Breaking Down the Class 4A State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Two days of cross country concludes at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge with the Class 4A races.
Both the boys and girls individual races in Class 4A figure to be among the best of the weekend with the team title chase intriguing on both the boys and girls sides as well.
Before the starting guns go off for the final two races of the 2022 cross country season Your Prep Sports offers a quick breakdown of what to watch on Saturday in Fort Dodge involving Class 4A teams and athletes from the area.
Class 4A
Girls Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *Pleasant Valley; City High; Linn-Mar; *Ankeny Centennial; Des Moines Roosevelt; Ankeny; *Waukee; West Des Moines Dowling; West Des Moines Valley; *Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; Cedar Falls; *Johnston; Ames; Southeast Polk
*-State qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Grace Boleyn, Soph., Pleasant Valley; Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt; Addison Dorenkamp, Jr., West Des Moines Valley; Julia Gehl, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; Olivia Verde, Jr., Johnston
2021 team top five: 1. Dubuque Hempstead 108; 2. Pleasant Valley 132; 3. Ames 141; 4. Johnston 156; 5. Cedar Rapids Prairie 164
Last five team champions: 2021 – Dubuque Hempstead; 2020 – Johnston; 2019 – Johnston; 2018 – Southeast Polk; 2017 – Johnston
Returning state placewinners: 1. Addison Dorenkamp, Jr., West Des Moines Valley; 4. Olivia Verde, Jr., Johnston; 5. Keelee Leitzen, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; 6. Julia Gehl, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; 8. Rondi Quass, Sr., Ankeny Centennial; 9. Abi Hahn, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt; 10. Claire Helmers, Soph., Ames; 11. Drew Beason, Soph., Ankeny; 12. Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt; 13. Keirra Hess, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; 14. Josie Case, Jr., Pleasant Valley; 15. Leah Klapatauskas, Jr., Dubuque Senior
Top ranked teams: 1. Dubuque Hempstead; 2. Pleasant Valley; 3. Ankeny Centennial; 4. Dubuque Senior; 5. Johnston
Ranked area teams: No. 12 City High
Top ranked individuals: 1. Addison Dorenkamp, Jr., West Des Moines Valley; 2. Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt; 3. Julia Gehl, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead; 4. Abi Hahn, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt; 5. Keelee Leitzen, Jr., Dubuque Hempstead
Ranked area individuals: None
Team title race: Defending state champion Dubuque Hempstead is poised to become the latest Class 4A team to post back-to-back titles after denying Johnston a shot at a threepeat last season.
Dubuque Hempstead won the 4A title by 24 points over runner-up Pleasant Valley last season and returns its squad nearly fully intact this fall led by returning top-six finishers Julia Gehl and Keelee Leitzen.
The Mustangs appear to be cut above the rest of the 4A field with Pleasant Valley leading the list of teams chasing.
Ankeny Centennial is in that mix led by state meet veteran Rondi Quass who is seeking a third consecutive top-15 finish along with Dubuque Senior and perennial power Johnston which had won three of the previous four 4A titles before a fourth-place finish a year ago.
Individual title tracker: West Des Moines Dowling junior Addison Dorenkamp is the defending state champion and returns to Fort Dodge a favorite to repeat.
Dorenkamp will have plenty of competition to push her including several returning top-10 finishers.
The Dubuque Hempstead duo of Leitzen and Gehl each finished in the top six a year ago and have had impressive seasons.
Des Moines Roosevelt seniors Adrienne Buettner-Cable and Abi Hahn should both be in the lead pack along with Johnston junior Olivia Verde who was fourth a year ago.
Keep an eye on 15th ranked Pleasant Valley sophomore Grace Boleyn would could be poised to make a big jump this season.
Area breakdown: City High returns to the state meet for the second straight season and third time in the past four years seeking to improve on a 12th place finish from a season ago.
Three of the Little Hawks to run at the state meet last season return including two of the top three finishers for City High in Iris and Ani Wedemeyer.
Ani Wedemeyer was 31st overall last season as a freshman in 19:42.59 and will look to improve on that performance on Saturday to cap what has been a breakthrough sophomore season.
Iris Wedemeyer placed 36th last season and will look to conclude her City High career by improving on that effort on Saturday.
Boys Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Saturday, 2:45 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *West Des Moines Dowling; West Des Moines Valley; Sioux City North; *Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Dubuque Hempstead; *Johnston; Norwalk; Southeast Polk; *Waukee Northwest; Ankeny; Urbandale; *City High; Pleasant Valley; Cedar Rapids Prairie;
*-State qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Ford Washburn, Sr., City High; AJ Schermerhorn, Jr., Ankeny Centennial; Jaxson Plumb, Sr., Johnston; Miles Wilson, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Jackson Heidesch, Sr., West Des Moines Dowling
2021 team top five: 1. West Des Moines Dowling 56; 2. Sioux City North 62; 3. City High 72; 4. Johnston 140; 5. Cedar Falls 158
Last five team champions: 2021 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2020 – Sioux City North; 2019 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2018 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2017 – Pleasant Valley
Returning state placewinners: 1. Jackson Heidesch, Sr., West Des Moines Dowling; 3. Gabe Nash, Sr., Sioux City North; 4. Ford Washburn, Sr., City High; 6. Jaxson Plumb, Sr., Johnston; 8. Natnael Kifle, Jr., Sioux City North; 11. Ammon Smith, Sr., City High; 14. Carson Owens, Sr., Southeast Polk
Top ranked teams: No. 1 West Des Moines Dowling; 2. Johnston; 3. City High; 4. Norwalk; 5. Cedar Falls
Ranked area teams: No. 3 City High
Top ranked individuals: 1. Jackson Heidesch, Sr., West Des Moines Dowling; 2. Ford Washburn, Sr., City High; 3. Jaxson Plumb, Sr., Johnston; 4. Flynn Milligan, Sr., West Des Moines Dowling; 5. Natnael Kifle, Jr., Sioux City North
Ranked area individuals: 2. Ford Washburn, Sr., City High; 18. Moustafa Tiea, Soph., West High; 30. Truman Thompson, Sr., City High
Team title race: Last season the 4A race was one of the best of the weekend with the top three teams separated by just 16 points.
Things figure to be just as exciting on Saturday.
Defending state champion West Des Moines Dowling enters ranked number one and a favorite to extend what has been an incredible stretch of success of the last decade plus.
West Des Moines Dowling is seeking its fourth title in the past five seasons and sixth in the last eight years.
A team title on Saturday would give the Maroons eight state championships in the past 12 years.
There will be plenty of teams looking to dethrone the Maroons on Saturday with City High among the top challengers.
The third-ranked Little Hawks finished third last season, have an individual title contender in senior star Ford Washburn and the depth to keep up with Dowling.
Johnston was fourth a year ago and should push for another balcony appearance along with Norwalk which was sixth a year ago and Cedar Falls which was fifth last season.
Individual title tracker: All signs point toward a front of the pack showdown between the two premier distance runners in the state in West Des Moines Dowling senior Jackson Heidesch and City High’s Ford Washburn.
Heidesch is the defending state champion winning the 2021 title in 15:24.37 which was a little more than eight seconds in front of Washburn who was fourth a season ago in 15:32.88.
The two top-ranked runners in 4A have gone head-to-head one time this season with Heidesch finishing half a second in front of Washburn at the Roy Griak Invitational on September 23.
Saturday offers a rematch with a state title on the line.
Others that will look to keep pace with the leaders on Saturday include Johnston senior Jaxson Plumb who was sixth last season and the Sioux City North duo of Natnael Kifle and Gabe Nash who was third a year ago.
Area breakdown: City High should be in the thick of the team title hunt and Washburn will battle for a third consecutive top-10 finish and a state title.
City High has several other runners capable of bringing home individual hardware.
Senior Ammon Smith was 11th a year ago while Noah Carey and Truman Thompson finished 28th and 29th respectively last season.
Keep an eye on the West High individual qualifying duo of Seth Cheney and Moustafa Tiea.
Cheney has performed well at the big meet in the past, placing 25th in a time of 16:31.86 as a junior and will look to conclude a strong career with a big finish.
Tiea was 73rd at the state meet last season as a freshman but has showed his massive potential in a strong finish to the regular season and enters ranked in the top 20 and has a chance to be in medal contention.
Liberty High has a pair of individual qualifiers in junior Aidan Decker and sophomore Noah Gregoire.
Decker is making his third state meet appearance and is coming off a 42nd place finish a year ago while Gregoire placed 107th in his state meet debut last season.
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