Breaking Down the Area Boys State Qualifying Cross Country Meets
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The cross country season is down to the final few days.
State qualifying meets are set for Wednesday and Thursday with the state meet schedule for October 31 and November 1 at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Before teams and athletes battle for state titles next week in Fort Dodge they first must earn their spots at the state meet.
Classes 3A and 4A hold state qualifying meets on Wednesday with Classes 1A and 2A competing in qualifiers on Thursday.
Before the races get underway here is a look at the boys state qualifying meets featuring teams from the Your Prep Sports area.
Class 4A, State Qualifier 2 (Iowa City)
When: Wednesday, 4:40 p.m.
Where: Kickers Soccer Complex
Teams: City High; West High; Liberty High; Ames; Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Cedar Rapids Kennedy; Cedar Rapids Washington; Dubuque Senior; Ottumwa
Ranked teams: No. 5 City High; No. 6 Dubuque Senior; No. 14 Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 19 Liberty High
Ranked individuals: No. 2 Keegan Decker, Jr., Liberty High; No. 6 Slader Buckheister, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 9 Adam Gray, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; No. 18 Linus McRoberts, Sr., City High
Team title chase: City High enters as the favorite in what should be a tight battle for the team champion and the top three spots.
The Little Hawks edged Dubuque Senior by four points in a third-place finish at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet on the same course earlier this month.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy should push for the third spot along with Liberty High.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy was fifth at the MVC Super Meet, 33 points behind Dubuque Senior and finished 16 points behind the Rams at the Mississippi Divisional last week.
Individual race: Liberty High Keegan Decker will be among the favorites to win the Class 4A state title next weekend in Fort Dodge if he takes care of business on Wednesday.
Decker has emerged as one of the best in the state and has posted back-to-back top-three finishes at the MVC Super Meet and Mississippi Divisional the past two weeks.
The top challenger to Decker will likely be Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Slader Buckheister.
Buckheister finished third behind Western Dubuque standout Quentin Nauman and Decker at the Mississippi Divisional last week, a little more than 33 seconds behind Decker, and was just more than 43 seconds behind Decker in a fourth-place finish at the MVC Super Meet.
Athlete to watch: As City High battles for the team title keep an eye on one of the Little Hawk leaders in Linus McRoberts.
McRoberts has been picking up steam throughout the postseason finishing ninth at the MVC Super Meet in 15:54.2 before posting a sixth-place finish at the Valley Division in 16:18.3.
Look for a strong finish from McRoberts on Wednesday on a course he knows well.
Breakdown: Decker is the heavy favorite to win the individual title and will attempt to help Liberty High push its way into the top three in the team standings to earn a spot at the state meet.
The Lightning finished 24 points behind Cedar Rapids Kennedy at the MVC Super Meet and were five back of the Cougars at the Mississippi Division last week and would likely need to pass Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Wednesday to get in the top three.
City High enters as the team favorite thanks in large part to a deep lineup that had five runners in the top 15 at the Valley Divisional last week.
Keep an eye on West High led by sophomores Michael Hanna and Jake Weiler.
Hanna is coming on strong at the end of the season and was sixth at the MVC Divisional meet last week in a time of 16:21.6 after placing 17th at the MVC Super Meet.
Class 3A, State Qualifier 2 (Pella)
When: Wednesday, 4:40 p.m.
Where: Central College
Teams: Clear Creek Amana; ADM; Boone; Carlisle; Clarke; Creston; Fairfield; Knoxville; Newton; Oskaloosa; Pella; Saydel; Cedar Rapids Xavier
Ranked teams: No. 2 Pella; No. 6 Clear Creek Amana; No. 10 ADM; No. 18 Carlisle
Ranked individuals: No. 3 Canaan Dunham, Sr., Pella; No. 8 Mason Gaulke, Sr., Pella; No. 11 Carson Meskimen, Soph., Clear Creek Amana; No. 13 Isaac Rankin, Sr., Knoxville; No. 21 Kael Streeter, Sr., Carlisle; No. 24 Jonah Ebersole, Jr., Pella
Team title chase: Host Pella has home course advantage, three top-25 ranked runners and is a heavy favorite to claim the team title in a strong field at Class 3A, State Qualifier 2.
Clear Creek Amana has impressed this season and joins ADM as the top challenger to the Dutch.
The Clippers are seeking a fourth consecutive appearance at the Class 3A state meet and are coming off a third-place finish at the WAMAC Conference Meet last week.
Individual race: Defending Class 3A state runner-up Canaan Dunham is the favorite to win the individual title with his teammate Mason Gaulke who finished 20th at the 3A state meet last season among his top challenger.
Dunham is a three-time state medalist finishing sixth as a freshman and winning the 3A title as a sophomore before his runner-up finish a year ago.
Athlete to watch: Clear Creek Amana sophomore Carson Meskimen will look to put the finishing touches on what has been a breakthrough season with a strong close to the postseason.
Meskimen finished runner-up to fourth-ranked Dawson Scheil of Mount Vernon/Lisbon at the WAMAC Conference meet last week and enters the state qualifier a favorite to claim hardware at the state meet next week.
Look for Meskimen to move to the front of the pack on Wednesday along with the Pella duo of Dunham and Gaulke as he looks to continue his strong close to the season.
Breakdown: Pella is the favorite to claim the team title while Clear Creek Amana will look to secure a fourth consecutive state meet appearance with a top-three finish.
Led by Meskimen the Clippers have been solid all season and have developed solid depth in the middle of its lineup.
Look for strong races from seniors Caden Burkle, Jackson VanHorn and Nic Schieltz on Wednesday along with junior Mason Miller who is coming off a top-15 finish at the WAMAC Meet last week.
Class 3A, State Qualifier 4 (Manchester)
When: Wednesday, 4:40 p.m.
Where: Hart Ridge Golf Course
Teams: Solon; Benton Community; Charles City; Decorah; Independence; Maquoketa; Marion; Mount Vernon/Lisbon; Vinton-Shellsburg; Dubuque Wahlert; Waverly-Shell Rock; West Delaware; Western Dubuque
Ranked teams: No. 3 Mount Vernon/Lisbon; No. 9 Decorah; No. 15 Western Dubuque; No. 17 Vinton-Shellsburg;
Ranked individuals: No. 1 Quentin Nauman, Sr., Western Dubuque; 4. Dawson Scheil, Sr., Mount Vernon/Lisbon; No. 7 Sawyer Feldman, Sr., Mount Vernon/Lisbon; No. 10 Benjamin Brinkmann, Fr., Mount Vernon/Lisbon; No. 14 Alex Torres, Sr., Vinton-Shellsburg
Team title chase: One of the more intriguing state qualifiers in Class 3A this race features four teams ranked in the top 17 vying for three spots at the state meet.
Third-ranked Mount Vernon/Lisbon is the favorite to win the team title.
The Mustangs were fifth at the state meet last season and cruised to the team title at the WAMAC Conference meet last week winning by 30 points.
Decorah should be the top challenger to the Mustangs while Western Dubuque, Vinton-Shellsburg and Solon make up the lead group of teams battling for the final spot in the top three.
Individual race: There likely won’t be much drama at the finish line for the individual title as defending 3A champion and Oregon recruit Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque is a heavy favorite to win the title.
Nauman set an all-time Iowa best earlier this season running 14:39 and is widely considered the top distance runner in the state.
Athlete to watch: Solon senior Spencer Michels is back in the lineup after missing the first half of the season with an injury and will look to help the Spartans push for a top-three finish and a return to the state meet.
A leader at the front of the pack for the Spartans when healthy, Michels finished 17th at the WAMAC Conference meet in 17:12.7 last week and will look to build on that performance on Wednesday.
Breakdown: Between Mount Vernon/Lisbon in the team race and Nauman as the individual leader there shouldn’t be much championship drama.
The excitement will be in the top three qualifiers and potential additional individual qualifiers and Solon could be in the mix for both.
Look for Michels to push for a top-10 finish as he seeks a strong finish to his senior season and with a fully stocked lineup Solon has the depth to push for a top-three finish.
Solon will likely need to finish in front of both Western Dubuque and Vinton-Shellsburg on Thursday.
The Spartans were 13 points behind Vinton-Shellsburg at the WAMAC Meet last week.
Class 2A, State Qualifier 4 (Iowa City)
When: Thursday, 4:40 p.m.
Where: Kickers Soccer Complex
Teams: Regina; Anamosa; Camanche; Central Lee; Chariton; Grundy Center; Mediapolis; Mid-Prairie; West Burlington/Notre Dame; Northeast; Tipton; West Liberty; West Marshall; Wilton
Ranked teams: No. 2 Chariton; No. 10 Tipton; No. 13 Mediapolis; No. 20 Anamosa
Ranked individuals: No. 1 Emerson Vokes, Sr., Grundy Center; Mo. 8 Lucas Anderson, Jr., Chariton; No. 9 Simon Wendel, Sr., Mediapolis; No. 10 Cy Stuart, Soph., Chariton; No. 15 Will Schmidgall, Jr., Mediapolis; No. 16 Cody Dixson, Jr., Chariton; No. 21 Jackson Burrell, Soph., Anamosa; No. 28 Caleb Bohlmann, Sr., Tipton
Team title chase: Second-ranked Chariton finished fifth at the 2A state meet last season and headlines a field that features four ranked teams including a trio of top-15 ranked squads.
The battle for the final two state qualifying spots should come down to Topton, Mediapolis and Anamosa.
Individual race: Defending 2A state champion and top-ranked Emerson Vokes of Grundy Center is the heavy favorite to claim the individual title as he looks to add a third consecutive top-two state finish next week.
Vokes is a three-time medalist. He finished 15th as a freshman and was runner-up in Class 1A as a sophomore before winning the Class 2A title last season in 15:37.5.
Athlete to watch: Look for a strong bounce back performance from Regina senior captain Evan White on Thursday.
White has been a front of the pack leader for the Regals the past several seasons and is coming off a 37th place finish at the River Valley Conference meet last week.
The senior knows the course as Kickers Soccer Complex well and has the ability to push up toward the front of the pack and battle for a top-15 finish.
Breakdown: Regina makes the move back up to Class 2A this season and faces a challenging state qualifying meet that features four top-20 ranked teams.
The Regals finished seventh at a tough River Valley Conference meet last week while state qualifying meet opponents Tipton and Anamosa finished second and third respectively.
Regina has a tight pack this season led by White and juniors Corbin Daniel, Hugh Loennig, sophomores Wyatt Kaeding and Huck Zahasky and freshman Nik Polyak and Cristiano Pratt.
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