Breaking Down the Class 4A State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
For the second consecutive year the state cross country meet will be a two-day affair beginning with the Class 4A and 3A races on Friday at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Class 4A will compete on Friday morning with the Class 3A races set for Friday afternoon.
The 2021 state meet will conclude on Saturday with the Class 2A races in the morning and the Class 1A races in the afternoon.
Before the excitement of race day arrives on Friday we take a closer look at the state meet fields and the Your Prep Sports area teams and individuals that will be competing in Fort Dodge.
Class 4A
Girls Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday 10:30 a.m.
Qualifying teams: *Ankeny Centennial; West Des Moines Valley; Ankeny; *Dubuque Hempstead; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Dubuque Senior; *Des Moines Roosevelt; West Des Moines Dowling; Indianola; *Johnston; Ames; Urbandale; *Pleasant Valley; City High; Linn-Mar
*– District champion
Individual district champions: Addison Dorenkamp, Soph., West Des Moines Valley; Julia Gehl, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; Abi Hahn, Jr., Des Moines Roosevelt; Olivia Verde, Soph., Johnston; Grace Boelyn, Fr., Pleasant Valley
2020 team top five: 1. Johnston 64; 2. West Des Moines Valley 87; 3. Ankeny Centennial 141; 4. Linn-Mar 158; 5. Southeast Polk
Last five team champions: 2020 – Johnston; 2019 – Johnston; 2018 – Southeast Polk; 2017 – Johnston; 2016 – Johnston
Returning state placewinners: 1. Keelee Leitzen, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; 3. Kaia Downs, Sr., Sioux City East; 7. Olivia Verde, Soph., Johnston; 8. Addison Dorenkamp, Soph., West Des Moines Valley; 9. Ashlyn Keeney, Sr., Liberty High; 11. Aleah Tenpas, Sr., Johnston; 12. Julia Gehl, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; 14. Rondi Quass, Soph., Ankeny Centennial; 15. Kamryn Ensley, Sr., West Des Moines Valley
Top ranked teams: 1. Pleasant Valley; 2. Dubuque Hempstead; 3. Johnston; 4. Des Moines Roosevelt; 5. Cedar Rapids Prairie
Ranked area teams: No. 12 City High
Top ranked individuals: No. 1 Grace Boleyn, Fr., Pleasant Valley; 2. Olivia Verde, Soph., Johnston; 3. Addison Dorenkamp, Soph., West Des Moines Valley; 4. Kamryn Ensley, Sr., West Des Moines Valley; 5. Alli Macke, Fr., Ankeny
Ranked area individuals: 7. Ashlyn Keeney, Sr., Liberty High; 30. Iris Wedemeyer, Jr., City High 92
Team championship chase: Johnston has won back-to-back 4A titles, each coming by more than 23 points and has claimed four of the last five 4A crowns.
The Dragons enter ranked third trailing top-ranked Pleasant Valley and Dubuque Hempstead but we’ve seen this situation before.
A year ago, Johnston was ranked second entering the state meet but finished 23 points clear of top-ranked West Des Moines Valley.
Led by top-ranked freshman Grace Boleyn Pleasant Valley certainly has the opportunity to dethrone Johnston as does second-ranked Dubuque Hempstead which returns its top four runners from a team that finished seventh a year ago.
If Pleasant Valley can claim the 4A crown it would be the first non-CIML 4A champion since the Spartans won the title in 2012.
Individual title tracker: This should be exciting with five of the top nine fishers from last season returning along with the addition of a pair of stellar freshmen in Boleyn and Ankeny’s Alli Macke.
Dubuque Hempstead sophomore Keelee Leitzen won the title a year ago but is ranked outside the top 10 entering the state meet.
The title chase appears it will come down to Boleyn, Macke, a couple of sophomores that earned medals last season and two veteran individual qualifiers.
Johnston sophomore Olivia Verde was seventh a year ago and is ranked second while West Des Moines Valley sophomore Addison Dorenkamp figures to be in the mix after placing eighth last season.
Liberty High senior Ashlyn Keeney is a four-time qualifier seeking a third consecutive state medal and should be right in the mix to end her brilliant career with gold.
Don’t count out Sioux City East senior Kaia Downs who was third a year ago.
Area breakdown: City High returns to the state meet as a team after a one-year hiatus but isn’t without state meet experience.
Senior Rowan Boulter is a four-time state qualifier and is seeking a fourth consecutive top-50 finish while junior Iris Wedemeyer finished 42nd in her state meet debut two seasons ago as a freshman.
Wedemeyer emerged late in the season as a state medal contender and enters the state meet ranked 30th.
West High sophomore Cindy Wang joined Keeney in reaching the state meet as area individual qualifiers.
A junior varsity runner a season ago Wang has been among the most improved runners any where this season and secured her first trip to the state meet with a sixth-place finish at the state qualifying meet.
Boys Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 11:15 a.m.
Qualifying teams: *Sioux City North; Ankeny Centennial; Ankeny; *Dubuque Hempstead; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Prairie; *West Des Moines Dowling; Norwalk; West High; *Johnston; Urbandale; Waukee Northwest; *City High; Pleasant Valley; Liberty High
*– District champion
Individual district champions: William Lohr, Sr., Sioux City North; Derek Leicht, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Jackson Heidesch, Jr., West Des Moines Dowling; Jaxson Plumb, Jr., Johnston; Ford Washburn, Jr., City High
2020 team top five: 1. Sioux City North 75; 2. West Des Moines Dowling 83; 3. Cedar Falls 86; 4. Waukee 131; 5. Dubuque Hempstead 137
Last five team champions: 2020 – Sioux City North; 2019 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2018 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2017 – Pleasant Valley; 2016 – West Des Moines Dowling
Returning state placewinners: 3. Jackson Heidesch, Jr., West Des Moines Dowling; 4. Will Lohr, Sr., Sioux City North; 6. Ford Washburn, Soph., City High; 9. Will Ryan, Sr., West Des Moines Dowling; 11. Alex McKane, Sr., West High;
Top ranked teams: 1. Sioux City North; 2. West Des Moines Dowling; 3. City High; 4. Johnston; 5. Dubuque Hempstead
Ranked area teams: No. 3. City High; No. 13. West High; No. 15 Liberty High
Top ranked individuals: 1. Jackson Heidesch, Jr., West Des Moines Dowling; 2. Alex McKane, Sr., West High; 3. Ford Washburn, Jr., City High; 4. Derek Leicht, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; 5. Will Lohr, Sr., Sioux City North
Ranked area individuals: 2. Alex McKane, Sr., West High; 3. Ford Washburn, Jr., City High; 23. Seth Cheney, Jr., West High; 24. Truman Thompson, Jr., City High; 26. Noah Carey, Jr., City High; 29. Elliot Dunwald, Sr., City High
Team championship chase: Sioux City North stopped West Des Moines Dowling short of a 4A three-peat last season edging the Maroons by eight points for its first state title.
Expect those two teams to battle it out again for the top spot this season.
Winners of four of the last six and an impressive six of the last 10 4A titles Dowling would like nothing more than to return to its perch atop the 4A standings and returns its top two runners from a year ago in top-ranked Jackson Heidesch and senior Will Ryan who was ninth a year ago.
Top-ranked Sioux City North will be attempting to join Dowling, Cedar Falls and Pleasant Valley as the only teams to win back-to-back 4A titles since the state went to 4A classes in 2003.
Don’t count City High out of the title race.
The Little Hawks return their top six runners from a team that finished eighth last season and have a title contender in junior Ford Washburn.
Dubuque Hempstead was fifth a year ago, enters ranked fifth and could push its way into the mix.
Individual title tracker: Three of the top six finishers from last season return but it may be a runner that finished outside the top 10 that enters as the favorite in what should be an exciting race from start to finish.
West High senior Alex McKane finished 11th last season but has emerged as one of the favorites entering the state meet with a stellar senior season.
The top challengers to McKane all finished in the top six last season.
West Des Moines Dowling junior Jackson Heidesch was third a year ago and ranks along with McKane as the favorite entering Friday.
Heidesch has beaten McKane twice head-to-head this season most recently at the state qualifying meet in Indianola last Thursday.
Sioux City North senior Will Lohr was fourth a year ago and can push for the top spot as can City High sophomore Ford Washburn who jumped from 20th as a freshman to sixth last season.
Washburn enters ranked third and has shown he is caped of running with the best in the state.
Area breakdown: For the second consecutive season all three Iowa City schools advanced to the state meet and all three are poised for strong performances in Fort Dodge.
West High is making its 11th consecutive state meet appearance, has a legit title contender in McKane and strong number two in junior Seth Cheney and seeking to improve on its 11th place finish from a year ago.
City High returned to the state meet for the first time since 2016 last year and finished eighth with a lineup filled with underclassmen void of state meet experience.
Led by title contender Ford Washburn who is chasing a second consecutive top-six finish and with a year of experience for ranked juniors Truman Thompson, Noah Carey and Elliot Dunwald the Little Hawks are capable of pushing for a team trophy.
Liberty High is making a third consecutive state meet appearance and has improved its state finish each of the past two seasons going from 10th in its debut appearance in 2019 to sixth a year ago.
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