Breaking Down the Class 1A State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The state cross country meets gets underway on Friday at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge on Friday with races in Classes 4A and 1A.
The two-day event concludes with Classes 2A and 3A on Saturday.
Before things get start in Fort Dodge on Friday Your Prep Sports offers a look at every race featuring an area team.
Here is a quick breakdown of the Class 1A races.
Class 1A
Girls Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 2 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *Madrid; Martensdale-St. Marys; *South Winneshiek; Grundy Center; *Earlham; AHSTW; *Dyersville Beckman; North Linn; *ACGC; Treynor; *Regina; Collins-Maxwell; *Fort Dodge St. Edmond; Pekin; *Woodbine; Hinton
*-state qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Katelyn Brandhorst, Soph., Madrid; Kadence Huck, Jr., Nashua-Plainfield; Mackenzie Harger, Soph., Earlham; Meghan Wheatley, Sr., North Linn; Alyssa Richman, Jr., Manson Northwest Webster; Marie Yoder, Fr., Hillcrest Academy; Addison Boelker, Fr., North Butler; Nora Peterson, Jr., Alta-Aurelia
2022 team top five: 1. Earlham 101; 2. South Winneshiek 116; 3. Sibley-Ocheyedan 151; 4. Logan-Magnolia 151; 5. Hudson 176
Last five team champions: 2022 – Earlham; 2021 – South Winneshiek; 2020 – Hudson; 2019 – Logan-Magnolia; 2018 – Logan-Magnolia
Returning state placewinners: 1. Noelle Steines, Jr., Calamus-Wheatland;3. Nora Peterson, Jr., Alta-Aurelia;5. Mackenzie Harger, Soph., Earlham;7. Alyssa Richman, Jr., Manson Northwest Webster; 8. Meghan Wheatley, Sr., North Linn;10. Kadence Huck, Jr., Nashua-Plainfield;11. Katelyn Brandhorst, Soph., Madrid; 12. Ava Campbell, Jr., ACGC;14. Addison Murdock, Sr., Woodbine;15. Hallie Kelchen, Soph., Cascade
Top ranked teams: 1. Madrid; 2. Dyersville Beckman; 3. South Winneshiek; 4. North Linn; 5. Fort Dodge St. Edmond
Ranked area teams: No. 8 Regina
Top ranked individuals: 1. Meghan Wheatley, Sr., North Linn; 2. Noelle Steines, Jr., Calamus-Wheatland; 3. Addison Voelker, Fr., North Butler; 4. Katelyn Brandhorst, Soph., Madrid; 5. Madelyn Grothus, Fr., Madrid
Ranked area individuals: None
Team title race: Earlham stopped South Winneshiek from winning back-to-back titles a year ago, edging the Warriors by 15 points for the title.
South Winneshiek and Earlham should both be in the title mix again this season in a field that seems to be crowded at the top.
Top-ranked Madrid will be a contender along with Dyersville Beckman which finished fourth at the 2A state meet last season.
Individual title tracker: Calamus-Wheatland junior Noelle Steines is the two-time defending state champion but doesn’t enter as the favorite.
That role belongs to North Linn senior Meghan Wheatley who was eighth at the state meet last season but has been impressive throughout this year including at the state qualifying meet where she won the title by more than 50 seconds over Steines.
Steines and Wheatley are among six returning top-10 finishers from last season.
Alta-Aurelia junior Nora Peterson was third a year ago while Earlham sophomore Mackenzie Harger was fifth last season and Manson Northwest Webster junior Alyssa Richman was seventh.
Keep an eye on those three as the top contenders behind Steines and Wheatley.
Area breakdown: Regina returns to the state meet for the seventh consecutive season and is seeking a fourth top-five finish during that span.
The Regals were 13th last season but return four runners from that team and should bolt up the Class 1A standings.
Sophomore Ruby Greving was 84th in her state meet debut last season and has been a front of the pack runner for the Regals this fall posting a ninth-place finish at the state qualifier last week.
Senior Faith Boileau, and sophomores Ruby Greving and Ellie Johnson also return with state meet experience and Regina will get a boost from a pair of newcomers this season.
Senior Alli Clark has been a big-time addition, finishing 10th at the state qualifier in her first postseason race while sophomore Harper Erwin was 13th at the 1A qualifier last week.
Boys Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Friday, 2:45 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *Ankeny Christian; Madrid; *Lake Mills; Grundy Center; *Earlham; Council Bluffs St. Albert; *Maquoketa Valley; Dyersville Beckman; *ACGC; Ogden; *Regina; Danville; *Pekin; Fort Dodge St. Edmond; *Woodbine; Sibley-Ocheyedan
*-state qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Clay Warson, Sr., Madrid; Emerson Vokes, Soph., Grundy Center; Owen Wise, Sr., Council Bluffs St. Albert; Aidan Shannon, Sr., Wapsie Valley; Carson Van Sickle, Sr., Ogden; Lincoln Bainbridge, Soph., Van Buren; Brady McWhirter, Jr., Pekin; Landon Bendgen, Sr., Woodbine
2022 team top five: 1. Regina 102; 2. ACGC 126; 3. Woodbine 132; 4. Bellevue 164; 5. IKM-Manning 181
Last five team champions: 2022 – Regina; 2021 – ACGC; 2020 – Madrid; 2019 – Madrid; 2018 – Madrid
Returning state placewinners: 1. Landon Bendgen, Sr., Woodbine; 3. Payton Griebel, Sr., Bellevue; 5. Ethan Loutzenheiser, Sr., Madrid; 7. Justin Rygh, Sr., Lake Mills; 13. Carson Van Sickle, Sr., Ogden
Top ranked teams: 1. Lake Mills; 2. ACGC; 3. Grundy Center; 4. Woodbine; 5. Regina
Ranked area teams: No. 5 Regina
Top ranked individuals: 1. Landon Bendgen, Sr., Woodbine; 2. Emerson Vokes, Soph., Grundy Center; 3. Carson Van Sickle, Sr., Ogden; 4. Clay Warson, Sr., Madrid; 5. Aidan Shannon, Sr., Wapsie Valley
Ranked area individuals: None
Team title race: Defending state champion Regina is peaking at precisely the right time.
After spending the regular season running against larger school competition the Regals were impressive in winning the state qualifying meet by nine points over Danville and will certainly be in the title hunt on Friday.
Last season’s runner-up ACGC brings back five runners from last year’s team and is a slight favorite in what should be a competitive top five.
Top-ranked Lake Mills should be in the mix along with Grundy Center and Woodbine with defending individual state champion Landon Bendgen.
Individual title tracker: Bendgen is the favorite after winning the 2022 title by nearly 15 seconds.
There will be contenders headlined by Madrid senior Ethan Loutzenheiser who was fifth last season and Lake Mills senior Justin Rygh who was seventh a year ago.
Area breakdown: Regina is making a third straight state meet appearance and is coming off its first state title since 2010.
The Regals will attempt to join Madrid and Nodaway Valley as teams to win consecutive 1A titles in the past eight years.
Regina brings back three runners from last year’s title team led by junior Samuel Welter who finished sixth at the state qualifier last week.
Seniors Colin Olney and Riordan Smith both have state meet experience and Regina has gotten a big boost from the addition of senior Ambrose Nuxoll and the emergence of sophomore Howie O’Rourke.
Nuxoll was 10th and O’Rourke was 11th at the state qualifier last week.
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