Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Cross country season comes at you fast.

Teams across the state officially opened practice two weeks ago, competition begins on Monday with the state meet in looming two months and one week away.

That’s a lot of miles and a lot of meets packed in to less than three months.

With a whirlwind season set to get underway for area teams in the next week here are six area individuals to watch this season leading up to the state meet on October 28 in Fort Dodge.

Kolby Greiner

Junior, West High

One of the top distance runners in the state, Greiner expects to contend for an individual state title this season.

Greiner placed 11th in Class 4A last season with a time of 16:05.9 after finishing 46th two years ago as a freshman.

After a strong sophomore track season, Greiner joins West Des Moines Dowling senior Matthew Carmody as one of the top challengers for the 4A title.

Nathan Meyer

Senior, Regina

Moving up a class didn’t slow Meyer who improved his state finish by eight spots last season.

Meyer finished 26th at the Class 2A state meet last season as a junior after placing 34th in Class 1A in 2015, improving his time by more than 22 seconds.

Lucas Firmstone

Senior, City High

Already a two-time state qualifier, Firmstone will be a key piece of a City High squad attempting to make its 24th state meet appearance in the past 26 seasons.

Firmstone is one of three seniors that return from last year’s City High squad that placed ninth in 4A last season, finishing 71st at the state meet.

Nick O’Connor

Sophomore, Clear Creek Amana

Established himself as the leader of a tight Clear Creek Amana pack late in the season and led the Clippers with a 62nd finish at the Class 3A state meet.

Expect much more from O’Connor this season as a sophomore.

His time 17:25.9 at state was the eighth fastest among freshman in Class 3A last season and was more than two seconds faster than returning junior teammate Cole Liebe.

Nate Green

Senior, Regina

Green collected his second straight top 10 finish last season placing eighth in Class 2A in a time of 16:47.4 one year after earning a ninth-place finish in 1A.

The senior will be a key as Regina attempts to return to the state meet as a team after missing out last season.

Dylan Schmidt

Junior, Liberty High

A junior on a team full of underclassmen Schmidt has been thrust into an immediate leadership role for the first-year Lightning squad.

Schmidt is the most experienced runner on the Liberty team with two years of high school cross country experience under his belt at West High.