Breaking Down the Area Class 4A Boys State Qualifying Cross Country Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The Class 4A state cross country meet is schedule for November 1 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
On Wednesday the field for the state meet will be set with state qualifying races across the state.
Before the action gets underway on Wednesday after Your Prep Sports takes a quick look at the three state qualifying meets featuring area teams.
Class 4A Meet (Dubuque Senior)
When: Wednesday 4:40 p.m.
Where: Dubuque Soccer Complex
Teams: Iowa City Liberty; Cedar Falls; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Dubuque Hempstead; Dubuque Senior; Cedar Rapids Prairie; Waterloo East; Waterloo West
Ranked teams: No. 2 Cedar Falls; No. 4 Cedar Rapids Prairie; No. 13 Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 16 Dubuque Senior; No. 18 Liberty High
Ranked individuals: No. 2 Jaden Merrick, Jr., Cedar Falls; No. 4 Keegan Decker, Soph. Liberty High; No. 7 Slader Buckheister, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 13 Adam Gray, Jr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 16 Bennett Allred, Sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; No. 21 Kieran DeGroote, Sr., Cedar Falls; No. 28 Kyle Johnson, Jr., Cedar Rapids Prairie; No. 30 Dominic Williams, Soph., Cedar Falls
Team title chase: Mississippi Valley Conference rivals Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids Prairie will race for the third consecutive week after Cedar Falls edged the Hawks by five points in a winning effort at the MVC Super Meet and by two points last week while claiming the Valley Division title.
Individual race: Cedar Falls junior standout Jaden Merrick is the defending 4A runner-up and the favorite on Wednesday in front of top challengers Keegan Decker of Liberty High and Slader Buckheister of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.
Athlete to watch: Liberty High sophomore Keegan Decker has followed up an outstanding freshman season with an even more impressive sophomore campaign.
Now all Decker needs is a strong postseason finish.
Decker is ranked fourth in Class 4A after posting a third-place finish at the MVC Super Meet in which he finished a little more than 10 seconds behind Merrick and he was runner-up to Western Dubuque standout Quentin Nauman at the Mississippi Divisional last week.
Breakdown: Perhaps the deepest field of any of the 4A state qualifying meets the Dubuque qualifier features five teams ranked in the top 18.
Liberty High will need to have a strong day to return to the state meet for the second straight season but the Lightning have proved the last two weeks they are more than capable.
The Lightning finished sixth at the MVC Super Meet, 22 points behind Cedar Rapids Kennedy and two behind Dubuque Senior.
Liberty High won the Mississippi Divisional last week by five over Dubuque Senior and was 17 points in front of the Cougars.
It could come down to a battle between those three teams for the final spot and Liberty High should have the confidence after seniors Noah Gregoire and Jacob Madsen joined Decker in the top-10 at the MVC divisional last week.
Class 4A Meet (Pleasant Valley)
When: Wednesday 4:40 p.m.
Where: Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf
Teams: City High; Bettendorf; Burlington; Davenport North; Davenport West; Linn-Mar; Muscatine; North Scott; Pleasant Valley; Waukee
Ranked teams: No. 3 City High; No. 7 Bettendorf; No. 12 Waukee; No. 17 Pleasant Valley
Ranked individuals: No. 10 AJ Willey, Jr., Bettendorf; No. 27 Ethan Boston, Sr., Linn-Mar
Team title chase: Look for a two-team race between City High and Bettendorf for the top spot with Waukee challenging host Pleasant Valley for the final state meet spot.
Individual race: This should be a fun one with City High junior Linus McRoberts battling the likes of Bettendorf junior AJ Willey and the Linn-Mar tandem of Ethan Cheney and Ethan Boston for the top spot.
Athlete to watch: City High senior Linus McRoberts has emerged as a leader for a young City High team and will be a key for the Little Hawks on Wednesday.
McRoberts showed he could run at the front of the pack with some of the best in the state with a sixth-place finish at the MVC Super Meet two weeks ago and will look to finish the season with strong postseason efforts.
Breakdown: City High had a three-year string of state meet appearances snapped last season but will look to earn a return spot to Fort Dodge in a qualifier that features four ranked teams.
Seventh-ranked Bettendorf and No. 17 Pleasant Valley will be familiar with the terrain at Crow Creek Park and Waukee is certainly a team capable of pushing into the top three.
When City High is at its best it can compete with anyone, as the Little Hawks showed when they finished a point behind Cedar Falls in a runner-up finish at the MVC Super Meet.
City High will need strong efforts from senior George Karr and junior Max McDowell who finished 11th and 16th respectively at the Super Meet.
Class 4A Meet (Waverly)
When: Wednesday 4:40 p.m.
Where: Southeast Polk Cross Country Course
Teams: West High; Ankeny; Cedar Rapids Washington; Des Moines East; Des Moines North; Des Moines Roosevelt; Indianola; Johnston; Southeast Polk; Urbandale
Ranked teams: No. 9 Ankeny; No. 11 Johnston; No. 14 Indianola
Ranked individuals: No. 1 Ethan Zuber, Sr., Ankeny; No. 5 Owen Marett, Sr., Des Moines Roosevelt; No. 8 Jack Crossland, Soph., Johnston; No. 11 Ike Smith, Jr., Ankeny; No. 17 Moustafa Tiea, Sr., West High; No. 23. Reed Robbins, Jr., Indianola
Team title chase: Ankeny and Johnston are the top two ranked teams in the field and the Hawks finished 21 points in front of Johnston at the CIML Meet earlier this month.
Individual race: Defending 5A champion Ethan Zuber of Ankeny enters top-ranked and riding high as he seeks a second consecutive state title.
Athlete to watch: West High senior Moustafa Tiea is seeking to become a four-time state qualifier.
Tiea was seventh at the MVC Super Meet and fifth at the Mississippi Divisional last week and will look for a strong performance in an excellent individual field that features three top-10 runners among six-ranked competitors.
Breakdown: West High last qualified for the state meet as a team in 2021 but had five individual qualifiers last season and accumulated a team score good for a 16th place finish at state.
A challenging field stands in the way of the Trojans securing a team spot at state but West High has potential to make a push behind Tiea and emerging freshman Michael Hanna.
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