Breaking Down the Class 3A State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The two-day state cross country meets gets underway on Friday with Classes 4A and 1A starting things off.
Classes 3A and 2A close out the week of racing at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge on Saturday.
Before the starting gun sounds this week Your Prep Sports takes a quick look at all the area teams and runners competing at the state meet.
Here is a breakdown of the Class 3A state meet schedule for Saturday afternoon.
Class 3A
Girls Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *Glenwood; Ballard; Council Bluffs Lewis Central; *Gilbert; Sioux Center; Sioux City Heelan; *Clear Lake; Decorah; ADM; *Pella; Harlan; Clear Creek Amana; *Mount Vernon-Lisbon; Solon; Marion
*-state qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Grace Berglund, Fr., Glenwood; Emee Dani, Fr., Gilbert; Addison Doughan, Jr., Clear Lake; Marissa Ferebee, Soph., Pella; Addison Dabroski, Soph., Marion
2022 team top five: 1. Pella 91; 2. Ballard 127; 3. Solon 128; 4. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 129; 5. ADM 138
Last five team champions: 2022 – Pella; 2021 – Solon; 2020 – Ballard; 2019 – Ballard; 2018 – Dubuque Wahlert
Returning state placewinners: 5. Marissa Ferebee, Soph., Pella;6. Lindsey Sonderman, Jr., Harlan; 7. Iris Dahl, Soph., Washington;8. Avery Rump, Soph., Fort Madison;11. Annika Larson, Jr., Ballard;14. Emma Wilkerson, Sr., Center Point-Urbana;15. Claire Pellett, Sr., Atlantic
Top ranked teams: 1. Pella; 2. Gilbert; 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon; 4. Solon; 5. Ballard
Ranked area teams: No. 4 Solon; No. 12. Clear Creek Amana
Top ranked individuals: 1. Marissa Ferebee, Soph., Pella; 2. Grace Berglund, Fr., Glenwood; 3. Addison Doughan, Jr., Clear Lake; 4. Emee Dani, Fr., Gilbert; 5. Ruth Dunham, Fr., Pella
Ranked area individuals: 22. Sydney Dee, Jr., Solon
Team title race: It’s a one-team race for the title with everyone chasing defending state champion Pella.
The Dutch enter with two runners ranked in the top five, coming off a title at the state qualifying meet and as heavy favorites to defend their 3A state title.
The race is for the final two spots on the balcony at Lakeside Golf Course and there are several teams capable of competing for those spots.
Second-ranked Gilbert and third-ranked Mount Vernon-Lisbon will be in that mix and defending runner-up Ballard and Solon should fight for a trophy.
Individual title tracker: This is one of the tougher races of the weekend to call with several runners capable of pacing the 3A lead pack.
Pella sophomore Marissa Ferebee is the top returner after placing fifth last season and is the top-ranked runner after a dominating win at the Pella state qualifying meet.
Harlan junior Lindsey Sonderman was sixth at state a year ago but third at last week’s state qualifier behind Ferebee and Pella freshman Ruth Dunham who could work into the title mix.
Glenwood freshman Grace Berglund and Gilbert freshman Emee Dani each won state qualifying titles last week and a capable of running to the front on Saturday.
Area breakdown: Solon returns to the state meet for the sixth consecutive season seeking a fourth straight top-five finish at Fort Dodge.
The Spartans have quickly become one of the most solid programs in Class 3A and are coming off a third-place finish last season after winning the program’s first state title in 2021.
Solon is led by junior Sydney Dee who enters ranked 22nd after finishing fourth at the state qualifying meet last week.
Seniors Gracie Federspiel and Anna Quillin are both four-time state qualifiers who bring loads of experience for the Spartans who will run two freshmen on Saturday in Falyn Svalstad and Ava Rolwes.
Clear Creek Amana returns to the state meet for the second consecutive season after qualifying for the first time since 2004 last fall.
The Clippers return five runners from last year’s squad that finished ninth at state led by juniors Kira Barker, Sara Kinzenbaw and Harper Tecklenburg.
Pack running will be the key for Clippers who had five runners in the top 29 at the state qualifying meet with freshman Kadence Whitmer and senior Kiera Rogers joining the three juniors in the top 29.
Boys Race
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Saturday, 2:45 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *Carlisle; South Tama; ADM; *Pella; Washington; Clear Creek Amana; *Mount Vernon-Lisbon; Solon; Central DeWitt; *Gilbert; MOC-Floyd Valley; Sioux Center; Council Bluffs Lewis Central; Glenwood; Winterset
*-state qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Tommy Tyynismaa, Sr., South Tama; Canaan Dunham, Soph., Pella; Quentin Nauman, Soph., Western Dubuque; Logan Bleich, Fr., Gilbert; Ethan Eichhorn, Sr., Council Bluffs Lewis Central
2022 team top five: 1. Pella 79; 2. Marion 115; 3. Noth Polk 123; 4. Carlisle 134; 5. Winterset 141
Last five team champions: 2022 – Pella; 2021 – Dallas Center-Grimes; 2020 – Dallas Center-Grimes; 2019 – Dallas Center-Grimes; 2018 – Gilbert
Returning state placewinners: 1. Ethan Eichhorn, Sr., Council Bluffs Lewis Central; 6. Canaan Dunham, Soph., Pella; 7. Tommy Tyynismaa, Sr., South Tama; 9. Nathan VanderWaal, Sr., Pella; 10. Bryant Keller, Sr., Glenwood; 12. Luiz Martinez, Sr., Storm Lake; 13. Micah Rees, Sr., Washington; 14. Grady Olberding, Jr., Mount Vernon-Lisbon
Top ranked teams: 1. Gilbert; 2. Pella; 3. Council Bluffs Lewis Central; 4. Glenwood; 5. Mount Vernon-Lisbon
Ranked area teams: No. 9 Solon; No. 12 Clear Creek Amana
Top ranked individuals: 1. Canaan Dunham, Soph., Pella; 2. Ethan Eichhorn, Sr, Council Bluffs Lewis Central; 3. Micah Rees, Sr., Washington; 4. Logan Bleich, Fr., Gilbert; 5. Nathan VanderWaal, Sr., Pella
Ranked area individuals: 12. Brick Kabela, Sr., Solon;
Team title race: This should be a battle.
Defending champion Pella leads a list of title hopefuls that includes Gilbert, Council Bluffs Lewis Central and Mount Vernon-Lisbon.
It should be Pella and Gilbert hammering it out for the top spot and the margin between the two should be thin.
Gilbert is seeking its first title since going back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, was seventh last season and enters top-ranked coming off an impressive team title at the state qualifying meet.
Pella has two of the top five ranked runners while Lewis Central boasts the defending individual champion in senior Ethan Eichhorn.
Mount Vernon-Lisbon and Glenwood will also be battling for spots on the balcony.
Individual title tracker: As good as the team race should be in Class 3A the individual race could be just as good.
Eichhorn is the attempting to join Chandler Austin of Boone and Nate Mueller of ADM as back-to-back 3A champs in the past 11 years.
A four-time qualifier, Eichhorn is already a two-time medalist placing 13th in Class 4A as a sophomore.
The top challenger is Dunham who was sixth last season as a freshman and has been impressive through his sophomore season.
Area breakdown: Solon and Clear Creek Amana each return to state seeking to improve on their finishes from last season.
The Spartans are making their fourth consecutive state meet appearance and would like to push back up the 3A standings after finishing 11th last season following a runner-up effort in 2020 and a fifth-place finish in 2021.
Solon is led by senior four-year qualifiers Brick Kabela and Michael Yeomans.
Kabela is seeking to end his career with a second state medal after placing 14th as a sophomore in 2021.
Evan Burg, Grant Bumsted and Lawsin Sinnell all return after running at the state meet last season.
Clear Creek Amana will look to improve on a 14th place finish from last season.
Five members of last year’s state qualifying team return for the Clippers led by junior Brock Hilsman who was 30th at the state meet last season in 16:50.1.
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