Taking a Closer Look at the Mississippi Valley Conference Divisional Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Concerns over the global coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the annual Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet making this year’s divisional meet the lone conference-only meet of the season in the MVC.
Both Divisional meets are filled with talent on both the boys and girls side making all four races exciting.
Here is a quick look at the both the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi and Valley Division meets set for Thursday afternoon.
MVC Mississippi Divisional
Girls Race
When: Thursday, 4:20 p.m.
Where: Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls
Teams: Liberty High, City High, Cedar Falls, Dubuque Wahlert, Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Western Dubuque
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 2 Linn-Mar; 4A No. 9 Cedar Rapids Prairie; 4A No. 12 Liberty High; 3A No. 2 Dubuque Wahlert
Ranked Individuals: 4A No. 2 Micah Poellet, Sr., Linn-Mar; 4A No. 4 Ashlyn Keeney, Jr., Liberty High; 4A No. 15 Gabby Cortez, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; 4A No. 19 Alyssa Klein, Fr., Western Dubuque; 4A No. 30 Sarah Murphy, Sr., Linn-Mar; 3A No. 8 Gabby Moran, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; 3A No. 15 Alix Oliver, Sr., Dubuque Wahlert; 3A No. 21 Ellie Meyer, Jr., Dubuque Wahlert
Team title chase: Between a third-place finish at the Class 4A state meet last season and a strong regular season Linn-Mar has solidified itself as a legitimate state title contender and the favorite to capture the conference crown.
But boy do the Lions have strong field to fend off.
Three other ranked teams join second-ranked Linn-Mar in the eight-team field including No. 12 Liberty High and 3A second-ranked Dubuque Wahlert.
Ninth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie was also a top-10 finisher at the state meet last season and can push its way into a top-two finish and that doesn’t even mention City High who placed ninth at the 4A state meet last season.
Athlete to watch: It’s been another interesting season for Liberty High junior Ashlyn Keeney who battled injuries and illness much of her sophomore season that ended with a runner-up finish at the state meet.
This season Keeney has had to navigate a three-week interruption to the season after Iowa City Schools started the school year with online only classes.
Even with the adversity Keeney is still an elite talent capable of winning any race. Fans could get a preview of the state meet on Thursday as Keeney and second-ranked Linn-Mar senior Micah Poellet matchup in a showdown of two of the state’s most talented runners.
Breakdown: As is the case with many MVC divisional meets this one is loaded from both an individual and team perspective.
Linn-Mar remains the favorite to win the team title but Liberty High, Wahlert and Prairie all have the pieces to make a charge.
Keeney is the leader for Liberty High but the Lightning have their deepest team in the short history of the program with Cami Mac, McKenzie Logan and freshman Cori Mac all capable of pushing for top-15 finishes.
City High enters unranked but has a long history of peaking at the right times. The Little Hawks were runner-up at the MVC divisional last season and boast a strong trio of Rowan Boulter, Iris Wedemeyer and Lilly Reynolds.
Boys Race
When: Thursday, 5:35 p.m.
Where: Birdsall Park in Cedar Falls
Teams: Liberty High, City High, Cedar Falls, Dubuque Wahlert, Linn-Mar, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Western Dubuque
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 4 Cedar Falls; 4A No. 5 Cedar Rapids Prairie; 4A No. 8 Liberty High; 4A No. 10 City High; 3A No. 15 Dubuque Wahlert
Ranked Individuals: 4A No. 2 Andrew Bickford, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; 4A No. 9 Anthony Lee, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; 3A No. 11 Hunter Kalous, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; 3A No. 12 Michael Goodenbour, Sr., Cedar Falls; 3A No. 17 Brayden Burnett, Jr., Cedar Falls; 3A No. 21 Joel Burris, Sr., Cedar Falls
Team title chase: Take your pick, this one may be too close to call. Fourth-ranked Cedar Falls and fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie appear to be the favorites to emerge from a field that has five ranked teams.
Prairie and Cedar Falls each have three ranked runners and finished sixth and seventh respective at the Class 4A state meet last season. Those are the two favorites with Cedar Falls perhaps holding an edge on its home course.
However, don’t count out Liberty High which has the top to bottom balance to make a run at the top spot. City High enters ranked 10th and has shown the ability to compete with some of the top teams in the state but will need a solid outing from top to bottom to pull off what would be a mild upset.
Athlete to watch: City High sophomore Ford Washburn will look to improve on a strong conference debut performance last season. Paired with both Cedar Rapids Prairie and Cedar Falls at the MVC Mississippi Divisional a year ago, Washburn placed eighth after finishing 24th a week earlier at the MVC Super Meet.
After going nearly a month between meets due to the athletic shutdown for Iowa City Schools that came with starting the school year with online courses only Washburn has finished in the top four in each of his last two meetings including a title at the City High Bud Williams Invitational.
Breakdown: Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids Prairie have long been staples toward the top of the team standings at MVC divisional meets but Liberty High has a chance to take a major step as a program with a strong performance on Thursday.
The Lightning have top-end talent in Bowen Gryp and Jack Kinzer but have also shown impressive depth this season with Christian Montover and freshman Aidan Decker each stepping up to lead the Liberty High pack.
Liberty High is more than capable of pushing up toward the front of the team standings as is City High which will lean on Washburn and fellow sophomore Truman Thompson to lead the way.
MVC Valley Divisional
Girls Race
When: Thursday, 5:45 p.m.
Where: Dubuque Soccer Complex
Teams: West High, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Dubuque Senior, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Waterloo West, Waterloo East
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 7 Dubuque Senior; 4A No. 8 Dubuque Hempstead
Ranked Individuals: 4A No. 3 Keelee Leitzen, Fr., Dubuque Hempstead; 4A No. 14 Lillian Schmidt, Sr., Dubuque Senior; 4A No. 24 Izzy Gorton, Sr., Dubuque Senior; 4A No. 29 Brooke O’Brien, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead
Team title chase: Dubuque Hempstead and Dubuque Senior will battle for the Divisional title in front of their home crowd on Thursday with the two rivals each a serious title contender.
Seventh-ranked senior was runner-up at the 4A state meet last season while Hempstead was seventh and both feature a pair of ranked runners.
Give Senior an ever so slight edge based on experience with senior leaders Lillian Schmidt and Izzy Gorton.
Athlete to watch: The Dubuque schools possess the four ranked runners in the field but keep a close eye on West High senior Maddy Negley who can set herself for a strong finish to her career with a Divisional meet breakout.
Negley knows what it takes to compete on the big stage. She is a state qualifier and was 22nd at the MVC Super Meet last season.
Racing for the second time after a three-week stretch without competition Negley clocked a 20:47.1 to place fifth at the West High meet last Thursday.
Breakdown: While Dubuque Senior and Dubuque Hempstead appear poised to battle for the team title another hotly contested race will be for third at the eight-team meet.
West High and Cedar Rapids Kennedy should be at the top of the teams via for that spot.
West High has had a chance to compete twice after a 25-day break and will look to take another big step forward on Thursday.
Negley was nearly a minute in front of the next West High finisher at their home meet last week. A key for West High on Thursday will be freshman Gabby Moniza and sophomore Vicki Carrica narrowing that gap between Negley.
Dubuque Hempstead freshman Keelee Leitzen enters ranks third in Class 4A and is the favorite to claim the individual title.
Boys Race
When: Thursday, 3:45 p.m.
Where: Dubuque Soccer Complex
Teams: West High, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Dubuque Senior, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Waterloo West, Waterloo East
Ranked teams: Class 4A No. 2 Dubuque Hempstead; 4A No. 15 West High
Ranked Individuals: 4A No. 4 Ryan Winger, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; 4A No. 15 Derek Leicht, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; 4A No. 16 Owen Maloney, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; 4A No. 24 Miles Wilson, Soph., Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Team title chase: A couple of top-10 placers from last year’s 4A state meet in Dubuque Hempstead and West High will do battle for the top spot.
West High has been all over the 4A rankings while dealing with the unusual circumstances of this season but has flashed the potential to compete with any team on a give day.
Second-ranked Hempstead enters as the favorite and with three ranked runners led by fourth-ranked senior Ryan Winger but don’t count out West High.
Athlete to watch: West High junior Alex McKane technically hasn’t competed in more than a month. McKane won the West High Invitational in his return from the school’s three-week athletic shutdown but was later disqualified. He didn’t compete in the Trojans last week, their own Early Bird Invite last week.
Despite all of that McKane has already proven himself to be among the elite runners in the entire state.
If McKane runs in a meet he immediately becomes one of the favorites – he’s that good and can hold his own with anyone in the field on Thursday.
Breakdown: Hempstead has established itself as a perennial state title contender and after a third-place finish at the 4A state meet last season has the firepower to make another run at a state crown.
That drive for the Mustangs starts on Thursday and goes through a West High team eager to show it is among the best teams out there in 4A.
Led by McKane, West High has the talent to be in the mix on Thursday and at every meet the rest of the season. Sophomore Seth Cheney is running well along with junior Caden Noeller and seniors Tosh Klever and Drew Peterson.
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