Breaking Down the Class 4A Girls State Cross Country Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
The state cross country meet is here.
Four classes will compete for state titles across two days at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge with eight teams, four boys and four girls, taking home titles.
The action gets underway on Friday with Classes 2A and 1A and concludes on Saturday with Class 3A and 4A.
Before the gun sounds for the first time on Friday morning Your Prep Sports offers a look at the races featuring area teams and individuals.
Here is a quick breakdown of the Class 4A girls races.
Where: Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Qualifying teams: *Cedar Falls; Pleasant Valley; Western Dubuque; *City High; West Des Moines Dowling; Davenport Central; *Dallas Center-Grimes; Johnston; Cedar Rapids Prairie; *Waukee Northwest; Norwalk; Linn-Mar; *Ankeny Centennial; West Des Moines Valley; Waukee
*-state qualifying meet champions
Individual state qualifying meet champions: Charlee Gall, Jr., Cedar Falls; Joley Sullivan, Jr., Davenport Central; Tenley Heidgerken, Soph., Dallas Center-Grimes; Emmy Stubbendeck, Soph., Waukee Northwest; Emma Stanley, Sr., Ames
2025 top five: 1. Waukee Northwest 67; 2. Pleasant Valley 103; 3. Johnston 113; 4. Dallas Center-Grimes 114; 5. Ankeny Centennial 136
Last five team champions: 2025 – Waukee Northwest; 2024 – Pleasant Valley; 2023 – Johnston; 2022 – Dubuque Hempstead; 2021 – Dubuque Hempstead
Returning state placewinners: 1. Piper Messerly, Sr., Dallas Center-Grimes; 2. Laney Sundet, Soph., Waukee Northwest; 3. Tenley Heidgerken, Soph., Dallas Center-Grimes; 4. Joley Sullivan, Jr., Davenport Central; 5. Maddie Millage, Sr., Pleasant Valley; 6. Emmy Stubbendeck, Soph., Waukee Northwest; 8. Ellie Blevins, Sr., Ankeny Centennial; 10. Charlee Gall, Jr., Cedar Falls; 14. Rebecca Flick, Soph., Ankeny Centennial;
Top ranked teams: 1. Waukee Northwest; 2. Ankeny Centennial; 3. Cedar Falls; 4. Johnston; 5. Dallas Center-Grimes
Ranked area teams: 7. City High
Top ranked individuals: 1. Emmy Stubbendeck, Soph., Waukee Northwest; 2. Charlee Gall, Jr., Cedar Falls; 3. Tenley Heidgerken, Soph., Dallas Center-Grimes; 4. Joley Sullivan, Jr., Davenport Central; 5. Maddie Millage, Sr., Pleasant Valley
Ranked area individuals: 30. Grace Hamann, Sr., City High
Area individual qualifiers: McKenzie VeDepo, Fr., Liberty High; Adrienne Hodge, Soph., West High; Ava Twait, Soph., West High
Team title race: Defending champion Waukee Northwest is top ranked at enters as the favorite to claim a second consecutive 4A crown.
Waukee Northwest returns five of its top six finishers from last year’s team that won by title by 36 points including top-10 finishers Laney Sundey and Emma Stubbendeck and added eighth-grader Elly Stubbendeck who is ranked 26th in Class 4A.
There are several teams capable of denying the Wolves a repeat with second-ranked Ankney Centennial who finished fifth a year ago.
Cedar Falls, Dallas Center-Grimes, Johnston and Pleasant Valley will be among the teams battling for a top-three finish and a spot on the balcony.
Individual title tracker: The top five finishers from last season return to the state meet though none of those six enter as the pre-race favorite.
That distinction, though not clear cut by any means, belongs to Waukee sophomore Emmy Stubbendeck who finished sixth last season as a freshman.
Stubbendeck won the individual title at the Marshalltown qualifier last week and enters as the slightest of favorites in what should be a large front pack.
The list of potential champions is long.
Defending state champ Piper Messerly of Dallas Center-Grimes returns along with sophomore teammate Tenley Heidgerken who won the individual title at the Johnston state qualifier.
Cedar Falls junior Charlee Gall was third as a freshman in 2024 and 10th last season and is certainly a title contender once again.
Don’t overlook year’s fourth-place finisher Joley Sullivan of Davenport Central and Pleasant Valley senior Maddie Millage who was fifth a year ago and 11th two seasons ago as a sophomore.
Area breakdown: City High returns to the state meet for the sixth consecutive season and is seeking to improve on last year’s seventh-place finish.
The Little Hawks are hitting their stride at the right time and are coming off a team title at the Iowa City state qualifying meet.
Senior Grace Hamann is a four-time state qualifier for City High and is seeking to cap a brilliant career with a state medal.
A West Branch student that competes for City High, Hamann has finished 76th, 30th and 20th in her previous three trips to the state meet.
City High has an experienced squad with three other multi-year state qualifiers joining Hamann.
Senior Madeline Fischer and juniors Eliza Doster and Calissa Fruin are all two-time state qualifiers.
Doster was 34th last season, Fischer was 95th and Fruin finished 105th at state a year ago.
West High sophomores Adrienne Hodge and Ava Twait will both be making their second consecutive state meet appearances as individual qualifiers.
Twait finished 84th and Hodge was 96th last season as a freshman.
Liberty High freshman McKenzie VeDepo will make her state meet debut on Saturday.
Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating
