Breaking Down the Class 4A State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The 2020 edition of the state cross country meet was split into two days with action at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge getting underway on Friday.
Class 4A will compete on Friday morning with 3A races set for Friday afternoon.
The meet concludes on Saturday with Class 2A races in the morning and 1A following in the afternoon.
Before race day arrives we take a closer look at the state meet fields and the area participants that are headed to Fort Dodge.
Class 4A Boys
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 11 a.m.
Team Qualifiers: *Sioux City North; Johnston; Ankeny Centennial; *Dubuque Hempstead; West High; City High; *Cedar Falls; Waukee; West Des Moines Valley; *Cedar Rapids Prairie; Liberty High; Pleasant Valley; *West Des Moines Dowling; Norwalk; Urbandale
*-District Champion
Individual district champions: Jaysen Bouwers, Sr., Sioux City North; Ryan Winger, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Jacob Christensen, Sr., Waukee; Kole Sommer, Sr., Pleasant Valley; Will Ryan, Jr., West Des Moines Dowling
2019 Team Top Five: 1. West Des Moines Dowling 87; 2. Pleasant Valley 96; 3. Dubuque Hempstead 100; 4. Johnston 135; 5. Sioux City North 160.
Last 5 team champions: 2019 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2018 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2017 – Pleasant Valley; 2016 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2015 – West Des Moines Dowling
Returning state placers: 6. Ryan Winger, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; 8. Owen Maloney, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; 9. Jaysen Bouwers, Jr., Sioux City North; 11. Mason Suarez, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead
Top ranked teams: 1. Cedar Falls; 2. Dubuque Hempstead; 3. West Des Moines Dowling; 4. Sioux City North; 5. Waukee
Ranked area teams: No. 8 Liberty High; No. 11. West High; No. 14. City High
Top ranked individuals: 1. Ryan Winger, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; 2. Jaysen Bouwers, Sr., Sioux City North; 3. Kole Sommer, Sr., Pleasant Valley; 4. Jacob Christensen, Sr., Waukee; 5. Will Lohr, Jr., Sioux City North.
Ranked area individuals: 18. Alex McKane, Jr., West High
Team Championship Chase: West Des Moines Dowling claimed its second consecutive 4A title and fourth in the last five years last season edging Pleasant Valley by nine points.
The third-ranked Maroons return as title contenders again with a long list of challengers looking to unseat Dowling as the kings of 4A cross country.
Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Falls and Sioux City North all won state qualifying meets last week and enter as the top contenders along with Dowling.
Cedar Falls finished seventh at the state meet last season and hasn’t finished in the top five since a runner-up finish in 2015 but was impressive in winning its state qualifier.
The top-ranked Tigers put five runners in the top six at the state qualifier while finishing 23 points in front of fifth-ranked Waukee.
Dubuque Hempstead was third a year ago after consecutive runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2018 and will be in the title hunt again led by top-ranked senior Ryan Winger.
Keep an eye on Sioux City North which features two top-five ranked runners in senior Jaysen Bouwers and junior Will Lohr.
Individual Title Tracker: With 11 medalists from last season including each of the top five finishers all gone to graduation there will be plenty of fresh faces running at the front of the pack.
Top-ranked Dubuque Hempstead senior Ryan Winger is a two-time medalist and the top returning runner after placing sixth last season.
Winger enters as the favorite but there is a long list of runners capable of competing for the top spot.
Bouwers was ninth last season and is ranked second while Pleasant Valley senior Kole Sommer is a two-time state qualifier that has vaulted himself into the conversation with a breakthrough senior season.
City High sophomore Ford Washburn and West High junior Alex McKane have both shown the ability to run with the best in the state this season.
Washburn was 20th as a freshman last season while McKane was 32nd overall last season as a sophomore.
Area Breakdown: For the first time in history all three Iowa City area Class 4A teams advanced to the state meet.
Liberty High is making its second consecutive state meet appearance after placing 10th in its first ever trip to Fort Dodge last season.
West High stretched it state meet streak to 10 years while City High snapped a three-year drought with its first state appearance since 2016.
All three area teams are capable of strong performances on Friday.
Liberty High returns four of its top five finishers from its state debut this season and will look to use that experience to climb the 4A standings this season.
Seniors Jack Kinzer, Caleb Schillinger and Bowen Gryp finished 42nd, 52nd and 91st respectively last season and should all improve on those performances in their second race at Lakeside Golf Course.
West High had to replace its top runner for the second straight season but still managed to return to state for the 10th consecutive season and will attempt to improve on an eighth-place performance from last season.
With just one senior and four sophomores in its top seven City High is one of the youngest teams at the state meet.
The youthful Little Hawks are led by sophomores Washburn, Ammon Smith, Truman Thompson and Noah Carey and will look to pick up what could be valuable experience for return visits to state on Friday.
Class 4A Girls
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 10:30 a.m.
Team Qualifiers: *Johnston; Ankeny Centennial; Indianola; *Linn-Mar; Dubuque Senior; Dubuque Hempstead; *West Des Moines Valley; Waukee; Ankeny; *Southeast Polk; Urbandale; West Des Moines Dowling; *Pleasant Valley; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Bettendorf
*-District Champion
Individual district champions: Kaia Downs, Jr., Sioux City East; Keelee Leitzen, Fr., Dubuque Hempstead; Lauren McMahon, Sr., Ankeny; Mattison Plummer, Sr., Southeast Polk; Ashlyn Keeney, Jr., Liberty High
2019 Team Top Five: 1. Johnston 56; 2. Dubuque Senior 88; 3. Linn-Mar 119; 4. Waukee 138; 5. Southeast Polk 144
Last 5 team champions: 2019 – Johnston; 2018 – Southeast Polk; 2017 – Johnston; 2016 – Johnston; 2015 – Urbandale
Returning state placers: 2. Ashlyn Keeney, Jr., Liberty High; 3. Lillian Schmidt, Sr., Dubuque Senior; 4. Micah Poellet, Sr., Linn-Mar; 5. Bella Heikes, Sr., Johnston; 6. Kaia Downs, Jr., Sioux City East; 8. Aleah Tenpas, Jr., Johnston; 10. Samantha Strauss, Sr., Johnston; 12. Jordyn Beck, Soph., Linn-Mar; 13. Chloe Skidmore, Sr., Linn-Mar
Area individual qualifiers: Ashlyn Keeney, Jr., Liberty High; Cami Mac, Sr., Liberty High, Cori Mac, Fr., Liberty High; Rowan Boulter, Jr., City High; Lilly Reynolds, Sr., City High
Top ranked teams: 1. West Des Moines Valley; 2. Johnston; 3. Linn-Mar; 4. Dubuque Senior; 5. Waukee
Top ranked individuals: 1. Lauren McMahon, Sr., Ankeny; 2. Keelee Leitzen, Fr., Dubuque Hempstead; 3. Micah Poellet, Sr., Linn-Mar; 4. Lauren Schulze, Sr., West Des Moines Valley; 5. Ashlyn Keeney, Jr., Liberty High
Ranked area individuals: 5. Ashlyn Keeney, Jr., Liberty High; 20. Cami Mac, Sr., Liberty High
Team Championship Chase: A year ago Johnston had three runners in the top 10 overall and pulled away to win its third 4A title in four seasons by 32 points over runner-up Dubuque Senior.
Expect a much tighter team race this time around with as many as six or seven teams capable of pushing their way onto the balcony at Lakeside Golf Course.
West Des Moines Valley enters top-ranked after an impressive state qualifier performance in which the Tigers finished 28 points in front of fifth-ranked Waukee.
However, second-ranked Johnston has earned the right to the de facto favorite title after winning four titles since 2014.
The Dragons return their top three finishers from last year’s state title team and won its state qualifier by 24 points over seventh-ranked Ankeny Centennial.
Linn-Mar is ranked third, finished third last season and has a title contender in senior Micah Poellet while defending runner-up Dubuque Senior, fifth-ranked Waukee, No. 6 Dubuque Hempstead and eighth-ranked Ankeny are all capable of pushing for a top-three finish.
The last seven 4A champions have come from the CIML Conference with Pleasant Valley in 2012 the last non-CIML team to win a 4A title.
Individual Title Tracker: With seven of the top 10 finishers from last season, including four of the top five, returning the 4A girls race figures to be one of the most entertaining of the entire weekend.
Defending state runner-up Ashlyn Keeney of Liberty High headlines an impressive list of returning medalists that features 2018 state champion Micah Poellet of Linn-Mar and two-time top-six finisher Lillian Schmidt of Dubuque Senior.
Just how deep is the field of 4A title contenders?
Several of the top challengers for the 4A crown aren’t even among the names listed above.
Ankeny senior Lauren McMahon enters the state meet top-ranked after finishing three seconds in front of fourth-ranked Lauren Schulze of West Des Moines Valley at the state qualifier.
A four-time qualifier Schulze was 15th as a sophomore and 17 last season.
Keep an eye on Dubuque Hempstead freshman Keelee Leitzen who has only gotten better the longer the season has gone and won the state qualifier by more than 13 seconds over Poellet.
Area Breakdown: For the second consecutive season Liberty High will send three runners to the state meet.
The Lightning will hope to go home with multiple pieces of hardware for the second year in a row.
Last season Keeney earned her first medal with a runner-up finish while McKenzie Logan placed 15th.
This year Keeney is joined at the state meet by sisters Cori and Cami Mac.
Cami Mac is seeking to bookend her career with state meet medals after placing 13th at the Class 3A state meet as a freshman and enters ranked 20th in Class 4A.
Last season Mac placed 60th in her first appearance at the 4A meet.
City High sends a pair of individual qualifiers with state meet experience in senior Lilly Reynolds and junior Rowan Boulter.
Boulter is hoping to push into the medal conversation in her third trip to the state meet after placing 36th as a freshman and 21st last season.
Reynolds was 52nd in her first trip to the state meet a year ago.
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