Seven Your Prep Sports Area Girls Cross Country Runners to Watch This Season
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The Your Prep Sports area is home to some of the top girls cross country programs in the state.
City High, West High, Regina and Solon are all historically successful programs with a reputation for excelling at a high level while Liberty High and Clear Creek Amana are building their own traditions of success.
Expect this season to be no different.
Solon and Regina are both coming off top-five state meet finishes from a year ago while Liberty High returns a two-time state medalist.
The Your Prep Sports area will feature many talented runners this fall when cross country competition gets underway across the state on August 23.
State qualifying meets are set for October 20th and 21st with the season concluding with a two-day state meet at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge on October 29th (4A and 3A) and 30th (2A and 1A).
Before races get underway we take a look at seven runners to watch in the Your Prep Sports area this season.
Ashlyn Keeney
Senior, Liberty High
Already considered one of the top distance runners in the state Keeney will look to put an exclamation point on what has been an outstanding career with a strong senior season.
A three-time state qualifier and two-time medalist Keeney has posted consecutive top-10 finishes at the 4A state meet.
Keeney was the 4A state runner-up as a sophomore and finished ninth at the 4A state meet last season in a time of 18:34.7.
Rowan Boulter
Senior, City High
Another athlete attempting to become a four-time state qualifier, Boulter is seeking to lead City High back to the 4A state meet after a rare miss for the Little Hawks last season.
Boulter is chasing a breakthrough final season after posting top-50 finishes at the 4A state meet each of the past three seasons.
She was 36th as a freshman and 21st as a sophomore before placing 48th at 4A state meet in 19:55.6 last season.
Emma Bock
Senior, Solon
The leader of a loaded list of returning Spartans Bock will look to help Solon improve on its fifth place finish at the Class 3A state meet a year ago.
Bock is already a three-time state qualifier and three-time WAMAC Conference medalist and will look to help the Spartans push for team hardware this season.
A year ago Bock was 13th at the WAMAC meet and has twice finished in the top 60 at the state meet.
Haidyn Barker
Junior, Clear Creek Amana
One of the top returning runners in Class 3A, Barker will look to build on what was a breakthrough sophomore season.
After placing third at the WAMAC meet and 63rd at the state meet as a freshman in 2019 Barker took big steps forward last season finishing runner-up at the WAMAC conference meet and jumping to 33rd at the 3A state meet with a time of 20:11.9.
Mya Whitaker
Junior, Regina
In her first two varsity seasons Whitaker has helped Regina to a pair of top-five finishes as the Class 1A state meet.
Now an upperclassmen Whitaker will look to step into the role as the leader of the Regina pack with the graduation of Annalee Bartels.
Whitaker finished 35th at the state meet as a freshman as Regina finished 5th as a team in 2019 and climbed to 31st last season helping the Regals to a fourth-place team finish.
Cori Mac
Sophomore, Liberty High
One of three Liberty High individual qualifiers a year ago Mac joins Keeney in an experienced Lightning lineup that is seeking to qualify for the state meet as a team for the first time in program history.
Mac will look to make a sizeable jump in her second varsity season after a strong debut last fall.
As a freshman Mac placed 59th at the 4A state meet in a time of 20:04.64.
Mary Fiala
Junior, Solon
The top returning Solon finisher at the Class 3A state meet last season, Fiala is one of six Spartans back from last year’s squad that finished fifth in Fort Dodge.
Already a two-time state qualifier Fiala improved from her 54th place finish as a freshman to 45th last season in a time of 20:29.
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