The 2024 Your Prep Sports Area Girls Cross Country Team
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
It was a memorable cross country season for individuals and teams in the Your Prep Sports area.
City High and Solon both qualified for the state meet and posted top-eight finishes at the 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 the those athletes for their performance throughout the season.
The eight-member 2024 Your Prep Sports area team features runners from five different schools and includes all-conference runners and state qualifiers.
City High junior Abigail Burns is the captain of the 2024 Your Prep Sports team.
The 2024 Your Prep Sports Area Girls Cross Country Team
Abigail Burns
Junior, City High (Captain)
Last season appeared to be the breakthrough for Burns who came on strong at the end of the season while emerging as the number two runner for the Little Hawks.
Burns just keeps getting better and turned in a second breakout season this fall.
The more Burns runs the better the City High standout seems to get.
She closed her sophomore season with top-10 finishes at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet, MVC Divisional meet and state qualifier before taking nearly 50 seconds off her freshman state meet time in a career-best 41st place finish.
Burns blew all of those marks away this fall.
She finished fourth at both the MVC Super Meet and MVC Divisional meets and was sixth at the Class 4A state qualifier.
In her third appearance at the Class 4A state meet Burns finished 24th in a career-best time of 18:51.4 which was more than 25 seconds faster than her state meet time from a season ago.
Sydney Dee
Senior, Solon
The leader of a young solon squad with three freshmen in its top seven, Dee posted the best season of her career while helping the Spartans to a fourth-place team finish in Class 3A.
Dee emerged as one of the top runners in Class 3A a year ago with a breakthrough junior season.
The Solon standout was even better this fall posting career-best finishes at both the WAMAC Conference and 3A state qualifying meet.
Dee finished fourth at the WAMAC Conference meet helping Solon to a runner-up team finish and was third at the 3A state qualifier as the Spartans won the team title.
A year after cutting more than a minute off her state meet time in an 18th place finish, Dee placed 20th at the 3A state meet in a career-best time of 19:24.9.
Kate Van Waning
Junior, West High
A three-time Your Prep Sports all-area team selection Van Waning closed a strong junior season with back-to-back career-best performances at the state qualifying meet and Class 4A state meet.
The front of the pack leader for West High each of the past three seasons Van Waning put together perhaps the most complete season of her career this fall.
Van Waning finished 17th at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet and was 10th at the MVC Valley Divisional meet.
She finished a career-best ninth at the Class 4A state qualifier at Southeast Polk and improved both her place and time at the Class 4A state meet.
After finishing 100th in 20:12 in her state meet debut as a sophomore Van Waning placed 87th at the 4A state meet this season in a tie of 20:11.2.
Kira Barker
Senior, Clear Creek Amana
A stalwart in the Clear Creek Amana for the past four seasons Barker capped a stellar prep career with a strong senior season.
A four-time state qualifier, Barker is among the most decorated runners in program history.
Barker finished 16th at the WAMAC Conference meet and was a career-best 10th at the Class 3A state qualifying meet.
Over her four-year career Barker finished in the top 20 at both the WAMAC Conference Meet and state qualifying meet all four seasons.
In her fourth appearance at the Class 3A state meet Barker finished 85th in a time of 10:54.7.
Grace Hamann
Sophomore, City High
A regular in the varsity lineup as a freshman last season as a freshman Hamann enjoyed a breakout sophomore season helping City High to a top-10 team finish at the 4A state meet.
Hamann improved her finishes at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet, state qualifying meet and Class 4A state meet as a sophomore while emerging as one of the top rising runners in 4A.
A student at West Branch who competes for City High, Hamann finished 10th at the MVC Super Meet and was 20th at the MVC Divisional Meet.
Hamann closed the season strong with an eighth-place finish at the Class 4A state qualifying meet before placing 30th at the Class 4A state meet in a time of 18:55.6.
The time at the state meet time was a minute faster than the time Hamann posted in a 80th place finish at the state meet as a freshman.
Chelsea VeDepo
Sophomore, Liberty High
Among the most improved runners in the area this season VeDepo emerged as the leader of the pack for Liberty High during a breakout sophomore season that concluded with her first trip to the state meet.
A year after placing 36th at the state qualifier, VeDepo posted top-20 finishes at each of the final three meets of the season before posting a solid 56th place finish at the 4A state meet.
VeDepo finished 18th at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet in a time of 19:24.2 and was seventh at the MVC Valley Division a week later in a time of 19:02.1.
At the Class 4A state qualifier VeDepo placed 14th in 19:07.5 before clocking a time of 19:31.6 in her state meet debut.
Kinley Mai
Freshman, Solon
One of three freshman in the Solon lineup Mai made an immediate impact quickly establishing herself as one of the top newcomers in Class 3A.
Mai emerged early as a front of the pack runner for the Spartans along with Dee and closed the season strong with top-10 finishes at both the WAMAC Conference meet and Class 3A state qualifying meet.
Mai was the second Solon finisher at both the WAMAC Conference and 3A state qualifying meet, finishing sixth at the WAMAC meet and eight at the state qualifier.
In her state meet debut Mai placed 50th in Class 3A in a time of 20:03.
Eliza Doster
Freshman, City High
On a City High roster loaded with talent Doster didn’t just find a spot she emerged as one of the top freshman runners in Class 4A.
Doster finished in the top 12 in three consecutive races to close the season before placing 35th in her debut at the Class 4A state meet.
Doster finished 11th at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet and was 12th at the Mississippi Valley Conference divisional meet.
She was 11th at the Class 4A state qualifying and was the fifth freshman finisher in the Class 4A state meet when she placed 35th in a time of 19:10.4
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