Breaking Down the Area Class 3A Boys State Qualifying Cross Country Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The most important meets of the cross country season are here.
State qualifying meets will be held across the state on Wednesday and Thursday with Classes 4A and 3A starting things off on Wednesday and Classes 1A and 2A following on Thursday.
The goal for every runner is to secure a spot at the 2023 state meet set for October 27 and 28 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Before the racing takes off and runners and teams secure spots at the state meet we take a quick look at what to watch at each of the Class 3A boys state qualifying meets featuring Your Prep Sports area teams.
Class 3A Meet (Solon)
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Solon Nature and Recreation Area
Teams: Solon; Davenport Assumption; Benton Community; Center Point-Urbana; Central DeWitt; Western Dubuque; Grinnell; Independence; Maquoketa; Marion; Mount Vernon-Lisbon; Dubuque Wahlert; Cedar Rapids Xavier
Ranked teams: No. 6 Mount Vernon-Lisbon; No. 13 Solon; No.14 Central DeWitt; No. 17 Center Point-Urbana; No. 19 Grinnell; No. 20 Marion
Ranked individuals: No. 8 Grady Olberding, Jr., Mount Vernon-Lisbon; No. 11 Quentin Nauman, Soph., Western Dubuque; No. 13 Brick Kabela, Sr., Solon; No. 21 Dawson Scheil, Soph., Mount Vernon-Lisbon; No. 24 Cooper Cook, Sr., Marion
Team title chase: Solon edged Mount Vernon-Lisbon by two points to win the WAMAC Conference title last Thursday and it will be the same two teams battling for the top spot on Wednesday.
Mount Vernon-Lisbon had been a step ahead of the Spartans for most of the season before Solon’s performance at the WAMAC meet last week.
The Spartans have home course advantage on their side on Wednesday as they try to secure a spot at the state meet with a second consecutive win over rival Mount Vernon-Lisbon.
Don’t count out Central DeWitt as the Sabers are capable of pushing for a spot in the top two with a strong day.
Individual race: Mount Vernon-Lisbon junior Grady Olberding enters as the favorite with Western Dubuque sophomore Quentin Nauman and Solon senior Brick Kabela giving chase.
Olberding pulled away over the final mile to win the WAMAC Conference title last week in impressive fashion with a time of 16:13.
Kabela is running at home and Nauman has seen some of the best competition in the state the last few weeks in the Mississippi Valley Conference.
Athlete to watch: Solon senior Brick Kabela will look to put the finishing touches on a stellar career with another strong postseason.
Kabela is already a three-time state qualifier helping the Spartans to back-to-back top-five team finishes in 2020 and 2021.
All three state meet appearances for Kabela have ended with a top-26 finish, highlighted by a 14th place finish as a sophomore in 2021.
Kabela has high-end potential and will be in the mix with Olberding on Wednesday and should push for another state medal next week.
Breakdown: With seven of the 13 teams in the field coming from the WAMAC Conference Wednesday’s state qualifier will have a similar feel to last week’s WAMAC meet in Marion.
This is also one of the deepest state qualifying meet fields among 3A meets with six teams ranked in the top 20.
Solon and Mount Vernon are expected to battle for the team title and secure state qualifying spots but it could be a wild race for the third spot.
Central DeWitt will be in that mix along with WAMAC squads Center Point-Urbana, Grinnell and Marion.
At the WAMAC Meet last week Center Point-Urbana was at the front of that pack finishing sixth, but just five points separated those three teams.
Solon is seeking a fourth consecutive state meet appearance after finishing 11th at the 3A meet last season.
The Spartans have experience with fellow seniors Michael Yeomans, Collin Bumsted and Grant Bumsted joining Kabela in the lineup that got a boost from sophomore Spencer Michels last week.
Class 3A Meet (Pella)
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Pella Sports Park
Teams: Clear Creek Amana; Fairfield; Fort Madison; Harlan; Keokuk; Knoxville; Mount Pleasant; Newton; Oskaloosa; Pella; Perry; Saydel; Washington
Ranked teams: No. 2 Pella; No. 7 Washington; No. 11 Clear Creek Amana; No. 16 Fort Madison
Ranked individuals: No. 1 Canaan Dunham, Soph., Pella; No. 3 Micah Rees, Sr., Washington; No. 5 Nathan VanderWaal, Sr., Pella; No. 26 Devon Browne, Jr., Pella; No. 28 Brock Hilsman, Jr., Clear Creek Amana; No. 29 Noah Schuknecht, Soph., Pella
Team title chase: Defending 3A state champion Pella has top-end talent – with two runners ranked in the top five. The Dutch have depth – with four ranked runners. Pella has experience – with four runners back from last year’s state title game. And on top of that Pella has the opportunity to run at home on Wednesday.
All of that make Pella a heavy favorite to win the state qualifying meet title with Washington and Clear Creek Amana expected to battle for the runner-up spot and the final two state meet spots.
Individual race: Three of the best runners in Class 3A are at the front of strong field and should provide an exciting finish in what will be one of the best races in all of 3A on Wednesday.
Returning state medalists Canaan Dunham and Nathan VanderWaal of Pella and Micah Rees of Washington all enter ranked in the 3A top five and are expected to run at the front of the pack.
The top-ranked runner in 3A, Dunham was sixth at the 3A state meet last season as a freshman while his teammate VanderWaal finished ninth at state last season as a junior.
Rees enters ranked third and was 13th at the state meet last season and will be in the mix with the Pella standouts on Wednesday.
Athlete to watch: Clear Creek Amana junior Brock Hilsman continues to emerge as one of the top runners in Class 3A.
Hilsman finished 30th at the state meet last season and has continued his ascent toward the top of 3A this season entering the state qualifying meet ranked 28th.
The junior standout is coming off a top-10 finish at the WAMAC Conference meet last week, placing ninth in a time of 17:07.4.
Breakdown: Last season Clear Creek Amana snapped a two-year string without a state meet appearance finishing 14th in its first trip to Fort Dodge since 2019.
The Clippers have their sights set on not only a return trip but a much better showing at the state meet this season.
Led by Hilsman the Clippers return five runners from last year’s state qualifying team including seniors Thomas Stiltner, Logan Kafer and Jamie Hayes.
Sophomore Nicholas Schieltz has stepped into the lineup and thrived, posting a 24th place finish at the WAMAC meet last week.
Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.