Breaking Down the Area Class 1A State Qualifying Cross Country Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The cross country season is entering the home stretch with the finish line a little more than a week away.
State qualifying meets are schedule for Wednesday and Thursday this week with the 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 1A state qualifying meets featuring Your Prep Sports area teams.
Boys
Class 1A Meet (Regina)
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Kickers Soccer Park
Teams: Regina; Collins-Maxwell; Columbus; Danville; English Valley; Highland; Hillcrest Academy; Fort Madison Holy Trinity; Keota; Lone Tree; Louisa-Muscatine; New London; Prince of Peace; Rivermont Collegiate; Sigourney; Tri-County; Van Buren; WACO; Wapello; Winfield-Mount Union
Ranked teams: No. 4 Regina; No. 8 Danville
Ranked individuals: No. 17 Lincoln Bainbridge, Soph., Van Buren; No. 25 Gage Heyne, Jr., English Valley; No. 27 Carter Fesler, Sr., Danville; No. 30 Jackson Schacklett, Jr., Danville
Team title chase: Defending 1A state champion Regina has continued its tradition of peaking down the stretch.
The Regals continued a strong late-season push last week with a runner-up finish at the challenging River Valley Conference at Kickers Soccer Park meet and enter the 1A state qualifying meet on the same course as the heavy favorites to win the team title.
Individual race: It could be crowded at the front of the pack with as many has five or six runners capable of coming out on top.
Van Buren sophomore Lincoln Bainbridge is the highest ranked runner in the field at No. 17 in Class 1A and should be in the title mix.
English Valley junior Gage Heyne was 31st at the 1A state meet last season and has experience on this course after finishing third at the 1A state qualifier at Kickers Soccer Complex last season.
The Danville duo of Carter Fesler and Jackson Schacklett should be in the lead pack and don’t overlook Regina junior Samuel Welter and senior Ambrose Nuxoll who each posted top-10 finishes at the RVC meet last week.
Athlete to watch: Welter has made a major move in his junior season after earning valuable experience on the Regal’s state title team from last season.
Last year Welter was the sixth Regina finisher at the state meet, placing 85th but the junior has become a consistent front of the pack runner for the Regals this fall.
Welter is coming off a ninth-place finish at the River Valley Conference meet last week and finished 10th at the 1A state qualifier last season.
Breakdown: Defending 1A state champion Regina is seeking a third consecutive trip to the state meet and once again has a chance to earn it on its home course.
Like last season when it won the 1A state qualifying meet title by 30 points, Regina will close the season with back-to-back races at Kickers Soccer Complex.
Regina finished runner-up to 2A No. 14 Tipton at the River Valley Conference meet last week while finishing in front of 2A No. 10 Mid-Prairie.
While Welter and Nuxoll should push to the front of the pack on Thursday it is the depth for Regina that sets the Regals apart.
Sophomore Howie O’Rourke has surged late in the season joining seniors Colin Olney, Matt Takacs, Riordan Smith and Quinn Warren in a tight Regal pack.
Girls
Class 1A Meet (Regina)
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Kickers Soccer Park
Teams: Regina; Collins-Maxwell; Columbus; Danville; English Valley; Highland; Hillcrest Academy; Fort Madison Holy Trinity; Keota; Lone Tree; Louisa-Muscatine; New London; Prince of Peace; Rivermont Collegiate; Sigourney; Tri-County; Van Buren; WACO; Wapello; Winfield-Mount Union
Ranked teams: No. 7 Regina; No. 10 Collins-Maxwell; No. 18 Danville
Ranked individuals: No. 23 Jayden Peters, Fr., Collins-Maxwell
Team title chase: Host Regina enters as the favorite after finishing runner-up at the 1A state qualifier at Kickers Socc Complex last season.
The top competition for the Regals will likely come from tenth-ranked Collins-Maxwell which will battle Danville for the final spot at the state meet.
Individual race: This race could be wide open with Collins-Maxwell freshman Jayden Peters the lone ranked runner in the field.
Danville sophomore Alaina Gourley was the runner-up at this meet on the same course last season before placing 24th at the Class 1A state meet.
Regina sophomore Ruby Greving and senior Alli Clark will try to push into the title conversation on their home course.
Athlete to watch: Greving has enjoyed a strong sophomore season after gaining valuable experience as a freshman last season on a Regina squad that finished 13th at the Class 1A state meet.
After finishing 76th at the state meet as a freshman Greving has moved to the front of the Regina pack this fall.
A year ago Greving finished seventh at the 1A state qualifying meet at Kickers Soccer Park in a tie of 22:15.3.
Last week Greving took more than 30 seconds off that time while finishing 22nd at the River Valley Conference meet in 21:45.
Breakdown: Regina is perhaps one of the easiest teams to overlook when it comes to 1A cross country.
Until you look a little deeper.
The Regals were fifth at the River Valley Conference meet last week which doesn’t grab much attention until you consider that the four teams in front of the Regals were 2A top-ranked Mid-Prairie, 2A third-ranked Monticello, 2A sixth-ranked Tipton and 1A sixth-raked Dyersville Beckman.
Led by Greving and Clark the Regals have a deep and talented lineup capable of making a strong push in the 1A postseason.
Sophomores Ellie Johnson, Harper Erwin and Caitlyn Bell all have a season of experience entering the state qualifier and join seniors Faith Boileau and Keira Sickels in a Regal lineup that will rely on depth.
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