The 2023 Your Prep Sports Area Girls Cross Country Team
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The girls cross country season was once again memorable for teams in the Your Prep Sports area.
Four teams from the Your Prep Sports area qualified for the state meet and every school in the Your Prep Sports area had a runner compete at the two-day state meet at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Strong finishes to the season at the state meet highlighted what was an impressive fall for area runners.
Now the annual Your Prep Sports area cross country team honors some of those athletes for their performance throughout the season.
The eight-member 2023 Your Prep Sports area teams features runners from six different schools and includes all-conference runners, state qualifiers and a state medalist.
City High junior Ani Wedemeyer is the captain of the 2023 team after earning her first career state medal with a 12th place finish in Class 4A.
Ani Wedemeyer (Captain)
Junior, City High
After back-to-back strong seasons to open her cross country career Wedemeyer moved into the category of elite runners in the state with a massive junior season.
Wedemeyer capped her breakthrough junior season that included career best finishes at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet, MVC Divisional Meet and state qualifying meet with her first career state medal placing 12th in Class 4A.
For the third year in a row Wedemeyer improved her finish at each of the last four meets of the season.
As a sophomore Wedemeyer placed sixth at the MVC Super Meet, fifth at the MVC Divisional and sixth at the state qualifying meet before a then career-best 27th place finish at state.
Wedemeyer blew past those marks this season.
She was fourth at the MVC Super Meet and runner-up at the Valley Divisional a week later before winning the individual title at the 4A state qualifying meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf.
Wedemeyer put the finishing touches on her strong season with a 12th place finish at the 4A state meet in a time of 18:21.6.
The time of 18:21.6 for Wedemeyer was the 13th best across all four classes and was more than a minute and 15 seconds faster than her previous state-meet best time of 19:38.5 from last season.
Kate Van Waning
Sophomore, West High
A Your Prep Sports all-area team selection last season as a freshman Van Waning picked up where she left off this fall building on a strong debut campaign with an impressive sophomore season.
Van Waning solidified herself as the pack leader for West High while earning her first career trip to the state meet.
Last season Van Waning finished 25th at the MVC Super Meet, 19 at the MVC Valley Divisional and 18th at the state qualifying meet.
This season Van Waning finished eighth at the MVC Super Meet and sixth at the Valley Divisional before earning a spot at the state meet with a 16th place finish at the 4A state qualifier in a time of 19:58.3.
In her state meet debut Van Waning finished 100th in Class 4A in a time of 20:12.
Sydney Dee
Junior, Solon
Dee was among the breakout stars of the 2023 season in the Your Prep Sports area ascending to the front of the Solon pack while helping the Spartans post another top-10 finish at the state meet.
After coming on strong at the end of her sophomore season Dee exploded onto the scene this fall emerging as one of the top runners in Class 3A.
Last season Dee was seventh at the WAMAC Conference meet and state qualifying meet and 40th at the 3A state meet and picked up where she left off this fall.
Dee finished fifth at the WAMAC Conference meet and fourth at the state qualifier before posting a top-20 finish at the 3A state meet.
Dee finished 18th at the state meet in a time of 19:31.4 which was nearly a full minute faster than the 20:26.27 that she ran at the state meet as a sophomore.
Cori Mac
Senior, Liberty High
Mac more than made up for an injury-shortened junior season a year ago by closing her career with her most successful season.
A state qualifier as a freshman in 2020, Mac concluded her career with a second state meet appearance finishing 59th at the Class 4A meet in a time of 19:29.2.
Mac improved her state-meet finish by five spots from her freshman year and took more than 30 seconds off her state meet time from 2020 in the final race of her career.
The strong state meet performance capped a stellar season for Mac that included a 16th place finish at the MVC Super Meet and top-10 finishes at the MVC Mississippi Divisional and Class 4A state qualifier.
Mac was fourth at the Mississippi Divisional meet and finished eighth at the 4A state qualifier in Ames.
Abigail Burns
Sophomore, City High
One of the most improved runners in the area this season Burns made a big move up from a varsity contributor to the number two runner for City High which helped the Little Hawks to an eighth-place team finish at the 4A state meet.
Burns built on a strong finish to a solid debut season last fall with an impressive sophomore campaign.
After placing 27th at the MVC Divisional Met, 32nd at the state qualifier and 100th at the 4A state meet as a freshman Burns improved on all of those finishes this fall.
Burns finished in the top-10 in each of the final three meets leading up to the state meet.
She was 10th at the MVC Super Meet, fifth at the MVC Valley Divisional and 10th at the 4A state qualifier in Bettendorf.
In her second state meet appearance Burns finished 41st in a time of 19:16.7 which was nearly 50 seconds faster than the 21:04.58 she clocked in her state meet debut.
Anna Quillin
Senior, Solon
Solon has emerged as one of the premier programs in Class 3A over the past four seasons and the contributions from Quillin have played a central role in helping elevate the Spartans to that standing.
A four-time state qualifier, Quillin finished in the top 52 at the state meet three times in her career while helping the Spartans post four top-eight finishes including a state title in 2021 and a third-place finish in 2022.
Quillin bounced back from a late-season injury during her junior year to enjoy a strong senior campaign.
She placed ninth at the WAMAC Conference meet and 10th at the 3A state qualifier helping Solon to runner-up team finishes at both.
Quillin finished 48th at the Class 4A state meet in a time of 20:07.8 which was the second best state-meet performance in four trips to Fort Dodge.
Kira Barker
Junior, Clear Creek Amana
After helping Clear Creek Amana snap a long state meet drought last season Barker stepped into a larger role this fall and helped the Clippers return to the state meet for a second consecutive season.
A three-time state qualifier, Barker improved her state meet performance for the second straight season.
After placing 86th as a freshman and 80th last season Barker finished 68th at the Class 3A state meet in October in a time of 20:32.2.
The time of 20:32.2 was nearly 30 seconds faster than the previous best state-meet time for Barker from 2022.
Prior to her career best effort at the state meet Barker finished 15th at the WAMAC Conference meet and 17th at the Class 3A state qualifier in Pella.
Alli Clark
Senior, Regina
In her first season of cross country Clark was at her best at the right time helping Regina to an eighth-place finish at the Class 1A state meet.
The more Clark ran the better the senior seemed to get.
Clark finished 26th at the challenging River Valley Conference meet and a week later on the same course placed 10th at the Class 1A state qualifier in a time of 21:53.4 to help the Regals to the team title.
In her state meet debut Clark was the top Regal finisher, placing 53rd in the 1A field in a time of 20:53.8.
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