Breaking Down the Class 4A Boys State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The sprint that is the cross country season in Iowa ends with the two-day state meet on Friday and Saturday at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.
Classes 2A and 3A get things started on Friday with Classes 1A and 4A finishing the season on Saturday.
Before the action gets going Your Prep Sports takes a quick look at all the races featuring area teams and athletes.
Here is a quick breakdown of the Class 4A boys meet.
Class 4A
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Saturday, 11:15 a.m.
Qualifying teams: *Norwalk; Dallas Center-Grimes; Ankeny Centennial; *Dubuque Senior; City High; Liberty High; *Indianola; Johnston; West Des Moines Dowling; *Cedar Falls; Dubuque Hempstead; Waukee Northwest; *Pleasant Valley; Bettendorf; Cedar Rapids Prairie
*- state qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Kuma Gutema, Soph., Sioux City North; Keegan Decker, Jr., Liberty High; Jack Crossland, Jr., Johnston; Jaden Merrick, Sr., Cedar Falls; AJ Willey, Sr., Bettendorf
2024 top five: 1. Cedar Falls 73; 2. West Des Moines Dowling; 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie; 4. Dallas Center-Grimes; 5. Norwalk 191
Last five team champions: 2024 – Cedar Falls; 2023 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2022 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2021 – West Des Moines Dowling; 2020 – Sioux City North
Returning state placewinners: 2. Jaden Merrick, Sr., Cedar Falls; 3. Keegan Decker, Jr., Liberty High; 4. Slader Buckheister, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; 6. Jack Crossland, Jr., Johnston; 7. Kuma Gutema, Soph., Sioux City North; 10. Dominic Williams, Jr., Cedar Falls; 11. AJ Willey, Sr., Bettendorf; 12. Adam Gray, Sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy; 14. Teegan Kralik, Sr., Norwalk
Top ranked teams: 1. Indianola; 2. Cedar Falls; 3. Pleasant Valley; 4. Cedar Rapids Prairie; 5. Dubuque Senior
Ranked area teams: 10. City High; 15. Liberty High
Top ranked individuals: 1. Jaden Merrick, Sr., Cedar Falls; 2. Keegan Decker, Jr., Liberty High; 3. Jack Crossland, Jr., Johnston; 4. AJ Willey, Sr., Bettendorf; 5. Preston Johnson, Jr., Marshalltown;
Ranked area individuals: 2. Keegan Decker, Jr., Liberty High; 23. Linus McRoberts, Sr., City High; 30. Michael Hanna, Soph., West High
Team title race: Defending champion Cedar Falls will look to make it two in a row while there is a strong group of contenders trying to take over the Tigers for the top spot.
Indianola enters top ranked and Pleasant Valley should be in the mix as well.
City High will look to make a late-season push for a spot in the top three along with Mississippi Valley Conference rival Cedar Rapids Prairie which enters ranked fourth.
The Class 4A boys team race should be one of the most hotly contested of the weekend and will likely be crowded at the top.
Individual title tracker: This should be one of the best races of the weekend as Liberty High junior Keegan Decker and Jaden Merrick are expected to duel for the big school title.
The two-time defending 4A runner-up, Merrick has finished behind only Ankeny two-time champ Ethan Zuber the past two seasons and enters top-ranked.
Decker was 17th two seasons ago as a freshman but jumped into title contention a year ago with a third-place finish, a little more than two seconds behind Merrick.
Merrick edged Decker at the line at the Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet earlier this month and Saturday shapes up as another showdown between two of the state’s best.
Six top-10 finishers from last year’s 4A race return, a list that includes Johnston junior Jack Crossland and Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Slader Buckheister.
Area breakdown: Decker helped Liberty High qualify as a team for the third consecutive season and the Lightning will look to build on a ninth-place finish from last season.
Decker is the headliner but the Lightning also return juniors Tayson Cho, Colin Finch, Lars Hildebrand and Yuma Squiers with state meet experience.
City High will look to put everything together in Fort Dodge.
The Little Hawks are making their second consecutive state meet appearance and have designs on improving on last seasons sixth-place finish.
Five of the Little Hawks top six finishers from last year’s state meet return in Max McDowell, Linus McRoberts, Emmett Palmberg, Jarris Prottsman, David Randall.
Keep an eye on McRoberts who has worked himself back to full health after a mid-season illness and is capable of pushing into the top 15.
West High sophomores Michael Hanna and Jake Weiler will compete as individuals and have showed the ability to run with the front of the pack.
Hanna is ranked 30th and will look to improve on a 94th place finish last season as a freshman.
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