A Quick Look at the Class 4A State Qualifying Cross Country Meets Featuring Your Prep Sports Area Teams
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The biggest day of the season for prep cross country teams has arrived.
For cross country athletes across the state months of training coming down to one race with state qualifying meets for the two largest classes scheduled for Wednesday.
Class 3A and 4A qualifiers will be run on Wednesday with the top three teams from each qualifier advancing to the state meet which is set for Oct. 29 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Before the gun sounds to start races on Wednesday we take a look at the meets featuring Your Prep Sports area teams.
Class 4A Qualifier (Pleasant Valley)
Girls Race
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Crow Creek Park
Teams: City High; Bettendorf; Burlington; Davenport Central; Davenport North; Davenport West; City High; Linn-Mar; Muscatine; Pleasant Valley; Cedar Rapids Prairie
Ranked teams: No. 2 Pleasant Valley; No. 11 City High; No. 12 Cedar Rapids Prairie; No. 15 Linn-Mar
Ranked individuals: 3. Grace Boleyn, Soph., Pleasant Valley; No. 9 Lydia Sommer, Sr., Pleasant Valley; 13. Lexi Minard, Jr., Pleasant Valley; 14. Jaylee Duncan, Fr., Pleasant Valley; 18. Sophia Ford, Soph., Pleasant Valley; 20. Ani Wedemeyer, Soph., City High; 23. Rachel Adamson, Sr., Linn-Mar
Team title chase: Defending 4A runner-up Pleasant Valley has home course advantage and is a heavy favorite to secure the team title.
Pleasant Valley has balance with five runners ranked in the top 20, a star in sophomore Grace Boleyn and is once again a serious state title contender.
City High, Cedar Rapids Prairie and Linn-Mar the top challengers but Pleasant Valley is the clear cut favorite.
Athlete to watch: A state qualifier last season as a freshman City High sophomore Ani Wedemeyer is poised for a strong finish to what has been a breakthrough season.
Wedemeyer is coming off back-to-back impressive performances at the Mississippi Valley Conference meets.
She was sixth at the MVC Super Meet two weeks ago and finished fifth at the Valley Divisional meet last week.
Look for Wedemeyer to make a run at another top-five finish on Wednesday and should be in state medal contention the following week.
Breakdown: Pleasant Valley is the heavy favorite to win the team title and secure one of the three spots at the state meet on its home course.
The race on Wednesday is for the final two state qualifying spots and the top three contenders know each other well.
Mississippi Valley Conference foes City High, Cedar Rapids Prairie and Linn-Mar are expected to battle for the final two spots at the state meet and it should be a tight race.
Linn-Mar was the top finisher of that group at the MVC Super Meet finishing a point in front of Cedar Rapids Prairie which was 36 points clear of City High.
At the MVC Valley Division last week City High finished 15 points in front of Linn-Mar.
City High has a history of peaking at the right time, a strong duo up front with Ani and Iris Wedemeyer and the best depth among these three teams.
Boys Race
When: Wednesday, 4:40 p.m.
Where: Crow Creek Park
Teams: City High; Bettendorf; Burlington; Davenport Central; Davenport North; Davenport West; City High; Linn-Mar; Muscatine; Pleasant Valley; Cedar Rapids Prairie
Ranked teams: No. 4 City High; No. 8 Pleasant Valley; No. 16 Cedar Rapids Prairie
Ranked individuals: No. 2 Ford Washburn, Sr., City High; No. 9 Jacob Mumey, Sr., Pleasant Valley; No. 11 Truman Thompson, Sr., City High; 22. Ammon Smith, Sr., City High; 23. Noah Carey, Sr., City High
Team title chase: City High was third at the 4A state meet last season and should be in the state title conversation again next week.
The Little Hawks have an individual state title contender in senior standout Ford Washburn, depth behind him with three other ranked runners and experience with an all-senior lineup with plenty of state meet experience.
City High is a state title contender and should head to Fort Dodge next week as a state qualifying meet champion.
Athlete to watch: City High senior Ford Washburn entered the season tabbed as a state title contender and one of the best distance runners in the state.
Washburn has already exceeded the lofty preseason expectations.
To date Washburn has broken the City High school record and gone sub-15 minutes in several races and ranks second in the Class 4A rankings behind defending state champion Jackson Heidesch of West Des Moines Dowling.
Breakdown: City High is the favorite on Wednesday and is going to be a team capable of winning the Class 4A state title next week in Fort Dodge.
The Little Hawks have been impressive down the stretch.
Seniors Truman Thompson, Ammon Smith and Noah Carey are all ranked in the top-25 in Class 4A and give the Little Hawks impressive balance behind its star Washburn.
Pleasant Valley and Cedar Rapids Prairie were each state qualifiers last season and are the favorites to secure the final two qualifying spots.
Class 4A Qualifier (Dubuque Senior)
Girls Race
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Dubuque Soccer Complex
Teams: Liberty High; West High; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Washington; Clinton; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; North Scott; Waterloo West
Ranked teams: No. 1 Dubuque Hempstead; No. 3 Dubuque Senior; No. 14 Cedar Falls; No. 18 West High
Ranked individuals: No. 4 Julia Gehl, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; No. 5 Keelee Leitzen, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; No. 10 Brooke O’Brien, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; No. 16 Evie Henneberry, Soph., Dubuque Hempstead; No. 19 Leah Klapatauskas, Jr., Dubuque Senior; No. 25 Zoe Zylstra, Soph., Cedar Falls; No. 28 Georgia Harms, Sr., Dubuque Senior
Team title chase: Top-ranked defending state champion Dubuque Hempstead is loaded up for another title run at Fort Dodge next week.
The Mustangs have three runners ranked in the top 10 led by juniors Keelee Leitzen and Julia Gehl who finished fifth and sixth at the state meet a year ago.
Dubuque Hempstead is the clear cut favorite on Wednesday and next week in Fort Dodge but third-ranked Dubuque Senior is tough and talented and will be in the mix.
Athlete to watch: West High freshman Kate Van Waning appears to be hitting stride at the perfect time during her varsity debut season.
Van Waning was the top West High finisher two weeks ago at the MVC Super Meet with a 24th place performance and followed that up by finishing 19th at the Valley Division meet last week.
With back-to-back races against powers like Dubuque Hempstead and Dubuque Senior Van Waning shouldn’t be intimidate in her first state qualifier on Wednesday after showing she can compete with some of the best in the state.
Breakdown: Two of the state qualifying spots should go to Dubuque Hempstead and Dubuque Senior leaving one spot for the rest of the field to fight for.
Expect West High and Liberty High to be right in the thick of that battle for the final spot.
West High has been peaking of late and has a tight pack with Van Waning emerging along with veterans Cindy Wang, Erinn Varga and Gabby Moniza.
That group has experience and is more than capable of securing a spot at the state meet.
Liberty High has dealt with injuries to key runners and shuffled its lineup for much of the season but with everyone in place can be a real factor.
Cedar Falls was third at the MVC Super Meet two weeks ago and may be the team West High and Liberty High need to beat for that final spot at state.
Class 4A Qualifier (Dubuque Senior)
Boys Race
When: Wednesday, 4:40 p.m.
Where: Dubuque Soccer Complex
Teams: Liberty High; West High; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Washington; Clinton; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; North Scott; Waterloo West
Ranked teams: No. 5 Cedar Falls; No. 7 Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 10 Dubuque Hempstead; No. 18 West High
Ranked individuals: No. 3 Miles Wilson, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 10 Moustafa Tiea, Soph., West High; No. 12 John Maloney, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; No. 15. Jaden Merrick, Fr., Cedar Falls; No. 17 Luke Hartman, Jr., Cedar Falls; No. 19 Caleb Kass, Sr., Dubuque Hempstead; No. 21 Aidan Decker, Jr., Liberty High; No. 24 Nik Davis, Sr., North Scott; No. 27 Seth Cheney, Sr., West High; No. 28 Henry McMahan, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Team title chase: Cedar Falls was fifth at the Class 4A state meet a year ago and enters the postseason ranked fifth in the Class 4A rankings.
The Tigers enter as the favorite to claim the team title and a spot at the state meet next week and if they accomplish those feats it will likely be due to their depth.
Cedar Falls doesn’t have a runner ranked higher than 15 but has a solid pack-leading duo in freshman standout Jaden Merrick and junior Luke Hartman and the most depth amongst the field at this state qualifier.
Athlete to watch: West High sophomore Moustafa Tiea showed his impressive potential at times last season as a freshman but has begun to give a real glimpse into how good he could be over the past several weeks.
The breakthrough for Tiea came at the MVC Super Meet where he was fourth in 15:34.45 and he followed it up with a sixth-place finish at the Valley Divisional meet last week.
Tiea is the top challenger for third-ranked Miles Wilson of Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Wednesday and will look to help West High return to the state meet as a team.
Breakdown: Call Cedar Falls the favorite to win the team title, they have earned it with MVC performances the past two weeks.
After that it gets interesting as seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy, No. 10 Dubuque Hempstead and No. 18 West High battle for the final two spots.
Kennedy and Hempstead both finished in front of West High at the MVC Divisional meet last week meaning the Trojans will likely need a big performance on Wednesday to secure a return to the state meet.
Senior Seth Cheney has plenty of postseason experience and will be an athlete to watch for West High along with Liberty High junior Aidan Decker.
Decker was 10th at the MVC Super Meet and third at the Mississippi Divisional last week and should be in the mix in what is one of the deepest individual fields at any 4A qualifier on Wednesday.
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