three competed at the Tipton Invitational earlier this season with Griebel edging Shumaker at the line by .02.
Regina was fifth at the RVC meet last season and will look for strong performances from sophomores Dan and Joe Maley to lead the way on Tuesday.
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